Prof. Ralf Boden
Rooted in the growth region
Prof. Ralf Boden, professor at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the University of Applied Sciences in Dresden, sits on the city train from Kamenz to Dresden. If he lets his gaze wander, he sees other commuters who are spellbound on their screens, whether from their smartphone or tablet. They are the ones who connect a region to the outside world. Work in the cities, live in the countryside. Short distances and the numerous possibilities of the surrounding area create a regional bond that easily overcomes the city limits.
An interview with Yasemin Schäfer about arriving in the new, old home.
Since 2017, more people have moved from the west to the east for the first time (Destatis 2019). In addition to the improved labor market situation, withdrawal into social networks such as family and friends also plays a role. Reasons that also gave the Schäfer Junior and Senior family the impetus to return to Kamenz.
In 2016, Robin Klinkert, 38, had a dream come true: the opening of his own bike park in Elstra in beautiful West Lusatia.
The desire for a career change, the opportunity for self-fulfillment and, last but not least, his home brought him back to Saxony. For its visitors (whether young or old, beginners or professionals) this means: An incomparable feeling of "flow" (= downhill fun) on four varied routes with different demands, embedded in the wonderful local West Lusatian nature!
A fresh start for a successful start-up: Thomas Hucke started a new chapter in his professional career in May 2018. As technical manager of the company Skeleton Technologies, the world's only manufacturer of graphene-based ultracapacitors based in Großröhrsdorf, he and his team are helping to shape the future of the energy storage market today. The return to Dresden, back to family and old friends was the other big factor that made the decision to come back easy for him. A success story, without any obstacles.
If there was the game “Show your city of birth!”, Emma and her friends would get a lot to see. Because the four-year-old belongs to a group whose parents come from the east, moved to the west, had their children there, and returned to the east as young families. For example, Emma and her one-year-old sister Nele uttered their first screams in Rosenheim. Her friends Paula and Max were born in Ulm, Maja in Ludwigshafen, Lennart in Hamburg and Danny in Neckarsulm. Now everyone lives in Kamenz.
Monday morning at four on the highway, Friday afternoon back. And in between a lot of work and long evenings in a small, sparse apartment: This is what Philipp Friedrich's life looked like for almost two years. "Actually, it was no longer a real life," says the 28-year-old. At home the girlfriend and family were waiting, and in the distance work. Hundreds of thousands from the region are like Friedrich: They commute back and forth between their home and their place of work. Friedrich had struck comparatively well with a distance of 210 kilometers. And yet it was too far to drive every day.
The family of five has been living in their own house in Großröhrsdorf for three months and has already arrived correctly. The furniture has all found its place in the house, they regularly meet with the neighbors for a chat at the garden fence and the three-year-old twins and the one-year-old girl have found playmates without any problems. For Melanie and Torsten Neujahr a wish was fulfilled that had little chance of success in their previous home.
The house in which the Körmann family moved three months ago is located in the Bischheim district of the Haselbachtal municipality. The return from Baden-Württemberg to the "Wachstumsregion Dresden" had some surprises and some obstacles for the family.
The family estate of the Leuthold family is located on the street B97. Huge rhododendron bushes grow behind a beautiful wrought-iron fence, behind which flows the river Pulsnitz - a dream. The family home is framed by the evergreen splendor. It is inhabited by the parents and since November 1. 2016 by son Carsten.
The Heppner family is an institution in Wildenhain, with an agricultural business, a butcher's shop and a beautiful farm shop. Katja Wiedner (born Heppner) grew up in Skassa and attended the secondary school “Am Schacht” in Grossenhain. When Katja finished school in 1998, the search for an apprenticeship, unlike today, was a difficult undertaking. The crisis in the training market seemed to be continuing. Like many others, Katja decided to apply “in the West”. She received an apprenticeship contract at a butcher's shop in Schillingsfürst. It was clear from the start that she would come back.