Two weeks of free keep: the initiative of a German metropolis towards depopulation and denatality | EUROtoday

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Two weeks, a furnished condo through which to reside at no cost and a metropolis with occasions and job affords to find. This is the initiative devised by the municipal administration of Eisenhüttenstadt, a citizen in Brandenburg, East of Germany. The hope is to search out future residents to counter depopulation and denatality.

From 6 to twenty September 2025, those that have a piece allow legitimate in Germany or within the European Union will be capable of reside at no cost in one of many two lodging made obtainable by the Municipality, to know if this metropolis born from industrial socialism is usually a place to remain. The initiative known as “Jetzt Pläne Schmieden”, actually “let’s start making projects”.

And that is what the Town Hall, along with the native actual property firm GEWI, hopes to occur: that the individuals arrive within the metropolis, and wish to keep to work and make a household. The intention of the initiative is in reality to draw certified staff, younger folks and individuals who wish to settle within the metropolis

The necessities

To apply it’s essential to fill in a type in German, demonstrating a C1 stage. The program is designed for many who have already got the bureaucratic necessities to reside and work in Germany. They aren’t offered seen, nor assist to get them. Pets aren’t allowed, flats aren’t accessible to folks with disabilities. Each keep offers for a safety deposit of 250 euros, refundable on the finish of the interval.

During the 2 weeks it’s anticipated that the “trial” residents are actively concerned in metropolis life by way of guided excursions, conferences with native associations, cognitive interviews with corporations, collective tables in public locations. The program additionally features a symbolic passage: on the finish of the expertise, every participant must write a love letter to the town, telling what he has seen, what he heard, what he may wish to construct there.