World Mayor 2023

Salaries of German mayors
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ON THIS PAGE: Financial rewards for German mayors ||| Table: Mayors of largest German cities and their salaries ||| Further reading |||



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Germany's big-city mayors receive
relatively modest financial rewards

December 2017: The salaries awarded to the mayors of Germany’s largest cities are relatively modest compared to the remuneration packages enjoyed by senior management in industry and business. The Mayor of Berlin, who also functions as a state prime minister, has a basic annual salary of some €168,000 (US$198,000), while the mayors of Cologne and Munich earn €143,000 and €147,000 respectively. Mayors of smaller large cities (Grossstädte) such as Ingolstadt, Saarbrücken or Osnabrück receive little more than €100,000 per year. In contrast, the CEOs of Volkswagen, Siemens and BASF earn in excess of eight million euros a year. Research by the management magazine ‘Markt und Mittelstand’ found that the bosses of smaller German companies - those with less than 500 employees - earn on average just under €300,000 a year.

The salaries of German mayors are linked to those of senior civil servants (Beamte) and vary from state to state. Mayors of large cities are paid more than those of smaller communities. For example in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state and home to cities such as Cologne, Düsseldorf and Bonn, mayors of towns with less than 10,000 people are paid between €60,000 and €76,000 per annum, while the mayors of cities with more than half a million inhabitants receive more than €140,000 a year.

In addition to their basic salaries, German mayors receive fixed expense allowances, which can amount to as much as 13.5 per cent of their basic pay. The allowances cover expenses for items such as work-related travel, cell phone use, protective clothing or the use of an office at home and can top €6,000 pa for the mayors of larger cities


