THE little town of Schladen-Werla in rural Lower Saxony, right alongside the former barrier between East and West Germany, is in a demographic “devil’s spiral”, says Andreas Memmert, its mayor. The place is projected to lose about a third of its population by 2030. “The young and clever leave and the less mobile stay,” he notes. As the population thins out, bus routes, crèches, schools, banks, convenience stores and libraries close for lack of demand. This makes life even harder for remaining residents, so they leave too.
Germany has one of the world’s most rapidly aging and shrinking populations, even though an uptick in immigration has temporarily halted its overall decline since 2011. By 2060 it is estimated that the total number of Germans will have tumbled by 20m, equivalent to Romania’s population today. But decline is unevenly spread. Some cities are growing. Other areas, mainly in the east and the countryside, are emptying, (see map).
But local people in those places are not giving in. Some get together to start volunteer van services to replace buses. Others merge government services and shops under one roof…
