Share:
New start in old age How seniors can move easier
Moving is only something for students and young family. That this is only half the story proves seniors who are ready for a change of residence even in old age. The desire for a better living environment, less rent and thus more pension in the wallet, she draws mainly from West to East, out of the cities and into smaller cities.
When Jürgen Fromberg saw Görlitz for the first time, it sparked immediately. This medieval old town center, the many splendidly renovated houses from the Wilhelminian era - in his hometown Ingelheim and also in the neighboring, almost completely bombed Mainz during the Second World War, there was nothing comparable. That could well be a good retirement home, thought Görlitz-Tourist Fromberg and wanted to know more. During the free trial, the smart marketing idea of a municipal housing company, he tested whether the initial spark could become love. "I sat down and wrote a checklist with points that are important to me in old age. Including rental prices, cost of living, medical infrastructure and cultural offer, "says the 77-year-old. The grand winner at the end: the East Saxon city of Neisse. Even though the Spanish Costa Brava and the Turkish Riviera were also on the ballot.
You do not transplant a tree? Even seniors can move easily. Picture: contrast workshop - fotolia At 18 percent vacancy, an apartment was found quickly. 110 square meters, high ceilings, stucco and French doors. Rental price: including additional costs around 700 Euro. A factor that appreciably upgraded his pension, because in Ingelheim Fromberg had to put for a comparable area a good 300 euros more on the table. In Wiesbaden, on the other side of the Rhine, he would have gotten warm for a similar level of living hardly anything under 1,400 euros. So, in 2010, the retired engineer dropped all his tents and moved from the Rhine to the Neisse.
People like Jürgen Fromberg are a blessing for cities like Görlitz. Since the fall of the Wall, the city in the east of the Republic has lost about a quarter of its once over 72,000 inhabitants. However, incentives such as a welcome package with electricity credit and free travel in urban public transport mean that more people have been moving here since 2013 instead of moving away. Nearly 20 percent of the Neugörlitzer are 50 years and older, mainly from North Rhine-Westphalia, Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria. "Seniors come from cities and metropolitan areas, but also from residential areas that are slightly out of the way and therefore are not particularly suitable for life in old age due to long distances to shopping or doctor. Many have good pensions, but they do not want to spend them on high living costs, but rather on culture and travel, "says Sylvia Otto of the city administration about the older newcomers.
Especially due to the demographic change, the internal migration of people over the age of 65 has been increasing for years: In 1995 there were still around 210,000 migration cases, according to the Federal Statistical Office in 2013, almost 260,000 senior citizens changed their place of residence. "The motives are quite different," says Klaus Friedrich, Professor of Social Geography at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. "The majority, about 41 percent, draws on family networks and draws in the age, for example, in the vicinity of the children. One third mentions poor living and living conditions at the place of origin, one fifth opt for the classic retirement hike. "Although the saying" An old tree is not transplanted "still applies and seniors on average three times less often than younger ones, they are "New" old like Jürgen Fromberg a quite growing, more mobile group.
USA, England, Frankfurt - the Rhinelander was already on the road a lot during his working life and moved several times in Germany. There was no deep attachment to a certain place. After the death of his wife and the retirement, the question: "Is that what it was supposed to be?". No, Fromberg he fulfilled a lifelong dream and drove as a bus driver tourists across Europe. After a million kilometers was over and the chapter Görlitz began.
It is - in contrast to the post-reunification years - especially the East of Germany, which benefits from relocating seniors, says demographic expert Friedrich. And while the boys make their pilgrimage to the metropolises, the over-65s are the only age group to oppose this trend. They increasingly turn their backs on Stuttgart, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg and Co., thus bringing losses to West Germany's major cities in particular. Take Munich for example: Between 2003 and 2013, the Bavarian capital has lost a good 1,200 residents aged 50 to 64 years and another 2,000 or so at the age of more than 65 years. Alternative residential locations find the ex-city dwellers in rural areas. Especially in scenic regions, in small and medium-sized cities with cultural and leisure facilities as well as good infrastructure.
For example in Weimar. The Thuringian city has never advertised explicitly for the target group of seniors. "The elders come all by themselves," says Mark Schmidt from the city marketing. Weimar has recorded around 4,000 new arrivals per year since 2001, making it one of the few cities in the state whose population has been growing for years, recording growing purchasing power and attracting investors who, among other things, close vacant lots. About eleven percent of new citizens are older than 50, mostly educated, attracted by the rich cultural offer, by big names like Goethe, Schiller and Bauhaus and - due to two universities - a young cityscape. Everything so, which also offers a big city. Cheap rentals on top.
Too little rent for rent - a fear that already today many Germans think of more flexibility in old age. According to a recent study by real estate portal immowelt.de, 40 percent of tenants questioned can imagine retiring to their place of residence and moving to a more favorable location.
Thomas Beyerle, chief analyst of the real estate company Catella, is convinced that the phenomenon of internal migration of older people will expand in the future: "Although it will not be a horde of hundreds of thousands of retirees traveling with suitcases, it will be many small ones Give waves. For example, high in the north and deep in the south. "For example, regions such as the Alpine foothills, rural districts such as Oderhavel or the North Sea and Baltic Sea have experienced growth rates of up to two percent in terms of" new citizens of retirement age "for years.
Ex-Rhinelander Jürgen Fromberg has meanwhile moved again. In a stately 163-square-meter apartment with his new partner. He arrived in Görlitz. The now about five hours longer train ride to his children, he likes to put up with: "I just feel comfortable here. I never regretted the decision. "(Pm)