Bavarian cities have the worst authorities in Germany

Citizens’ Office, Driving Licenses Office, Employment Office: Citizens’ services in Bavaria leave much to be desired. This is what a study conducted by the Consumer Protection Association showed. Three Bavarian cities finish in the lower ranks.

MUNICH – “The process urgently needs a different organisation, which is unreasonable,” a Munich resident wrote of the citizens’ office on Leonrodstraße. It’s just one of many disastrous reviews Munich residents have written on Google about their and citizens’ offices.

Their poor ratings are now reflected in a new assessment by the Consumer Protection Association: two Bavarian cities perform below average and therefore end up in the top ten among the worst authorities in Germany.

A new study shows: Two Bavarian cities are among the 10 worst authorities in Germany

For the study, the consumer protection association VSVBB said it examined online reviews of authorities where identity and registration matters are dealt with. A total of 53,274 comparative assessments from 354 authorities revealed a mixed picture: Citizens in Germany’s 40 largest cities evaluate the work of local authorities very differently.

On average, the offices surveyed received 3.62 out of a possible five stars. According to VSVBB, this is the highest average value in recent years. This means that people tend to become more and more satisfied with their work in the authorities. But perhaps this does not apply to two Bavarian cities.

32nd place: The Nuremberg authorities ended up in third place in the new ranking

The performance of the salads in Bielefeld was the best in Germany with 4.11 stars. This solves the city Last year’s winner of the VSVBB Kassel rating. Behind Bielefeld, Bochum (4.06 stars) and Freiburg (4.05 stars) complete the top spots.

If you’re looking for the Bavarian presence, you’ll have to look deeper into the list: Nuremberg is in the bottom third, in 32nd place out of 40. With a 3.15-star rating, the Franconians are not just below the national level. Average, but also on par with Braunschweig in Lower Saxony. However, Nuremberg can be given credit for the relatively large gap with last-placed Mönchengladbach (2.40).

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Authorities in the state capital are at their lowest levels – Munich is performing the worst in Bavaria

However, a completely different Bavarian city stands out negatively in the rankings: Munich. At number 35, the state capital is among the ten worst-ranked cities in Germany. Only Bremen, Bonn, Duisburg, Cologne and Mönchengladbach performed worse. Meanwhile, according to the study, almost 4,000 citizens wrote a review about the Munich authorities – but in the end it was only enough for 3.07 stars.

When it comes to serving citizens, this means one thing above all else for Munich: the need for improvement! The Bavarian capital could learn a lesson from its Swabian cousin.

With 4.03 stars, Augsburg residents appear to be significantly more satisfied with their salads. It is no coincidence that the city of Swabian occupies fourth place in the ranking, slightly behind Freiburg, which is in third place.

The problem facing the Bavarian authorities: Criticisms are rarely taken seriously

Nuremberg still has a lot of room for improvement. According to the VSVBB, it can be as simple as taking citizens’ criticism into account. “There are still many authorities that clearly do not study or respond to criticism expressed online. In this regard, public administration is many years behind, says the Consumer Protection Association.

Because while local hairdressers, butchers and restaurateurs have to deal with comments on Google, social media, etc. every day, according to VSVBB, the authorities still weigh themselves with the knowledge that there is no other option for their citizens. In many places, you cannot avoid going to the local citizens office for bureaucratic purposes.

According to authority rating: VSVBB highlights the importance of cash

The VSVBB warns that it would actually be an advantage if the authorities dealt more widely with in-depth assessments. On the one hand, the optimization potential can be fully exploited, and on the other hand, reviews from many authorities also contain some outdated comments that “promote questionable services”.