No matter where you go in Germany, there are castles, fortresses, palaces, and remarkable buildings of characters....which belong to the city, state, or federal government.
Needless to say....they all require a significant amount of yearly maintenance, renovation and repairs. No matter how you slant it.....this adds up to a significant amount of money.
I noticed via RBB (the Berlin public-run TV network) a short report on their regional Berlin issue with renovation.
The Brandenburg state government needs around 400 million Euro to do some major work on various palaces and gardens in the region. The regional guys wanted the German federal government in Berlin to help pay for part of this (130 million Euro was the mentioned request). They had a vote yesterday....with massive voting going against the idea from the SPD and Green Party. The CDU didn't have enough votes to overcome this.
What was said by the crowd keen on renovation in Brandenburg is that there's a backlog of work necessary, and it's fairly close to one billion Euro. If money doesn't start to appear....deterioration will start and then the cost goes up dramatically.
The thing is.....as you go over sixteen German states....then you go over individual districts, and you start shake your head. Just in the German state of Baden-Wurttemberg, there are probably a minimum of 250 palaces, castles, ruins, gardens, etc. Some of the castles are privately owned....like Castle Strassberg for example (it's been around since 1150). I've watched interview of the private owners who hint very strongly of a continual problem of keeping a place up-to-date and operational.
If you just pulled out the Berlin landscaping requirements for grass-cutting each week, and noted two-hundred-odd guys who are working around the clock to keep things looking half-way decent....it starts to add up.
With all the budgetary battles going on within the German government, this is simply another piece of the puzzle, which doesn't fit well.
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