Latest news with #RBB24
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
This German town wants to lure new residents with free accommodation
A town in eastern Germany is offering two weeks free accommodation to encourage people to relocate there in a bid to boost its population. Eisenhüttenstadt, which sits on the border with Poland around 60 miles from the German capital Berlin, is offering a 14-day trial stay for potential new residents, according to a statement from the local council on May 13. 'The project is aimed at anyone interested in moving to Eisenhüttenstadt—such as commuters, those interested in returning to the town, skilled workers, or self-employed individuals seeking a change of scenery,' it said, with applications open until the beginning of July. Selected participants will live for free in a furnished apartment from September 6-20 as part of an 'innovative immigration project' named 'Make Plans Now,' said the council. They 'will have the opportunity to get to know the life, work and community of (Eisenhüttenstadt) in a 14-day living trial — for free and in the middle of the town,' reads the statement. In order to help participants get a feel for the town, the council will lay on a number of activities including a tour, a factory tour and various outings. The council will also encourage participants to stay permanently, with local businesses offering internships, job shadowing and interview opportunities. Founded in 1950, Eisenhüttenstadt, which can be translated as Steel Mill Town, was the first fully planned town built under the socialist government of the former East Germany. Sitting on the banks of the Oder River, socialist planners built the town around a huge steelworks. Previously known as Stalinstadt, or Stalin Town, after former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, it was renamed after East and West Germany reunified following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Like many towns and cities in the former East Germany, it has seen its population decline since reunification, from a peak of more than 50,000 to the current level of around 24,000, local official Julia Basan told local media outlet RBB24. The scheme aims to attract more permanent residents, particularly skilled workers, said Basan. Today, Eisenhüttenstadt is home to the largest integrated steelworks in eastern Germany, which employs 2,500 people, as well as being a hub for metals processing. Many of the socialist-era buildings are listed as historical monuments and the openness of the town's layout is striking, attracting visitors interested in architecture. One recent new arrival said that the architecture was responsible for his decision to move to the town. It was 'a complete coincidence,' the man said in a video posted on the town hall Instagram account. 'We were travelling to Ratzdorf with friends and drove through Karl-Marx-Straße. And I saw these houses, this architecture that completely blew me away and I said to my wife, 'I'm going to move here,'' he said. The man later organized a tour of the town with a local historian to learn more. 'After the tour we were so blown away by this architecture, that was actually the trigger,' he said.
CNN
29-05-2025
- Business
- CNN
This German town wants to lure new residents with free accommodation
A town in eastern Germany is offering two weeks free accommodation to encourage people to relocate there in a bid to boost its population. Eisenhüttenstadt, which sits on the border with Poland around 60 miles from the German capital Berlin, is offering a 14-day trial stay for potential new residents, according to a statement from the local council on May 13. 'The project is aimed at anyone interested in moving to Eisenhüttenstadt—such as commuters, those interested in returning to the town, skilled workers, or self-employed individuals seeking a change of scenery,' it said, with applications open until the beginning of July. Selected participants will live for free in a furnished apartment from September 6-20 as part of an 'innovative immigration project' named 'Make Plans Now,' said the council. They 'will have the opportunity to get to know the life, work and community of (Eisenhüttenstadt) in a 14-day living trial — for free and in the middle of the town,' reads the statement. In order to help participants get a feel for the town, the council will lay on a number of activities including a tour, a factory tour and various outings. The council will also encourage participants to stay permanently, with local businesses offering internships, job shadowing and interview opportunities. Founded in 1950, Eisenhüttenstadt, which can be translated as Steel Mill Town, was the first fully planned town built under the socialist government of the former East Germany. Sitting on the banks of the Oder River, socialist planners built the town around a huge steelworks. Previously known as Stalinstadt, or Stalin Town, after former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, it was renamed after East and West Germany reunified following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Like many towns and cities in the former East Germany, it has seen its population decline since reunification, from a peak of more than 50,000 to the current level of around 24,000, local official Julia Basan told local media outlet RBB24. The scheme aims to attract more permanent residents, particularly skilled workers, said Basan. Today, Eisenhüttenstadt is home to the largest integrated steelworks in eastern Germany, which employs 2,500 people, as well as being a hub for metals processing. Many of the socialist-era buildings are listed as historical monuments and the openness of the town's layout is striking, attracting visitors interested in architecture. One recent new arrival said that the architecture was responsible for his decision to move to the town. It was 'a complete coincidence,' the man said in a video posted on the town hall Instagram account. 'We were travelling to Ratzdorf with friends and drove through Karl-Marx-Straße. And I saw these houses, this architecture that completely blew me away and I said to my wife, 'I'm going to move here,'' he said. The man later organized a tour of the town with a local historian to learn more. 'After the tour we were so blown away by this architecture, that was actually the trigger,' he said.
