Empty towns in East Germany try to draw people with ‘trial living’


By AGENCY
  • Living
  • Monday, 06 Oct 2025

The Good Shepherd Church at Guben, a German town on the Polish border. — Radler59/Wikimedia Commons

Depopulated towns in Germany’s ex-communist east have come up with a novel scheme to bring back life: offering people several weeks of super-cheap housing to give would-be residents a taste of the place.

The “trial-living” scheme aims to revitalise half-deserted communities as Germany nears the 35th anniversary of its reunification on Oct 3.

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