Suche
Mein Konto
Lübeck is struggling with 100 million euros in debt: a budget crisis is looming!
Lübeck's mayor Jan Lindenau provides information about budget deficits, planned savings and infrastructure investments for 2025.
Lübeck is struggling with 100 million euros in debt: a budget crisis is looming!
On May 28, 2025, the city of Lübeck published its budget report for 2024. The report shows that municipalities in the north, particularly Lübeck, are facing significant financial challenges. The annual deficit is a remarkable 94.7 million euros, a third of which is due to reduced funding from the state. Furthermore, an additional 65 million euros were paid to the pension fund, which further exacerbated the already strained budget situation.
The city announced early in 2024 about restructuring and reducing allocations. Despite the predicted decline in trade tax revenue, Lübeck is also seeing increasing social and youth welfare funding. Compared to planning, those responsible expect reduced income of around 32.7 million euros. In order to compensate for the financial situation, Mayor Jan Lindenau has imposed a budget freeze.
Budget planning for 2025
For the coming year, the city of Lübeck is planning to spend a total of 1.2 billion euros. In order to achieve this ambitious goal, debts of around 100 million euros are planned. This debt results from federal and state funding cuts as well as inflation, which has caused additional costs. Lübeck's citizens will decide on the new budget at the end of September.
Of the planned expenditure, 28 million euros will flow into important infrastructure projects, including roads, cycle paths, pedestrian paths and bridges. An additional 14.5 million euros are planned for schools in order to further strengthen the educational infrastructure.
Consolidation measures
The city has already developed measures to consolidate the budget in the long term. These targeted steps are necessary to get the difficult conditions under control and to make the necessary prioritizations. Mayor Lindenau emphasized that further savings will also be necessary for the 2026 budget.
In the past, other municipalities in Schleswig-Holstein have launched similar budget consolidation projects. An example is a community with 11,000 inhabitants that has begun a potential analysis of budget consolidation. This analysis focused on long-term performance and securing investment activity in order to avoid further indebtedness. The success of such measures is also crucial for Lübeck in order to remain financially stable and not stand in the way of necessary investments.
The citizens of Lübeck are facing a challenging time that requires both prioritizing spending and finding alternative sources of income to secure the city's economic future. The next steps of the citizens will be decisive for how the financial conditions in Lübeck will develop.