15 million euros for an empty apartment: Hamburg pays for Scholz's security!

15 million euros for an empty apartment: Hamburg pays for Scholz's security!

Olaf Scholz, the former Chancellor, has lived in Potsdam since 2018, but his apartment in Hamburg remains unused and is guarded by the police around the clock. This guarding entails a significant cost burden, which is estimated to have totaled up to 15 million euros since Scholz's move. In 2024 alone, over 28,000 police hours were spent on security measures; in the previous year there were even more than 29,000 hours. Monitoring the apartment costs around two million euros annually, and since 2022 the city of Hamburg has been bearing this financial burden alone because the federal government has withdrawn from financing. This reports newstime.

Criticism of these high costs is becoming increasingly louder. Speakers such as Thomas Jungfer, the state chairman of the German Police Union in Hamburg, demand that the financial expenses should be billed to the federal government. Sascha Mummenhoff from the Hamburg Taxpayers' Association also expresses concerns and speaks of the disproportionate use of taxpayers' money. He sees the constant surveillance as a symbol of a larger problem: a lack of transparency and proportionality in the use of public funds. This worrying information was provided by n-tv picked up.

Criticism of the guard

City officials must ask themselves whether the measures are actually still justifiable. Scholz's office asserts that the apartment is used regularly. However, it remains unclear whether he plans to fundamentally give up this second home. The question arises as to how sensible such high expenditure is for a predominantly empty living space. For many people, guarding your home may seem unnecessary, especially when you consider the high security costs.

Another interesting aspect of security policy in Germany is that the Federal Constitutional Court has ruled that organizers of for-profit events that could potentially be violent should pay for the costs of police security. This not only applies to football, but could also be relevant at large public events such as concerts or Oktoberfest. This example introduces the discussion about public funds and raises the question of how far the state's responsibility extends in a sufficiently commercial sense, as in the reports by Daily Mirror explained.

Overall, the situation surrounding Olaf Scholz's empty apartment is more than just a cost item. It highlights the challenges and growing tensions in dealing with public money as well as the demands on public safety. The pressure on politicians seems to be growing to reassess the proportionality and sense of responsibility in spending planning.