East German cities offer free stays to fight depopulation – DW – 06/21/2025

DW

21-06-2025

Towns and cities in eastern German states are inviting people to come and stay in the hope of encouraging more people to move there long-term.
"There's no problem finding affordable accommodation, there are no traffic jams, there's no rush hour, and I've never had trouble finding a parking space," beams Anika Franze from behind her desk in the center of the small city of Guben.
The 38-year-old was born in East Berlin in the former German Democratic Republic and lived most of her life before and after the fall of the Wall in the same district of the capital. But she says the hustle and bustle, a sense of helplessness about growing inequality, not to mention the dire housing situation, long made her want to leave.
Driving through Brandenburg with only local radio for company, she heard about a "trial living" ("Probewohnen") scheme offering people the chance to stay for up to four weeks free of charge in Guben on Germany's far eastern border with Poland. The idea was to encourage more people to come and settle in the city to help fight depopulation.
Franze has lived here for eight months and now manages the project that first brought her to the city. Here she can afford to rent a 100-square-meter, split-level apartment with a walk-in wardrobe for less than she would pay for a room in one of Berlin's less desirable flat shares.
"It's always quiet here, there's no noise pollution, there's less litter on the streets, and you always run into people you know, which I find quite nice," she explains on a whistlestop tour of the city that includes a quick trip across the river to eat fancy cake in a Polish café.
Thirty people took part in the scheme in Guben last year and six of those moved here for the long-term. Franze says more followed as a result of the press coverage. Similar projects have also been launched in nearby towns in the Lusatia region, including Frankfurt (Oder), and most recently in Eisenhüttenstadt, originally called Stalinstadt, the first planned socialist model city built in the GDR.
Guben is just one of hundreds of industrial towns and cities in the former East that underwent major demographic changes after German reunification in 1990. Declining birth rates, the emigration of predominately young people to western federal states and rising life expectancy have accelerated demographic aging here.
There are currently 16,600 people living in the Guben, down by almost half from 29,100 in 1995. That number is expected to decline by a further 16% in the decade up to 2030, with an estimated 27% decrease in the working-age population. The median age is currently 58 and rising. "We're missing an entire generation," the city's mayor, Fred Mahro, told Berlin's TAZ newspaper when the scheme first launched.
Last fall, the Bertelsmann Stiftung, an independent civil society foundation, published a study that found Germany would continue to be reliant on migration to cover its forecast labor market demand. Furthermore, due to the comparable demographic situation in other European states, migration would have to come from countries outside of the EU.
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"From an economic perspective, we need to ensure that locations remain attractive, that incentives are created for businesses to settle there, but it's about much more than that, for example, a welcoming culture and social interaction," says Susanne Schultz, an expert on migration policy at the Bertelsmann Stiftung.
Schultz points to research published by the Institute for Employment at the Federal Employment Agency last week showing that just over a quarter of people born abroad and who immigrated to Germany between the ages of 18 and 65 considered leaving the country last year.
Two-thirds of those surveyed cited discrimination as a reason to leave; one third said they do not feel welcome or only slightly welcome. The rhetoric and policies on the issue of migration, for example the recent move to stop the families of certain groups of immigrants from moving to Germany, are sending out the wrong signals, according to Schultz.
"Dissatisfaction with politics was one of the main reasons, and I think a lot of that has to do with developments over the last one and half years — the mood has really changed in Germany," she told DW, adding that a multi-pronged approach was needed to help people to integrate both socially and economically.
In the struggle to attract new residents, Germany's eastern states also have an image problem as hotbeds for right-wing extremism to contend with. Guben made headlines in 1999 when an Algerian asylum seeker, Farid Guendoul, bled to death after being hounded by neo-Nazis.
Just under 42% of local residents voted for the far-right Alternative for Germany party (AfD) in the February 2025 federal elections. The AfD is known for its harsh anti-immigrant rhetoric. It has been classified as "right-wing extremist" by Germany's domestic intelligence agency, though the agency will refrain from using the term until a court ruling has been issued. Franze says the numbers do not reflect day-to-day life in the city and is frustrated by the focus on the AfD when almost 60% of people here voted for moderate or liberal parties.
"People have their prejudices and clichés, but in my experience, you can still connect with people, they just maybe need a bit of time because they're not used to much diversity," the German woman explains. "I wouldn't imagine it being any different in any other small European town."
Now in its second year, the scheme in Guben has received 40 applications from all over Germany, as well as Belgium, Algeria, Egypt and Brazil. Successful applicants will be housed in newly renovated apartments for a contribution of just €100 ($115).
There is also the opportunity to take part in weekly social gatherings with the residents, make an artistic contribution to the city in cooperation with a local museum and do an internship at a local company.
Guben was once famous for its textile industry and millinery: the first weatherproof wool felt hats were manufactured here, and a synthetic fiber factory, opened in 1960, was the largest employer in the district for a long time. Investment from the European Union and the German government is now being pumped into the Lusatia region as lignite, also known as brown coal, mining is phased out as part of the switch to a carbon-neutral economy.
Franze says there are currently around 300 job vacancies waiting to be filled. The US-owned salami manufacturer BiFi opened a factory here in 2024, bakery chain Dreissig has a production site here, and Canadian lithium battery producer Rock Tech is opening a plant the size of 17 soccer pitches.
Right now, Franze is enjoying a life that is somehow just a bit more manageable than in the sprawling German capital, and has fulfilled a childhood dream of learning to ride horses.
"I don't know if I want to get old here, but I don't know if I'd want to do that in Berlin either," she says.While you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter, Berlin Briefing.