In suburban Dusseldorf, there is a street called Auf’m Rott. It was first laid in 1937 by the Nazi government. The residents of that street recently went to court when they were told that they needed to pay an average of 10,000 euros per household for a “development contribution.”
In Germany, residents pay the local authorities for infrastructure projects like roads, lighting, cycle paths, etc.
The residents were never required to pay for their road because the pavements weren’t added until 2009 and so the road was under development for the intervening period.
The city council claims that since the people were not required to pay in the 30s when construction started, they are being billed now after it has been completed. The courts agreed with the council, saying that there is “no statute of limitations in relation to the construction work.”
This means that the current residents of Auf’m Rott will be paying for “Hitler Asphalt” from the 30s, street lamps from the 50s, a sewer from the 70s, and pavement and landscaping from 2009.
The residents seem resigned to their fate, however. They have withdrawn the complaint, saying “If this is how it is, then this is how it is.”
Leave a Comment