And the dumb stay behind Part 2
In the past, calculates the Munich institute for economic research, the support billions went 20 per cent into the job market and social politics, approximately 30 per cent directly into the state budgets, means also to feed the enormous bureaucracy - but only 13 per cent were actually used to build up for the infrastructure .
Not just that, many a million was wasted in a crazy marketing war with the west to make industries move to the east.
North-Rhine/Westphalia Prime Minister Wolfgang Clement for instance explains readily his qualms with an example from the westfallian Hagen. Thuringen lured the tradition company Brandt with approximately 25 million euro of development funds from Hagen to the east German Ohrdruf. Clement went "sharp to the edge of illegality" by offering the toast factory a 15 million euro assistance for a new building in Hagen, in vain. Instead of 400 jobs as before, the new factory in Thuringen, which is to take up production in this year, will get along with 80 workers.
The schizophrenia is thus driven to the zenith: with cash from the west the east is siphoning the jobs away from the west, that on top of that has to pay for the start-up losses in the east.
This where the base in the west is calling it quits. When politicians at the states' level are visiting their own structure-weak regions, they get more and more frequently to feel the anger of those, who believe, that one needs to help himself first to help. Actually, after the last dirt road had been asphalted, the areas such as Ost Friesen, Bavarian Forest or the Ems country were left to their own means. Here the upswing west needed more than 30 years of patience to bear fruit.
[graph] Der SPIEGEL
No wonder that the passed summer the negotiations around the new Solidarity Pact were frequently close to failure, until the old countries realized the gigantic size of financial means the east still needs. Now starting 2005 the eastern states will again receive subsidies of 156 billion euro, which will steadily decrease starting 2011, and will no case extend beyond 2020.
Thus for the time being the resignation is the only thing remaining for the country without people - and the adjournment of hope for at least half a decade. The return agencies are nothing one but an uncovered cheque on a better future.
In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania one can expect that in five years there'll be a desperate need for skilled workers, , project manager Lilli Ullrich says. Therefore her agency " mv4you " is now distributing in all the state employment offices. Whoever is moving, can leave his forwarding address, " so that we can send them the information about their home country and let them hopefully decide some time again for Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania " (Ullrich).
Saxonia wants to go even further. There the agency is to become a part of the innovation-and-work foundation, responsible for the Saxonian promotion and economy development, in order to be able to make quite concrete offers to those moving away. One of its responsibilities possibly could be brokering cheap real estate, to be financed by the Saxonian structure bank. It can not be, says the DGB regional chairman Hanjo Lucassen, " that it an economic recovery is around the corner here and we stand here without young specialists ".
" the social environment in the east will take long time to achieve the western standard "
But even if the Lucassen's demand for same wages for same work should be fulfilled sometime - the just as important social environment will in the east take a long time to reach the western level.
The Thuringian Leinefelde exemplifies the situation in the majority of east German municipalities. Once a place with 2259 inhabitants, it was chosen in 1959 by the experts of economic policies in the East Berlin Polit bureau to get the development of socialism in the traditionally strictly catholic region clearly going within the shortest possible time.
When the plan was completed, no other East German town had more people living in the concrete silos than in Leinefelde, the first socialist city of the district Erfurt: 16,500 inhabitants, that is 90.5 per cent.
30 years later The Ulbricht's dream turned into an absolute nightmare absolutely. In August 1995 whole 58 per cent of the inhabitants still had regular jobs, one in ten had a part-time job. In the meantime over 4000 people left the town, and the two both housing companies must digest the vacancies between 24 and 34 per cent in the concrete silos, numbering 5500 units. The unemployment is at 15 per cent.
456 flats have already been back-built in Leinefelde, an euphemism for demolition. Some blocks were flattened to earth, some shortened down to a single floor. 723 more flats will see the wrecking ball in next three years" in the year 2030 we need only half of the 5500 flats ", say board of construction boss Roland Senft. There will be fewer than 8000 inhabitants; Senft calls it " slimming down to a healthy size".
On the other side, only 130 kilometers far away, in the district town of Sonneberg, a small economical miracle is happening. Of approximately 10,000 jobs in the toy factory only 1100 remained, and in the three industry parks only 1500 new jobs have been created so far . The income tax revenues nevertheless rose continuously from 1 million euro 1991 to 2.1 million in the year 2001.
Still, this cash rain also comes from the west, at least indirectly. Sonneberg profits from its direct proximity to Bavaria.
The municipality belongs to the employment office of the district Suhl , that according to the Berlin scientist Wolfgang Kühn has the highest number of commuters among the 34 East German employment offices. From well over 200,000 persons employed 30,000 commutes daily to the west. In the Sonneberg district sun every third worker commutes - 8000 people cross the former death strip every day.
Thus the mountain region has oriented itself consistently to the west. Out of original three railroads the only one still in operation is the one to the Bavarian Coburg - Sonneberg has uncoupled itself fromt the Thuringian hinterland was due to lack of demand. The upper-Frankish plastic manufacturer Scherer & Trier about has three busses running daily Sonneberg, to cart the manpower from east 30 kilometers to Michelau in the west, where right after the turn three new production halls were stumped out of the ground.
Andreas and Susanne Losansky also avoided the unemployment career, typical for East German crisis regions. For the 37 years old railroad engineer from Sonneberg that was the end of the railroad track. Now he rides the train for three and a half hours to Munich, where he drive the rapid-transit train. "Out of 600 engine drivers in Munich 400 come from the new countries ", say Losansky, " without us the network would break down. "
Three to four days per week he lives in a hostel in the Bavarian Boomtown, his wife Susanne drives daily 18 kilometers to Dörfles Esbach, where she works as a shop assistant. "Now we have at least the west wages ", says Andreas Losansky - and Sonneberg can, courtesy of their agile inhabitants, show 10 percent unemployment, which means the lowest in Thuringia.
But just a little deeper into the East German hinterland such daily commutes are not possible anymore. The only alternatives remain final escape or total Tristesse.
How uncertain all the predictions are, shows the fact that the employment offices are still able to get premiums for emigrating work force, while at the same time the trade unions boss from Chemnitz, Sieghard Bender, is already suggesting that the emigrated young East Germans should be lured back with return premiums.
The sociologist Wolfgang Weiß suggests a radical cure. In large parts of the state of Mecklenburg Vorpommern it makes no more sense to ignore the development or even cry over it. It is more reasonable " to anticipate the development mentally and to optimize it ". In practical terms, says Weiß, the region should be turned " into a paradise for the German retired " and the remaining land should be freed for the future ecological agriculture - " the state is becoming an old-age house one way or another ".
IRINA REPKE, ANDREAS'S WATER MAN, STEFFEN WINTERS
Title story in Spiegel #3 2002 |
