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Poles bring new life to eastern Germany


Lukasz 49 | 1,746  
13 Feb 2008 /  #1
When Daniel Sosin was looking to buy a house for his family in the north-western Polish city of Szczecin he was aghast at how little he would get for his money.

So he went looking across the nearby border with Germany, buying a 150-year-old house in the village of Penkun for about the same price as a bachelor flat in Szczecin.

Mr Sosin is part of a wider trend as people from the new EU member states, often flush with cash from real estate booms in their home countries, are beginning to buy properties in nearby "old" EU states to the west. Penkun is in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, one of Germany's most economically depressed areas. Thousands of young people have left for better prospects in the west, leaving behind empty houses and apartments that are being snapped up by Poles.

"A few people are sceptical, but the people who are moving here are the same as us - they are Catholics, they come from the same kind of culture, so we don't see any difference," says Mr Schödinger. "They are educated people, and they don't just come here to sleep for the night - they come to live, to join our soccer teams, to play music in our bands, and to put their children in our schools."

The Poles have injected new life by opening small businesses

I don't agree with whole article (part about cleaning :P ;) ) All in all it is interesting article
Polson 5 | 1,768  
13 Feb 2008 /  #2
Yeah it is ;) Where is noimmi ? Hehe.
OP Lukasz 49 | 1,746  
13 Feb 2008 /  #3
hehe no no It wasn't about cleaning toilets ;) rather that Poles don't want to clean communal areas :P

Germans and their problems :P
dtaylor 9 | 823  
13 Feb 2008 /  #4
Where is noimmi

Getting his ass whipped by Admin;)
Polson 5 | 1,768  
13 Feb 2008 /  #5
I like this part of the article :

the people who are moving here are the same as us - they are Catholics, they come from the same kind of culture, so we don't see any difference

Getting his ass whipped by Admin;)

I bet he enjoys... ;)
OP Lukasz 49 | 1,746  
13 Feb 2008 /  #6
I like this part of the article :

Last time Germans are so strange, they want to build monuments for famous Poles in Berlin. They want to build Polish museum in center of Berlin. Strange very strange :P
Polson 5 | 1,768  
13 Feb 2008 /  #7
Old foes become good friends........... we could make a good movie about Polish/German relationships ;)
OP Lukasz 49 | 1,746  
13 Feb 2008 /  #8
nightmare it is true nightmare :P ;-)
Miste 1 | 5  
13 Feb 2008 /  #9
One additional fact .

60 bilions Euro = 90 bilions $ for Poland in upcoming EU budget (2007-2013).
El Gato 4 | 351  
13 Feb 2008 /  #10
Last time Germans are so strange, they want to build monuments for famous Poles in Berlin. They want to build Polish museum in center of Berlin. Strange very strange :P

???

Wow...I think they might have changed if they are doing that.
Crow 155 | 9,025  
13 Feb 2008 /  #11
Last time Germans are so strange, they want to build monuments for famous Poles in Berlin. They want to build Polish museum in center of Berlin. Strange very strange :P

Why strange?

We know that at least Eastern Germans are of Slavic origin. Maybe people under Polish influence starting to return to their roots? It`s obvious explanation to me

Who knows, maybe that process affect even Western Germans, maybe they could be even thankfull or...
polishcanuck 7 | 462  
13 Feb 2008 /  #12
It's either the poles or the turks. I think Mr Schödinger understands that.
El Gato 4 | 351  
13 Feb 2008 /  #13
Haha. Now I see the light...
lesser 4 | 1,311  
14 Feb 2008 /  #14
I don't want to hijack this thread but this is very long topic that you mentioned. I will just reduce my response to point out how much cash western Germans pumped to Eastern part of the country (much smaller and less populated than Poland!). Since unification they transfered more than $1.5 trillion and the results are very poor. This is an example how much is worth the concept of the socialist redistribution of wealth.

Having poured $1.5 trillion into the east since reunification in 1990, many Germans now regard this grand project as a costly failure -- one that could drag down the rest of the country.


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