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Paper short abstract

We, a research project situated in Görlitz at the German-Polish border, explore concepts of care and aging well in a region with one of the highest average ages in Germany.

Paper long abstract

Since the 1990s, Görlitz has attracted retirees from across Germany with its comparatively cheap living costs, an extensive care infrastructure and the convenience of small-town life, all set against the backdrop of its impressive Wilhelminian architecture. In this paper, we draw on interviews with care professionals and residents of both the town and its rural surroundings, complemented by observational and archival data, to tease out different models of care and ageing well that co-exist in Görlitz. We use moments when personal narratives of care and ageing merge into political commentary as entry points for examining how local histories of polarisation intersect with shifting concepts of ageing and care.

Our research project is part of the broader transfer initiative „AlterPerimentale“ (age – periphery – experiment), a programme funded by the German Ministry of Research, Technology and Space. The programme is designed to support ageing well the German-Polish border area through participatory and co-creative activities with older people and those who care for them. Görlitz is one of three locations where the programme maintains a local presence in the form of a gerontological laboratory. Here older people are invited act as co-researchers in addressing their questions towards care and ageing well in rural areas.