The liberalization of the long-distance bus market in Germany and Europe has undergone a significant transformation in recent years. From the opening of the market to the emergence of a dominant player such as Flixbus and the challenges that have arisen in countries such as Austria and Switzerland, we take a detailed look at the developments in the industry. For a long time, long-distance bus transport in western EU countries had a rather niche existence. Buses only had a notable importance in transport with Eastern European countries and the Balkan region. Berlin was a special case before the fall of the Wall, because Berlin Linienbus connected West Berlin with numerous cities in the Federal Republic, as this was in many cases easier than by rail. Long-distance bus transport once played a major role in domestic transport, as the no longer existing Deutsche Bundespost motor postal service used to serve many routes that often ran on the motorway, and there were even stops in motorway car parks. As the railway lines were increasingly expanded, these motor postal routes increasingly disappeared. Later, the postal bus companies, which were mainly active in regional transport, were handed over to Deutsche Bundesbahn and at least partially privatized later. Apart from the special situation regarding West Berlin, long-distance bus transport played almost no role at all for many years. But that changed suddenly later. The liberalization of long-distance bus transport in Germany began in 2013, when the Passenger Transport Act was amended to allow private long-distance bus companies access to the market. This law abolished Deutsche Bahn's decades-long monopoly and opened up competition, leading to lower prices and a wider choice for consumers. From the startup