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In reply to the discussion: STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Thursday, 25 October 2012 [View all]xchrom
(108,903 posts)38. A New Wave of Stores Keep German Villages Alive
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/village-stores-experience-a-renaissance-in-germany-a-861859.html
http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/photo-gallery-village-stores-keep-german-heartland-beating-fotostrecke-88800-5.html
This spring, the last shop in the western German village of Thier closed. The little café and bakery was the place people in the town of 1,300 went to buy bread. More importantly, it was also where they could gather and hear the latest town gossip.
"It was a wake-up call," says Thomas Karthaus, who along with a handful of town residents decided to open up a community-owned store to bring back a place where villagers could meet.
Like many little towns in Germany, Thier, which is located in a rural area about 46 kilometers (29 miles) from Cologne, has become a victim of twin demographic trends: a mass exodus from rural to urban areas and general population decline. In other words, fewer babies are being born in Germany and those who do make it into this world are moving to big cities as soon as they grow up.
For those who are left behind, village life is threatening to become particularly lonely. Small town butchers, bakers, doctors, banks and other business owners are closing up shop, leaving villagers with little choice but to drive to bigger cities for any kind of service. But now German villages like Thier are taking matters into their own hands, opening modern day village stores in an effort to help keep these hamlets alive.
http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/photo-gallery-village-stores-keep-german-heartland-beating-fotostrecke-88800-5.html
This spring, the last shop in the western German village of Thier closed. The little café and bakery was the place people in the town of 1,300 went to buy bread. More importantly, it was also where they could gather and hear the latest town gossip.
"It was a wake-up call," says Thomas Karthaus, who along with a handful of town residents decided to open up a community-owned store to bring back a place where villagers could meet.
Like many little towns in Germany, Thier, which is located in a rural area about 46 kilometers (29 miles) from Cologne, has become a victim of twin demographic trends: a mass exodus from rural to urban areas and general population decline. In other words, fewer babies are being born in Germany and those who do make it into this world are moving to big cities as soon as they grow up.
For those who are left behind, village life is threatening to become particularly lonely. Small town butchers, bakers, doctors, banks and other business owners are closing up shop, leaving villagers with little choice but to drive to bigger cities for any kind of service. But now German villages like Thier are taking matters into their own hands, opening modern day village stores in an effort to help keep these hamlets alive.
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