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The Guardian - UK

World

Deborah Cole in Berlin

German contest to live in depopulated Soviet-era city proves global hit

Christian Jungeblodt

View of a wide central street in Eisenhüttenstadt, with few cars or people in sight. — Eisenhüttenstadt was built in Soviet-controlled east Germany shortly after the second world war. Photograph: Christian Jungeblodt/The Guardian

An innovative contest by a city in formerly communist east Germany to curb depopulation by offering a fortnight of free housing has stunned local officials with its success.

The competition drew more than 1,700 applications from around the world to try living in Eisenhüttenstadt, a Soviet-style planned city on the Polish border, near Berlin, which was built around a steel plant in the aftermath of the second world war.

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