The declining importance of agricultural employment in East Germany |
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Authors: | Elke Knappe |
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Institution: | 1. Institut für L?nderkunde, Schongauerstr. 9, 042329, Leipzig, Germany
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Abstract: | Agriculture has ceased to be the major employer in the rural areas of East Germany. Far-reaching structural change has resulted
in a sharp decrease in employment and the mono-structural character of villages has been lost. Unemployment is now a major
problem and women are worst affected. New jobs have been created in construction and elsewhere in the tertiary sector but
most people who have found new jobs have to commute to the towns or migrate permanently to the urban areas. A north-south
contrast has developed because the more developed network of towns in the latter, combined with a relatively good infrastructure,
has enabled many villages to survive as viable communities. An example is Fuchshain near Leipzig where employment with the
farming company (the former cooperative with 4200 ha of land) has declined but the population has grown through new housing
built for commuters. In the north there has been much depopulation and many houses are used as second homes. Either way there
is more conflict occurring now within rural communities because of tensions between the employed and the unemployed and between
old and new residents. It is therefore important that land use planning should take into account the changed economic and
social profiles and measures should be adopted to ensure that the countryside remains visually attractive and socially cohesive.
This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date. |
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Keywords: | agriculture commuting employment East Germany housing migration structural change villages |
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