Co-working in the country? Here you can try it for free

Working in the country with a view of green treetops – instead of jostling in narrow subways in the big cities? Hiking through almost untouched landscapes instead of jogging in the park? After work snack instead of oat cappuccino in a cup to go? Anyone who finds that tempting can at least try out how it is to live and work in the country: The regional initiative Oberfranken Offensiv is looking for ten volunteers who will agree to live and work in Nordhalben in the Franconian Forest for two months.

In concrete terms, “creative minds and motivated city people” should test whether this works – doing their job in a coworking space in the country and also spending their free time in and around Nordhalben: Country life on trial.

Digitization is making office jobs more and more flexible, according to Oberfranken Offensiv. A laptop and an internet connection are now enough for many professionals to work from anywhere. “In addition, more and more people are longing for the idyll and community of the rural regions.” It is precisely this trend that is being picked up on.

Especially during the pandemic, many people noticed that living in metropolises and big cities also had its disadvantages, says Sandra Wolf from the Upper Franconia Demography Competence Center. As examples, she cites high rents, a lack of childcare facilities, long distances to nature. “There is often a rethinking, a turning away from city life and an openness to life in the country. This can also be seen in Upper Franconia.”

The region urgently needs this. “Demographic change” – for years that sounded like a threatening term that stood for young people migrating, the area becoming less attractive and only the sadness of empty houses remained. However, many municipalities are now actively countering this trend. Like Nordhalben. The old school has become a modern coworking space called Northhalben Villagewhere you can also spend the night and hold meetings.

Fiber optic cables have been laid, and the Internet is “working at full capacity,” says Mayor Michael Pöhnlein proudly. There are umpteen leisure activities in and around Nordhalben, in 20 minutes you can be sailing at the lead hole reservoir in Thuringia. “We don’t have any traffic jams and hardly any traffic lights.” Instead: the Nordwaldmarkt as one of the largest citizens’ own village shops in Bavaria, an artists’ house and the Nordhalben Art Summer.

In the 1970s, Nordhalben still had around 3,000 inhabitants; now there are 1,600. Entire branches of industry have collapsed. But Pöhnlein wants to continue to keep his community attractive: “Whying alone is useless.” Attracting creative people and the self-employed via coworking is an attempt. “We break new ground, we fight.”

Sandra Wolf quotes new figures from the State Office for Statistics. In the meantime, there is more inflow than outflow for Upper Franconia.

According to experts, the trend towards coworking – i.e. office space that can be booked flexibly – has long since spread to rural regions. According to the Federal Association of Coworking Spaces Germany (BVCS), a current survey is not planned until this year. In 2020, however, there were already around 1,200 such facilities – four times more than in 2018. A study by the Bertelsmann Foundation at the end of 2020 states: “In recent years, more and more coworking offers have emerged in rural areas in Germany.”

Its potential for rural areas is reflected in its diverse clientele. It is true that coworking also attracts members of the creative, digital and IT industries here – and thus the original core target group. However, the customers of coworking spaces in the countryside represent a wide range of social groups – craftsmen and women also come, for example. The jobs are also interesting for permanently employed commuters, who can save themselves long journeys to their place of work.

The corona restrictions would have favored this development: From the point of view of many of those interviewed for the study, it had been proven “that working in a place other than the office works in many professional fields”.

The Bavarian Ministry of Labor also sees a trend towards coworking in rural areas. “From my experience and the many discussions with employees and also the employer side, I know that we need more flexibility,” says Minister Ulrike Scharf (CSU). “Coworking spaces offer new opportunities that companies and employees alike can benefit from.”

Network capacities for uncomplicated work in coworking spaces should now also be available in rural areas, according to the Digital Ministry: “In recent years, the Free State has made significant progress in expanding broadband,” assures Minister Judith Gerlach (CSU). “Although Bavaria faces special challenges as a non-city state, the state is now above the national average in all areas.”

And if you want to get away from the green idyll? The transport connection away from your own car is often considered a point of criticism for life in the country. Wolf says: Mobility in rural areas is geared even more towards individual transport. Nevertheless, there are already a number of innovative projects in Upper Franconia, such as the Hofer Landbus, which can be booked via an app, or car sharing models.