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City of Esslingen rejects collection machine for citizens' office - why?
Esslingen, November 9th, 2025: Citizens' office moves into the old town hall and discusses a collection machine for ID documents. Costs and support in focus.
City of Esslingen rejects collection machine for citizens' office - why?
The Esslingen Citizens' Office is temporarily moving to the Old Town Hall. This action is being taken while the civic center is being remodeled. At the same time, there is heated discussion about purchasing a collection terminal for ID documents. The FDP/Volt faction submitted this proposal to the Esslingen municipal council. Proponents of the project hope that the collection machine will provide a flexible option for collecting documents and relieve the burden on staff at the citizens' office.
But the city administration is skeptical about the project. According to Esslinger Zeitung she sees hardly any advantages in introducing a collection terminal. Such a machine could be purchased for around 30,000 to 40,000 euros, plus annual software fees of around 2,000 euros. In addition, the operation requires additional personnel because the four-eyes principle must be adhered to. This contradicts the hope that the purchase can actually result in cost savings.
Improved appointments and communication
The Citizens' Office has recently made efforts to improve the appointment situation. From now on, appointments will be activated daily, and it often happens that applications are processed on the same day. Communication is also being optimized: citizens are informed three months before their ID documents expire.
The city administration has also found that only a small proportion of applicants actually use the collection terminals. Citizens often need assistance in operating technical devices, which further questions the need for a collection machine. The majority of the management committee has already voted against the purchase, while only the FDP and the AfD expressed their interests.
Renovation of the government center
The renovation of the government center is proceeding according to plan and should be completed shortly after the turn of the year 2026. At least there is some positive news for citizens here: the return of the Citizens' Office to the central authority center is scheduled for the last week of January 2026. For anyone who would like to visit the Citizens' Office in Esslingen, here are the most important contact details:
| address | phone | |
|---|---|---|
| Beblingerstraße 3, 73728 Esslingen am Neckar | 0711 3512-2666 | buergenamt@esslingen.de |
Opening times are:
- Montag, Mittwoch, Freitag: 7:30-12:00 Uhr
- Dienstag, Donnerstag: 7:30-12:30 und 13:30-18:00 Uhr
- Samstag: 10:00-12:00 Uhr
The Citizens' Office sees itself as a central contact point for all citizens and offers a variety of administrative services, from registration offices to issuing parking permits. It remains to be hoped that the coming months will further improve cooperation between the city administration and citizens.