Tue, 9 February 2010
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With Germany in its worst recession in six decades, Berlin expats are finding ways to survive.For many expats in the famously poor but sexy German capital, the dominant feeling about the impact of the economic crisis here so far has been characteristically laid back: It’s not that bad.
Berlin was so impoverished to begin with, the theory goes, that the German recession – the country’s worst in six decades – has not really been felt.
Indeed, with budget airlines like Easy Jet and Air Berlin going at full blast this past summer and city workers determinedly toiling away to restore the Berlin Wall in time for its historic 20th anniversary in November, the metropolis of 3.4 million has seemed as bustling as ever.
“The whole crisis never hit here as badly as it did anywhere else,” said Jon Sanders, 29, manager of the über hip Danish lifestyle and fashion shop Wood Wood in Berlin’s trendy Mitte district. “My impression of retailers in Berlin-Mitte is that they haven't been severely hit by the crisis. Whereas in Copenhagen, you hear it and feel it and see it a lot: You really see a lot of empty shop spaces.”
According to Christian Dreger, an economist at the German Institute for Economic Research, Berlin’s economy has managed to escape the worst effects of the economic crisis largely because its major industry is government.
“Berlin’s economy is expected to decline in 2009 and perhaps even in 2010 but the situation this year is not as bad as in the rest of Germany,” said Dreger. “This is not due to the particular strength of the Berlin economy but instead reflects the fact that Berlin firms are less involved in international markets. So while we had huge declines in German exports, which contributed to the decline of Germany’s GDP growth rate, in Berlin this negative effect is smaller.”
Berlin’s unique economic structure in turn means that its expat population differs from other expats hubs in Germany, such as Hamburg, which attracts expats working in trade and industry or Frankfurt, which attracts those in trade and banking – all sectors that have been hard hit in Germany over the last year and a half.
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