Named an unusual country where the Germans flee from the energy crisis

Some residents of Germany, faced with an energy crisis and rising prices for housing and communal services, began to move to “overwinter” in the westernmost region of Russia. This was stated by the governor of the Kaliningrad region Anton Alikhanov. We decided to see where else the Germans go for “wintering” from the cold and high tariffs.

“There are individual Germans who come to us to spend the winter,” says Kaliningrad Governor Alikhanov. “Because renting an apartment, paying utility bills for four months in Kaliningrad is like one month somewhere in Düsseldorf.”

But not only the Kaliningrad region attracts German residents who want to save money against the backdrop of growing utility bills.

Demand for winter 2022/2023 holiday homes with stays over 30 days increased by a whopping 25 percent, according to a search analysis on the Holiday Home Portal in November and December 2022. In a survey conducted by the website FeWo-direkt, 64 percent of Germans said they would like to get away from the German winter. At the same time, 34 percent admitted that they want to reduce energy costs by spending the winter months in the warm south.

Many Germans, out of habit, choose traditional destinations as a place for “wintering”. For example, Spain. The top five most popular options in Germany for a long stay in warm climes this year were occupied by Spanish areas.

The demand for housing for the winter in Thailand and Turkey has grown very strongly. Residents of Germany and Greece are actively moving during the cold season. As early as this summer, Greek Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias urged Germans to spend the winter in Hellas in the face of inflation and the threat of energy shortages. “In autumn and winter, we Greeks will be happy to welcome German pensioners who want to experience the “Mediterranean winter” with Greek hospitality, mild weather and quality services,” Kikilias told Bild newspaper.

The mayor of the city of Chania on the island of Crete Panagiotis Simandirakis joined the call. “We invite any German who wants to come to us this winter to live here – away from crises,” he said. – Crete is very suitable to “survive the crisis winter. Here you do not need heating in the house. Not a single German will freeze in Greece.”

The German broadcaster from Hesse, talking about the popularity of Crete as a place for the “wintering” of German citizens, cites the example of German Rebecca Brandt, who lives in the center of Chania. She works remotely for a German startup that sells wine online. A woman rents a two-room fully furnished apartment with a kitchen and a bathroom for 450 euros per month – and is completely satisfied: it is warm, the cost of living is relatively cheap, there is good internet and communication with expats.

However, there are also more exotic destinations. They go, for example, to the south of the African continent. “Namibia will help in the energy crisis,” is the headline of an article that appeared recently in Bild.

Why this particular African country has become one of the “magnets” that attracts Germans, especially those of retirement age. The point is not only in cheapness and hot climate, but also in the historical past. Before the First World War, this country was a colony known as German South West Africa. Even under the Kaiser, the Germans were distinguished not only by the fact that they brought here the “fruits of civilization”, but also by the officially recognized genocide of local peoples.

And it should be noted that many German citizens who went on a well-deserved vacation to Namibia began “relocation” even before the Ukrainian crisis. So, in 2015, one of the publications in the German media called this country “a paradise for German pensioners.” On the former Sonnleiten animal farm in Namibia, a small German-speaking oasis has been created where everyone speaks German, where Black Forest ham is regularly delivered and curries popular in Germany are sold, and in case of emergency there are German-speaking doctors in the nearby Namibian capital Windhoek. The private radio station “Hitradio” broadcasts news and music in German, and if you wish, you can read the local German-language “Allgemeine Zeitung”. In addition, living here is quite cheap by German standards – cleaning services cost only 1.60 euros per hour. Even a 2.50 euro fee for ironing or minor home repairs does not hurt the budget of European pensioners too much.

And now, all the more so, the appeal of the Namibian direction has become even stronger. Travel agencies praise the African republic as an ideal place to wait there until the cold weather passes in the European homeland. “Do you want to get away from the cold European temperatures and are looking for a place to winter? Then you should definitely consider wintering in Namibia, which offers everything you miss in a European winter.

The climate in Namibia is subtropical and there are very large differences between the individual parts of the country. In Windhoek, daytime temperatures range from 25 to 30°C all year round. Swakopmund is more pleasant, as the small town is located right on the Atlantic coast. The temperature here is about 20 degrees all year round. On the west coast of Namibia, the water temperature is about 15 degrees.”

Moreover, the Namibian authorities felt that a lot of benefits could be squeezed out of German relocators who wanted to sit out the energy crisis in Africa. Now residents of Germany have been given the opportunity to live in Namibia for up to six months, working remotely and feeling at home on the edge of the desert with beer, German hits and pork knuckle, writes Bild.

“Namibia is being called Germany’s little sister,” Nangula Uuanja, director general of the Namibian Investment Promotion and Development Council, calls out to the Germans. “We have cities that look like German ones. This is your second home here, a piece of Germany in Africa. We have German architecture, German street names, even the German autobahn. German is one of our languages.”

And in order to completely convince the Germans, the Namibian official lays out a trump card: “Here you can live and work in the winter, you do not need to be afraid of high heating costs, as in Germany!” And as the icing on the cake: “We always have electricity!”