CNN
29-05-2025
- Business
- CNN
This German town wants to lure new residents with free accommodation
A town in eastern Germany is offering two weeks free accommodation to encourage people to relocate there in a bid to boost its population. Eisenhüttenstadt, which sits on the border with Poland around 60 miles from the German capital Berlin, is offering a 14-day trial stay for potential new residents, according to a statement from the local council on May 13. 'The project is aimed at anyone interested in moving to Eisenhüttenstadt—such as commuters, those interested in returning to the town, skilled workers, or self-employed individuals seeking a change of scenery,' it said, with applications open until the beginning of July. Selected participants will live for free in a furnished apartment from September 6-20 as part of an 'innovative immigration project' named 'Make Plans Now,' said the council. They 'will have the opportunity to get to know the life, work and community of (Eisenhüttenstadt) in a 14-day living trial — for free and in the middle of the town,' reads the statement. In order to help participants get a feel for the town, the council will lay on a number of activities including a tour, a factory tour and various outings. The council will also encourage participants to stay permanently, with local businesses offering internships, job shadowing and interview opportunities. Founded in 1950, Eisenhüttenstadt, which can be translated as Steel Mill Town, was the first fully planned town built under the socialist government of the former East Germany. Sitting on the banks of the Oder River, socialist planners built the town around a huge steelworks. Previously known as Stalinstadt, or Stalin Town, after former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, it was renamed after East and West Germany reunified following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Like many towns and cities in the former East Germany, it has seen its population decline since reunification, from a peak of more than 50,000 to the current level of around 24,000, local official Julia Basan told local media outlet RBB24. The scheme aims to attract more permanent residents, particularly skilled workers, said Basan. Today, Eisenhüttenstadt is home to the largest integrated steelworks in eastern Germany, which employs 2,500 people, as well as being a hub for metals processing. Many of the socialist-era buildings are listed as historical monuments and the openness of the town's layout is striking, attracting visitors interested in architecture. One recent new arrival said that the architecture was responsible for his decision to move to the town. It was 'a complete coincidence,' the man said in a video posted on the town hall Instagram account. 'We were travelling to Ratzdorf with friends and drove through Karl-Marx-Straße. And I saw these houses, this architecture that completely blew me away and I said to my wife, 'I'm going to move here,'' he said. The man later organized a tour of the town with a local historian to learn more. 'After the tour we were so blown away by this architecture, that was actually the trigger,' he said.
The Independent
22-02-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Berlin Holocaust Memorial stabbing suspect wanted to kill Jewish people, prosecutors say
The suspect in a stabbing at Berlin's Holocaust Memorial two days before Germany's election was a Syrian refugee who apparently wanted to kill Jews, according to prosecutors. The 19-year-old was arrested almost three hours after the knife attack on a Spanish tourist. The victim, aged 30, sustained life-threatening injuries in the incident on Friday evening but survived, officials said. He underwent an emergency operation and was put into an artificial coma, however his life is no longer in danger. Police and prosecutors said the suspect, who approached officers with blood on his hands and clothes, arrived in Germany in 2023 as an unaccompanied minor and successfully applied for asylum. He lives in Leipzig. Evidence so far suggests the attack was linked to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. He is believed to have chosen to mount the attack at the memorial after deciding to target Jewish people, prosecutors said. They are working to establish if the suspect, who is under investigation on suspicion of attempted murder and bodily harm, suffers from any mental illness. They said he was not previously known to police or judicial authorities in Berlin. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser described the attack as "an abhorrent and brutal crime" and said that "we will use all the means at our disposal to deport violent criminals to Syria again." At the time of his arrest, he was carrying a backpack containing a prayer mat, a Quran, a sheet with verses from the Quran as well as Friday's date, and the knife allegedly used in the attack. An eyewitness told local broadcaster RBB24 that two men had appeared to approach each other before the victim was suddenly stabbed at around 6pm local time (5pm UK time). Video of city centre, near the Brandenburg Gate, showed emergency vehicles and heavily armoured police lined along one side of the 1.9 hectare (4.7 acres) memorial site, which had been sealed off as investigators combed the scene. The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, one of the German capital's most sacred sites, commemorates the six million Jews murdered by Adolf Hitler's Nazis during World War Two. The stabbing came just two days before Germans vote in a national election on Sunday, with the campaign marred by a series of high-profile attacks. Polls suggest a far-right party could come in second place for the first time in nine decades. One of the recent attacks was a stabbing in which two were killed, including a toddler, which was blamed on an Afghan immigrant. That prompted a fraught debate on immigration and demands from the front-runner conservatives for the border to be closed. In December, a Saudi man who had lived in Germany for years and whose posting history showed he sympathised with the far-right, rammed a Christmas market with a car, killing six, including a child, and injuring hundreds. Earlier on Friday, an 18-year-old Chechen was arrested on suspicion of planning an attack on the Israeli embassy in Berlin, Bild newspaper reported. German news agency dpa, which cited unidentified security sources, said that the suspect was planning to leave Germany to join the Islamic State group. On Saturday, a suspicious object resembling explosives was found during a related search of an apartment in Potsdam and taken away to be defused elsewhere, police said. More about Berlin Germany
