German contest to live in depopulated Soviet-era city proves global hit

Summary

An innovative contest by a city in formerly communist east Germany to curb depopulation by offering a fortnight of free housing has stunned local officials with its success.The competition drew more than 1,700 applications from around the world to try living in Eisenhüttenstadt, a Soviet-style planned city on the Polish border, near Berlin, which was built around a steel plant in the aftermath of the second world war.“We ourselves were very surprised by the reach our Probewohnen (trial living) project has had,” Julia Basan, the municipal economic development officer spearheading the campaign, told reporters on Thursday.She said those who had thrown their hat into the ring since May had “the most wide-ranging motives” including one foreign man who simply said he “wanted to marry a German woman”. But the majority were “very realistic applications”, Basan said.The two winners, both German professionals, will move into spacious furnished flats in the city centre in September and be treated to a red-carpet orientation programme.The city was built around a steel plant soon after the second world war. Photograph: Christian Jungeblodt/The GuardianMelanie Henniger, a 49-year-old IT consultant and self-described “empty nester” living in the north-western city of Bremen, said she had grown up in nearby Frankfurt an der Oder and was interested in returning to her eastern roots.“This is a great chance to get to know the region again, because otherwise I wouldn’t have any opportunities at all as I don’t know anyone there any more,” she said. “In the best case scenario, I can put down new roots there again.”The other successful applicant, 39-year-old Jonas Brander, is a Berlin-based film-maker working on a documentary about Eisenhüttenstadt.“I’m very interested in the city and its people and I want to get very close to life in my work,” Brander said, adding that he was drawn to its “living history”.Eisenhüttenstadt, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary, was the first city to ...