Gastkommentar: Deutschland braucht eine neue Gründerzeit

Germany is looking to startups, transformation, and new growth impulses amid ongoing economic weakness. Central to this are frameworks such as bureaucracy, high taxes and social security contributions, energy costs, and a shortage of skilled labor. However, there are other threats lurking under the radar. Many companies that have become difficult to manage on the location's tough market find no one willing to take over the reins.

Thousands of offices, businesses, clinics, or law firms face a generational turnover. When succession fails, it's not just a single company that disappears, but entire structures. This threatens Germany's location with a massively underestimated and displaced loss of economic substance. Of the 187,744 companies closed in 2025, according to ZEW and Creditreform, 87 percent ended their economic activity without going bankrupt.

The most significant economic group were clinics with around 5,500 closures. The urgency of action is growing. 57 percent of medium-sized entrepreneurs are at least 55 years old. According to calculations by KfW, around 109,000 companies should find a successor every year by the end of 2029. However, for the first time, more companies are considering shutdowns: around 114,000 per year.

The most common hurdle is not a lack of economic potential. 69 percent of companies cite the search for suitable successors as a problem.