Germany's first parking meters - accompanied by protests

The first parking meters in Germany were installed in Duisburg in 1954, when the shortage of parking spaces in city centres was already increasing. The unpopular parking meters were soon dubbed the "penny grave" and there were protests and complaints. Today, parking fees are no longer in the penny range.

"One hour, one penny" - this was the motto under which the first parking meters in Germany were installed in Duisburg on January 4, 1954. The parking meter with coin slot, rotary lever and parking time display on a sturdy metal bar was invented by US lawyer and publisher Carlton Magee in the 1930s. With 20 parking meters, each costing 400 marks, Duisburg wanted to limit parking times in order to deal with the shortage of parking spaces in the city centre that was already prevalent at the time.

Around 22,000 motor vehicles were registered in Duisburg at the time - 70 years later, the number is more than 300,000 according to city figures. In addition, there are more than 106,000 working people who, according to the State Statistical Office, drive to Duisburg from outside the city every day - 70 percent of them by car according to an NRW-wide microcensus from 2020.

"There were angry protests, even lawsuits"

"They have to throw the penny into the slot of the machine, and a sign with a white P on a blue background immediately appears under a glass pane. A clockwork mechanism turns the disk after minutes ..." - This was how the Duisburg press presented the innovation in the 1950s. The parking meters quickly became popularly known as the "penny grave". Even 70 years ago, however, the parking fees were not met with enthusiasm by the population - especially when the meter ran out and parkers received warnings.

"They met with little approval right from the start. There were angry protests, even lawsuits," writes the German Patent and Trade Mark Office about the introduction in Duisburg. As early as 1954, Fritz Seydaack, then head of Duisburg's transport department, felt compelled to emphasize in the local press that the city did not see the "Parkographs as a source of income".

Parking meters became parking ticket machines

However, the meters on the roadside could hardly keep up with the rapidly growing volume of traffic. According to the city, the last parking meters in Duisburg were dismantled more than 30 years ago and replaced by parking ticket machines. The prices for parking have long been significantly different throughout the country than in the economic miracle era.

The intention is clear: the few parking spaces in the city center or in heavily frequented suburbs should not be occupied by long-term parkers and overall, significantly more people should use public transport or come on foot or by bike, says a city spokesperson. This is understandable, but does not make parking fees any more popular.

"Smart parking" and "cell phone parking"

Today, the city is at least trying to accommodate parkers technically when it comes to paying: Since 2019, drivers have been able to pay via app on their cell phone with various providers under the keyword "Smart Parking". No more tiresome searches for small change for the machine, no more puzzling over instructions that are written far too small or annoyance over faulty machines.

According to the report, more than 310 cities and municipalities already offer digital payment systems for their parking fees. In several municipalities, more than half of the payment volume is already made via "cell phone parking", meaning that the cell phone is the number one means of payment there, says the spokesperson for the "Smart Parking" initiative.

The old parking meter, which was also occasionally run over in traffic accidents or deliberately damaged by angry drivers, seems like a long-forgotten relic. An original copy of the old "penny tomb" can still be admired today in the Duisburg City Museum.