The younger child goes to a kindergarten on the opposite end of Bad Homburg. That's 40 minutes with the bus one direction. No, there was no option of a kindergarten closer to our house. There was no option at all, you just take it where you get place.

The younger child has an illness and we have to bring him to a therapy at least once a week. That's in a hospital in another sattelite city on the opposite end of Frankfurt. Two hours with bus one direction.

The older child has allergy treatment in another hospital in Frankfurt. One and a quater an hour with public transport.

And these are just a few examples.

Without a car my wife would probably have to stay home just to manage children.

To answer your question - children introduce spatial responsibilities we you can't typically efficiently manage without a car.