Mayors of Germany's largest
cities and their annual salaries

Cities
Mayors
Basic annual salaries in euros
(1 euro = 1.18 US dollar)
Sources
Aachen, Popl: 245,885, (North-Rhine Westphalia) Marcel Philipp
€140,064
Mayor's account (2015)
Augsburg, Popl: 276,542 , (Bavaria) Kurt Gribl
€111,600 to €120,000
Augsburger Allgemeine (2016)
Berlin, Popl: 3,421,829, (Federal capital, city state) Michael Müller
€168,000
RBB24 (2017)
Bielefeld, Popl: 328,864 , (North Rhine-Westphalia) Pit Clausen
€137,448
Bund der Steuerzahler (2016)
Bochum, Popl: 361,734, (North Rhine-Westphalia) Ottilie Scholz
€137,448
Bund der Steuerzahler (2016)
Bonn, Popl: 311,287, (North Rhine-Westphalia) Ashok Alexander Sridharan
€137,448
Bund der Steuerzahler (2016)
Braunschweig, Popl: 251,364, (Lower Saxony) Ulrich Markurth
€130,000
News38.de (2016)
Bremen, Popl: 548,547, (City state) Carsten Sieling
€110,652
Gehaltsvergleich (2017)
Cologne / Köln, Popl: 1,034,175, (North Rhine-Westphalia) Henriette Reker
€142,752
Bund der Steuerzahler (2016)
Darmstadt, Popl: 155,353, (Hesse) Jochen Partsch
€113.724
Oeffentlicher-Dienst.info (2016)
Dortmund, Popl: 575,944;, (North Rhine-Westphalia) Ullrich Sierau
€142,752
Bund der Steuerzahler (2016)
Dresden, Popl: 530,754; , (State capital of Saxony) Dirk Hilbert
€119,748
Gehaltsvergleich (2017)
Duisburg, Popl: 486,855; , (North Rhine-Westphalia) Sören Link
€137,448
Bund der Steuerzahler (2016)
Düsseldorf, Popl: 598,686; , (State capital of North Rhine-Westphalia) Thomas Geisel
€142,752
Focus (2015)
Erfurt, Popl: 210,178, (Thuringia) Andreas Bausewein
€113,412
Focus (2015)
Essen, Popl: 574,635, (North Rhine-Westphalia) Thomas Kufen
€142,752
Bund der Steuerzahler (2016)
Frankfurt am Main, Popl: 701,350, (Hesse) Peter Feldmann
€159,351
Frankfurter Neue Presse (2016)
Freiburg, Popl: 226,393, (Baden-Württemberg) Dieter Salomon
€158,000
Badische Zeitung (2017)
Gelsenkirchen, Pop: 257.850, (North Rhine-Westphalia) Frank Baranowski
€137,448
Bund der Steuerzahler (2016)
Hagen, Popl: 189,044, (North-Rhine Westphalia) Erik Schulz
€116,856
Bund der Steuerzahler (2016)
Halle, Popl: 236,991, (Sachsen Anhalt) Bernd Wiegand
€112,812
Halle Spektrum (2014)
Hamburg, Popl: 1,746,342, (City state) Olaf Scholz
€168,516
Gehaltsvergleich (2017)
Hamm, Popl: 179,397, (North-Rhine Westphalia) Thomas Hunsteger-Petermann
€116,856
Bund der Steuerzahler (2016)
Hannover, Popl: 518,386; , (State capital of Lower Saxony) Stefan Schostock
€124,080
Focus (2015)
Heidelberg, Popl: 156,267, (Baden-Württemberg) Eckhardt Wurzner
€115,728
Stimme.de (2016)
Herne, Popl: 155,655, (North-Rhine Westphalia) Dr Frank Dudda
€116,856
Bund der Steuerzahler (2016)
Ingolstadt, Popl: 132,438, (Bavaria) Dr Christian Losel
€109,800
Welt Digital (2013)
Karlsruhe, Popl: 294,761, (Baden-Württemberg) Frank Mentrup
€121,656
Stimme.de (2016)
Kassel, Popl: 197,984, (Hesse) Bertram Hilgen
€120,648
Oeffentlicher-Dienst.info (2016)
Kiel, Popl: 246,306, (Schleswig-Holstein) Dr Ulf Kampfer
€119,040
Focus (2015)
Krefeld, Popl: 225,144, (North-Rhine Westphalia) Frank Meyer
€116,856
Bund der Steuerzahler (2016)
Leipzig, Popl: 531.562, (Saxony) Burkhard Jung
€136,576
Leipziger Volkszeitung (2014)
Leverkusen, Popl: 163,487, (North-Rhine Westphalia) Uwe Richrath
€116,856
Bund der Steuerzahler (2016)
Lübeck, Popl: 216,253, (Schleswig-Holstein) Bernd Saxe
€124,000
Flensbruger Tageblatt (2015)
Magdeburg, Popl: 235,723, (Saxony-Anhalt) Dr Lutz Trumper
€112,920
Focus (2015)
Mainz, Popl: 209,779, (Rhineland-Palatinate) Michael Ebling
€116,916
Focus (2015)
Mannheim, Popl: 296,690, (Baden-Württemberg) Peter Kurz
€121,656
Stimme.de (2016)
Mönchengladbach, Popl: 256,853, (North Rhine-Westphalia) Hans Wilhelm Reiners
€137,448
Bund der Steuerzahler (2016)
Mülheim / Ruhr, Popl: 169,278, (North-Rhine Westphalia) Ulrich Scholten
€116,856
Bund der Steuerzahler (2016)
Munich / München, Popl: 1,407,836, (State capital, Bavaria) Dieter Reiter
€146,556
Focus (2015)
Münster, Popl: 299,708, (North Rhine-Westphalia) Markus Lewe
€137,448
Bund der Steuerzahler (2016)
Nuremberg / Nürnberg, Popl: 498,876, (Bavaria) Ulrich Maly
€138,800
Welt Digital (2014)
Oberhausen, 210,934, (North- Rhine Westphalia) Daniel Schranz
€116,856
Bund der Steuerzahler (2016)
Osnabrück, Popl: 162,403, (Lower Saxony) Wolfgang Griesert
€109,524
Osnabrücker Zeitung (2014)
Potsdam, Popl: 167,745, (Brandenburg) Jann Jakobs
€105,288
Focus (2015)
Rostock, Popl: 206,001, (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) Roland Methling
€107,909
Svz.de (2015)
Saarbrücken, Popl: 178,151, (Saarland) Charlotte Britz
€104,940
Gehaltsvergleich (2017)
Solingen, Popl: 158,726, (North-Rhine Westphalia) Tim Kurzbach
€116,856
Bund der Steuerzahler (2016)
Stuttgart, Popl: 604,297, (Baden-Württemberg) Fritz Kuhn
€157,752
Stimme.de (2016)
Wiesbaden, Popl: 275.976, (Hesse) Sven Gerich
€140,736
Focus (2015)
Wuppertal, Popl: 343,488, (North Rhine-Westphalia) Andcreas Mucke
€137,448
Bund der Steuerzahler (2016)

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