Berlin (dpa/th) – Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (left) believes that the planned “Future Center for German Unity and European Transformation” should be located in Thuringia. In the Free State, the number of federal employees is still well below the national average, said Ramelow on Thursday. That is just one of the reasons why Jena should win the race as the location for the future center. Settlements of authorities and centers should “be based on where the average is not even remotely reached,” he said.
The city of Jena submitted its application documents for the future center to the Federal Institute for Building, Urban and Spatial Research in Cottbus on Thursday. The state government had viewed all applications from Thuringia in advance and decided to “clearly support Jena’s application process,” said Ramelow.
If the federal government awards the contract for Jena, the state government will “secure, guarantee, implement – and also see it as a great opportunity for the whole of Thuringia”. The university already has good working and research networks in both the East and the West, he said. “You can say with good reason: That’s on the plus side.”
Frankfurt an der Oder in Brandenburg, the duo Leipzig and Plauen in Saxony and Halle in Saxony-Anhalt have also expressed interest. A jury led by former Stasi commissioner Marianne Birthler and former Federal Minister Thomas de Maizière will select the site for the center, which is due to be completed by 2028.
