German students go “east”

No, when students in Cologne, Hamburg or Munich jokingly talk about the “Far East”, they do not refer to China, Japan or Korea. What they mean is the eastern part of present-day Germany which – before the Wall came down – used to be a somewhat remote and inaccessible place for most West Germans. These times are long past, and many regions of the former German Democratic Republic have become outright “tiger states”.

Dresden, Leipzig and Magdeburg – to mention just a few – are some of the East German cities that have developed very dynamically during the last decade. The eastern part of Germany can boast of some of the oldest and most highly reputed universities of the country.The quality of education and research was generally very good under communist rule but much of the physical infratructure was outdated and in need of repair.

Since unification the government has invested billions into the modernisation of East German universities. Some, like the one in Leipzig, have received full new campuses. Others were equipped with state-of-the-art libraries, laboratories and computer centres. The housing situation for students has always been better in East than in West Germany, where the government depended too much on the private market. The student hostels from communist times by now have all been modernised and offer accommodation which is both comfortable and affordable.

More and more young people from West Germany are deciding “to go East” for higher studies, being tired of overcrowded lecture halls, poor professor-student ratios and expensive housing in some West German cities. It is a well-known fact that many universities in the East offer a better support infrastructure for international students (like pick-up services or mentor programmes) than their West German counterparts, making them particularly attractive not only for West German “migrants” but also for their fellow students from around the world. 

Nevertheless, some international students, especially from outside Europe, are still wary about studying in the eastern states of Germany, having heard about instances of racist violence. In fact, during the early 1990s some parts of East Germany seemed to be turning into “no-go areas” for foreign-looking people. Fortunately, this trend has been stopped by a combination of awareness building and strict law inforcement. Nowadays, there is little that international students have to be afraid of. Public security is generally very good throughtout Germany, day and night.

If you wish to know how higher education in Germany (both East and West) is marketed by the government today, visit the following link and watch the video (in German with English subtitles):

http://chronicle.com/academicDestinationArticle/Discover-Your-Germany/43/?otd=Y2xpY2t0aHJ1Ojo6YWRobHZpZGVvOjo6YWQ6Z2VybWFueSxhcnRpY2xlOmdlcm1hbnktdG9wcy1nbG9iYWwtZ2F1Z2U6OjphZDpnZXJtYW55LGFydGljbGU6ZGlzY292ZXIteW91ci1nZXJtYW55

Chris

germanstudycentre@gmail.com