Alex Massie Alex Massie

World Without Borders: Lebensraum for German Pensioners

Borders matter less than they used to. That’s not always apparent in this country protected as it is by the sea but on the continent frontiers are, once again, increasingly arbitrary and meaningless lines on a map. Modern Europe, in this respect, is beginning to look like an older Europe.

Consider the new German invasion of the east. Invasion is, of course, too hysterical a term. Nevertheless, according to this fascinating Bloomberg report, (hat-tip: Tyler Cowen) increasing numbers of German pensioners are moving to Poland and elsewhere in search of more affordable care to ease them through their final years. Not quite lebensraum then but you get the idea.

As many as one in five Germans say they would seriously consider sending their elderly relatives to a “foreign” nursing home. And why not? German insurance pays 1,500 euros a month for long-term care; the average German nursing home costs more than 3,000 euro a month. Costs in Poland are often less than half that and the German government will contribute 700 euros a month towards the cost of caring for German pensioners in Polish or Czech nursing homes. The logic is compelling. After all, for many Germans there is little functional difference between a nursing home 100 miles away in Germany and one 100 miles away that happens to be in a different country (albeit one that was for a long time also heavily-German).

And so:

The lure of elderly Germans with money in the bank has caught the attention of Polish entrepreneurs and owners of resorts that have seen better days.

One new facility has sought to transplant a piece of Germany into the Polish town of Zabelkow. Like Szklarska Poreba, Zabelkow is in Silesia, a region that had long been part of the German-speaking world.

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