You may recognise the eastern German city of Görlitz even if you’ve never been. Its pristine historic facades have featured in over 120 recent films, most memorably the Grand Budapest Hotel starring Ralph Fiennes.
Now Görlitz, situated near the Polish border in the region of Saxony, is pinning its future economic hopes on another backdrop – and actual stars. A crumbling 19th century complex, once the country’s largest psychiatric clinic, has been chosen as the future home for Germany’s new Centre for Astrophysics (DZA).
The €1.2 billion investment – the largest of its kind in German history – is expected to generate about 1,000 jobs directly and have a positive economic knock-on effect for the area, drawing other scientific and non-scientific employers.
“The DZA will be a scientific lighthouse for astrophysics in the heart of Europe,” said Sebastian Gemkow, Saxony’s state science and research minister, at an event at the former clinic in Görlitz last week.
The news comes at a crucial moment for the economically weak city, where salaries are one fifth lower than the national median and the jobless rate three points higher.
Görlitz mayor Octavian Ursu sees the investment as a “paradigm shift”, one he hopes will revive pre-war prosperity visible in its grand street facades. But the good news comes at a time of great political uncertainty in Saxony.
After 34 uninterrupted years in power, polls before a weekend state election place the ruling Christian Democratic Union (CDU) almost neck and neck – on 30 per cent to 32 per cent – with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
In recent European elections things looked even more drastic in Görlitz: the CDU took 23.7 per cent next to the AfD’s 40 per cent. The populist party’s xenophobic and anti-immigrant rhetoric are already a challenge to this self-styled “European city” directly on the Polish border. Given the local AfD support there are concerns about how attractive will Görlitz be when the DZA looks to hire the army of international scientists it needs to succeed.
“Everyone who come to us is enthusiastic and sees the benefits of the region, often more than people who live here,” said Mayor Ursu. “I think we are more attractive than those who make up only a part of the political landscape.”
Görlitz found itself in good company last week. Parallel to the DZA announcement, Taiwanese semiconductor firm TSMC broke ground on a new factory in the Saxon capital Dresden, promising 2,000 jobs. Taken together with a new Intel plant in neighbouring Magdeburg, and another 3,000 jobs, the region will soon be continental Europe’s semiconductor hub.
Saxony’s outgoing government insists that, after three decades of ups and downs, the investments are sure signs that its pre-war reputation is returning for precision engineering and manufacturing.
Taken as a whole eastern German per-head output appears stuck at 76 per cent of western levels. Yet statistics show Saxony’s GDP has surged by 283 per cent since 1991. In Germany’s 16-state GDP league table Saxony occupies eighth place and even on a per-head basis is almost drawn in 12th place with the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
But ask around in Görlitz and locals say economic uncertainty is what has boosted the popularity of the populists.
Maik, a local 35-year-old in a busy city cafe, says members of his family were among 700 people who lost their jobs in June with the departure of train and tram-making company Alstom, ending a century-old tradition in the city. “That was a big economic and emotional loss for many people. People don’t quite believe these good news announcements any more.”
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