The migration from eastern German cities - usually into the west - is not always voluntary. It is rather the result of a lack of prospects for the future, while the wish to keep in touch with home remains. By now, the return migration plays a decisive role for the revitalisation of vacant rural spaces in Europe's traditional migration regions (e.g. Portugal, Italy, Ireland). The experiences, the know-how and the capital, but also their mutual connection is a primary potential for the economic revival of the home region. The importance of return migration for eastern Germany has hardly been recognised until now, even though it already represents a share of immigration into the eastern German regions that cannot be neglected.
The prospects of a systematic promotion of return migration for selected major cities in eastern Germany will be analysed within the scope of a project. The goal is the development of a transferable catalogue of measures for the promotion of return migration. Return migration only takes place if the emigrated people sustained a strong connection to their original homes. Emigrant networks are thus a precondition for the productive organisation of relations and exchanges.
The implementation of the model measures should ensure the participation of both public and private employers as well as those institutions in which young people reach the decision to emigrate, such as schools, academia, sports clubs, parties and associations. Therefore, the project will not only demonstrate new ways to enable emigrated people to return to their home towns, but will also contribute to a positive change in the image of eastern German cities. This is done through the identification of factors for retaining or returning and the development of approaches for the optimisation of the situation of return migration.
