Görlitz wants to prepare itself for the future as a location for science and high-tech. "In recent years, a nucleus of research institutions has been established here, which is now growing. The entire region is benefiting from this," Mayor Octavian Ursu (CDU) told the German Press Agency. He cited the Center for Advanced Systems Understanding (Casus) - a research institute that focuses on digital systems research, data science and simulations - as evidence of this.
Numerous research institutions in Görlitz
The Senckenberg Museum für Naturkunde Görlitz is regarded as a leading institution for biodiversity research and focuses on soil zoology, botany and ecology. The Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences and its institutes are dedicated to topics such as health, ageing and living. The German Center for Astrophysics (DZA), which came to Görlitz as a large-scale research center in the course of structural change, is currently under construction and is now intended to ensure an international reputation. The Fraunhofer Institute of Optronics, System Technologies and Image Exploitation focuses on IT security for critical infrastructures.
Görlitz is becoming more international due to immigration
According to Ursu, English is increasingly spoken on the streets of Görlitz, for example by the more than 100 employees of the DZA who have already come to the German-Polish border town from all over the world.
"Görliwood" has already made a name for itself abroad as a film set for numerous Hollywood productions. "This is good for the entire region. We are a city in two countries, an international location," said Ursu. A good 5,000 people from Poland live and work in Görlitz. Unlike many municipalities, the city is still growing.
City with opportunities for young people
"We are a city with opportunities for young people," emphasized the Lord Mayor. The former plan to attract wealthy pensioners from the west to Görlitz has been abandoned. "We need young people who earn money here and spend it. That doesn't mean that older people are not welcome. They are welcome to live and stay with us. But our target group is primarily young and well-qualified people. It's best when they also have families and children. That's what we're promoting."
Ursu wants to run again in the mayoral election in May
Ursu, who has been in office for almost seven years and is also running in the mayoral election in May, praises the cooperation with Polish authorities. Stadtwerke Görlitz and the heat supplier SEC Zgorzelec are planning a joint venture under the slogan "United Heat". By 2030, district heating in both parts of the city is to be supplied from renewable energy and from a single source.
According to Ursu, 130 million euros have been confirmed for the project by the EU and the federal government. With the participation of Eon and Veolia, a total of around 200 million euros would be invested and 50,000 tons of carbon dioxide would be saved per year.
Cooperation across borders
"You can't really separate Görlitz and Zgorzelec anymore. We have a lot of mixed families. We won't be able to separate them anymore because we live together," said Ursu and spoke of a positive development.
The two halves of the city also worked well together when taking in war refugees from Ukraine in February 2022 and later. "That was a logistical challenge. We managed it well because we are used to cooperating across borders."
Hope for an end to border controls
The mayor of Görlitz hopes that border controls to curb illegal migration will not become a permanent state of affairs. "We all fought for open borders within Europe back then. In a city with a lot of border traffic, this is even more noticeable, even if the residents have now come to terms with it. But it should be a matter of course for us to cross the border without being checked. You only realize what you have when it's taken away from you."
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