CNN
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A town in eastern Germany is offering two weeks free accommodation to encourage people to relocate there in a bid to boost its population.
Eisenhüttenstadt, which sits on the border with Poland around 60 miles from the German capital Berlin, is offering a 14-day trial stay for potential new residents, according to a statement from the local council on May 13.
“The project is aimed at anyone interested in moving to Eisenhüttenstadt—such as commuters, those interested in returning to the town, skilled workers, or self-employed individuals seeking a change of scenery,” it said, with applications open until the beginning of July.
Selected participants will live for free in a furnished apartment from September 6-20 as part of an “innovative immigration project” named “Make Plans Now,” said the council.
They “will have the opportunity to get to know the life, work and community of (Eisenhüttenstadt) in a 14-day living trial — for free and in the middle of the town,” reads the statement.
In order to help participants get a feel for the town, the council will lay on a number of activities including a tour, a factory tour and various outings.
The council will also encourage participants to stay permanently, with local businesses offering internships, job shadowing and interview opportunities.
Founded in 1950, Eisenhüttenstadt, which can be translated as Steel Mill Town, was the first fully planned town built under the socialist government of the former East Germany.
Sitting on the banks of the Oder River, socialist planners built the town around a huge steelworks.
Previously known as Stalinstadt, or Stalin Town, after former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, it was renamed after East and West Germany reunified following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
Like many towns and cities in the former East Germany, it has seen its population decline since reunification, from a peak of more than 50,000 to the current level of around 24,000, local official Julia Basan told local media outlet RBB24.
The scheme aims to attract more permanent residents, particularly skilled workers, said Basan.
Today, Eisenhüttenstadt is home to the largest integrated steelworks in eastern Germany, which employs 2,500 people, as well as being a hub for metals processing.
Many of the socialist-era buildings are listed as historical monuments and the openness of the town’s layout is striking, attracting visitors interested in architecture.
One recent new arrival said that the architecture was responsible for his decision to move to the town.
It was “a complete coincidence,” the man said in a video posted on the town hall Instagram account.
“We were travelling to Ratzdorf with friends and drove through Karl-Marx-Straße. And I saw these houses, this architecture that completely blew me away and I said to my wife, ‘I’m going to move here,’” he said.
The man later organized a tour of the town with a local historian to learn more.
“After the tour we were so blown away by this architecture, that was actually the trigger,” he said.
