Potential successors to existing craft businesses will soon be able to apply for funding of up to 20,000 euros. The City of Frankfurt and the Chamber of Skilled Crafts are thus continuing their joint strategy to secure the skilled crafts location. Only recently, the city launched the update of the Frankfurt Crafts Development Program.
In 2026, the City of Frankfurt am Main will support successors in the skilled trades with financial assistance. The corresponding proposal by the city council was approved by the city council on March 5, 2026. The aim of the funding is to provide an incentive for company takeovers in Frankfurt and to secure the long-term existence of skilled trades businesses in the city. The maximum total funding per business succession is 20,000 euros.
The new directive strengthens Frankfurt as a business location by securing jobs and apprenticeships in the skilled trades and maintaining the range of skilled trades services for citizens. Stephanie Wüst, Head of Economic Affairs: “With the Frankfurt Succession Program, we are sending a clear signal for the future of the skilled trades in Frankfurt am Main. Many businesses are facing a generational change. Our aim is to ensure that successful companies can be continued and that valuable know-how as well as jobs and apprenticeships are retained in our city. At the same time, we give young master craftsmen and women the opportunity to set up their own business. Anyone who wants to take responsibility for employees and their trade will find the best conditions in Frankfurt. Company succession must not be allowed to fail due to financial constraints – that’s why we provide specific support to those taking over this important step.”
Financial support from the purchase price to modernization
Craftspeople who take over a business can apply for the non-repayable grant from the Department of Economic Affairs. They can apply for the grant for various purposes and measures: for a subsidy towards the purchase price, for jobs and apprenticeships that are taken over or newly created, for investments in the modernization and digitalization of the business and training measures for the manager. One of the prerequisites for the grant is that the business to be taken over is based in Frankfurt and that it has attended a consultation with the business advisory service of the Frankfurt-Rhine-Main Chamber of Skilled Crafts.
“We are a powerful part of the economy, we offer young people training and career paths and we are there when the heating is broken or you need new glasses. The skilled trades are relevant for society as a whole. Promoting the takeover of established businesses by the next generation of tradespeople in Frankfurt is therefore a logical decision and also secures the future of the trades in Frankfurt. Businesses are continued and tradespeople are supported in courageously taking on responsibility. As the Chamber of Skilled Crafts, we accompany the change in the business with our advice, from digitalization to marketing,” says Susanne Haus, President of the Frankfurt-Rhine-Main Chamber of Skilled Crafts.
Succession promotion as part of the Frankfurt Crafts Development Program
The topic of succession support is also part of the recently launched Frankfurt Crafts Development Program. In this program, the city commits itself to strengthening the city’s skilled trades sector in the long term and to working in close partnership with the Frankfurt-Rhine-Main Chamber of Skilled Crafts and local businesses. The program will be finalized in the coming months and will then be signed by representatives of the city and the Chamber of Skilled Crafts.
Bernhard Grieb, Managing Director of Wirtschaftsförderung Frankfurt GmbH: “The preservation and further development of our corporate landscape through successful company successions is a crucial building block for a strong business location. With the new funding, we are creating an additional incentive to take over and further develop craft businesses in Frankfurt. This not only strengthens the businesses themselves, but also the local supply, the training performance and the diversity of our business location as a whole.”
Application and program start
The Economic Development Department will provide separate information on the start date of the funding program. It is planned that the application documents can be requested from the City of Frankfurt am Main’s Department of Economic Affairs at dezernat-wirtschaft@stadt-frankfurt.de from the start of the program. Further information on the funding opportunities and contact details for the Economic Development Agency and the Chamber of Skilled Crafts can be found at www.nachfolgehandwerk.de.
