Bussola resident Jessica Parker, a Berlin correspondent, tells the story of Oschersleben, a town in Saxony‑Anhalt that lost 26 % of its residents since 1990. The ex‑East, once a thriving industrial hub, now grapples with empty shops, schools and care homes.
Jan‑Niklas Hustedt, who grew up in the GDR a week before the Berlin Wall fell, recalls techno parties in abandoned factories – memories that now feel bittersweet as the population shrinks. In 35 years after reunification Germany’s population grew 5 % largely through immigration, but the five former GDR states lost 16 %.
The decline is driven by a shock at the capitalist transition, a sharp drop in fertility (now below the 2.1 replacement rate) and a generational shift away from the East. Low birth rates mean fewer young people stay, and skilled‑worker shortages leave rural communities feeling helpless, often turning to the anti‑immigrant AfD for a sense of agency.
In Saxony‑Anhalt the AfD is set for its first state‑level coalition, riding a 40 % poll haul in September. The party’s platform offers baby‑bonuses and rejects immigration as a “solution,” reviving nationalist rhetoric that fuels eastern anxieties.
Local initiatives – such as Heimvorteil Harz – seek to pull workers back by promoting a good quality of life and affordable housing. Yet the scale of the decline outpaces any single project, economic researcher Katja Salomo warns. A broad mix of childcare support, new housing and wage incentives is needed to stem the tide.
With more Germans retiring and the birth rate stubbornly low, experts forecast a 5 % population drop by 2070 unless policies reverse the trend. The ghost of the Berlin Wall still casts a shadow on eastern communities today, now in the shape of a shrinking, ageing population and a politics that looks for an answer in nationalist rhetoric.
