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The story
According to a survey by the German environmental group DUH, private car registrations rose in nearly 90% of German cities with populations over 100,000 since 2019, adding up to roughly 250,000 additional vehicles nationwide. Cologne saw the biggest jump with 13,139 more cars, followed by Munich, Duisburg, and Dortmund. Meanwhile, only 12 cities, including Berlin, actually saw a decline. The findings sparked debate on the German-language forum Lemmy over whether city dwellers really need cars at all, and how the numbers relate to public transit coverage and population growth.
Despite the climate crisis, the number of cars in German cities just keeps climbing.
According to a survey by Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH), the German Environmental Action group, private car ownership increased in roughly 90% of cities with populations over 100,000. That works out to around 250,000 new cars added since 2019 alone. The biggest increase was in Cologne with 13,139 vehicles, followed by Munich (12,934), Duisburg (11,263), and Dortmund (10,232). The DUH survey is based on registration data from Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA).
DUH found that only 12 cities actually saw car numbers fall. Berlin had the steepest drop at 7,614 fewer vehicles, followed by Stuttgart (down 4,014) and Karlsruhe (down 2,995).
Source: www1.wdr.de / Original article here
What people said
I'd genuinely love to not need a car, but where I live, you can't do a thing without one.
"I'd genuinely love to not need a car, but where I live, you can't do a thing without one"
Good news: German citizens have the right to move and settle anywhere in the country they want (translation: if you don't like it, move).
Wait, was that an accident?
If it were 'that' accident, it would've definitely made the news.
I'm not saying that part is ridiculous. But honestly, 90% of city dwellers probably don't actually need a car. That's exactly why so many of them just sit parked all the time — especially the camper vans.
Of course, you can always spin the logic however's convenient for you.
That aside, could drivers please give cyclists a decent amount of clearance when passing?
Also, I think any shift-based workplace over a certain size (something like 400 employees) should be legally required to run a commuter shuttle bus.
"Could drivers please give cyclists a decent amount of clearance when passing"
Don't worry, I'm exactly the type who gets annoyed at drivers who don't do that. I always leave at least 1.5m, often more.
What does your stage of life have to do with your own preferences? You could live without a car — you're just choosing to prioritize your current setup over a car-free life. That's fine on its own, but it's still a 'choice.'
Background and Key Points of the Debate
DUH (Deutsche Umwelthilfe), the German environmental group behind the survey, takes the position that car dependency is a problem for climate policy. The thread split over whether the rise is better explained by “city dwellers who can’t give up their cars” or simply by population growth. Some pointed out that raw ownership totals don’t capture changes driven by electrification, raising the question of whether vehicle counts alone can measure progress on climate goals. Others pushed back on using 2019 as the baseline, noting that year-over-year figures have actually reversed in some cities — a reminder to be cautious about reading too much into a single long-term before-and-after comparison.
*This article is adapted and translated by our editorial team from a thread on the overseas forum Lemmy c/dach: “Trotz Klimakrise: Immer mehr Autos in den deutschen Städten.” Responsibility for the translation rests with this site.
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