"Coming to Schwedt is like coming home for me," said Chancellor Angela Merkel, who spent her childhood here in the Uckermark. When asked about the differences between living conditions in East and West, Angela Merkel said that it was a major challenge and that the German government see this as one of its priorities. The Commission on Comparable Living Conditions, she said, has been set up for precisely this purpose.

Further strengthening rural areas

One point that is important in establishing comparable living conditions is ensuring the availability of medical care in rural areas. To attract more doctors to the countryside, young doctors receive assistance if they undertake to work as a country doctors for a certain period of time after their training, said the Chancellor.

With a view to childcare, the German government has given the federal states financial support under the terms of the Good Childcare Act (Gute-Kita-Gesetz) said Angela Merkel. It is, however, up to the individual federal states to decide how this financial assistance is used. 

Investing in research is one way of making structurally weak rural regions viable for the future, she continued. The Chancellor said that this is also a good way to successfully address industrial transformation.

Citizens’ dialogues with the Chancellor have been held for many years in a number of different formats and covering a wide spectrum of issues. They vary widely from town to town and have proved their worth as a forum for direct discussions.

Discussion with representatives of the cultural sector

Before the Chancellor fielded the questions of local people, she met with theatre professionals from the Uckermärkische Bühnen. With their unique geographical position in north eastern Brandenburg on the German-Polish border, the Uckermärkische Bühnen are a vibrant cultural centre.

The discussion explored a number of topics including the specific work of a regional theatre, experience in the field of German-Polish cooperation and aspects of cultural work in a rural area.