december-2009

PROPERTY | GERMANY
BALTIC
BOLTHOLES
WORDS LAURA HENDERSON
Germany’s Iron Curtain
state of Mecklenburg is
fi nally emerging from
its Soviet past, with real
estate top of the agenda
LOCALS LIKE TO savour the moment in
Mecklenburg, a habit that led Germany’s
Iron Chancellor Otto von Bismarck to
remark that the end of the world would
arrive there a good hundred years later
than anywhere else. It’s a way of life that
has served this Baltic state well. Modernday
interventions have, for the most part,
passed it by. The 19th century saw the
landed nobility, or Junkers, fi ghting the
introduction of the railways and clamping
down on business enterprise. More
recently, the area’s fortunes have been
stifl ed in more repressive ways, under
post-World War II Soviet occupation. Now,
with east-west borders fi nally torn down
and Germany one again, the place is fi nally
awakening from its blinkered slumber.
“Like many eastern provinces,
Mecklenburg has taken its cue from a
heavily regenerated Berlin,” explains
Thomas Lorenz of Exclusive Residences.
Canal-side
properties are
a steal in upand-coming
Mecklenburg
“The country’s recent poor economic
performance has meant the huge cost
of integrating former communist states
remains a work in progress, but the results
to date are no less impressive.” Janet
Küther of local property fi rm Küther
Immobilien adds: “The area has all the
essential holiday trappings, from historic
towns and inland waterways to a beautiful
stretch of coastline. Home-ownership
rates are also some of the lowest in the
country with property a good third cheaper
than western states, which leaves huge
opportunities for foreign buyers.”
COCOONED BY NAVIGABLE waterways,
Schwerin is proving a popular secondhome
choice, with the city’s revamped old
quarter – packed with art galleries and
restaurants – attracting harried Berliners
and other domestic holidaymakers, plus
Danish, Spanish and British buyers.
PHOTO © 4CORNERS