Berlin at Bottom, Hamburg Tops German Regional Sympathy Poll
A recent survey conducted in September 2024 has shed light on the regional sympathies among Germans. The poll, involving 1,630 respondents, asked participants to rate their sympathy towards people from each federal state.
The results revealed stark contrasts in sympathy levels. People from Berlin found themselves at the bottom of the list, receiving the fewest points (62), while those from Hamburg topped the chart with 201 points out of a possible 240.
The survey also highlighted a persistent East-West divide. Residents of Schleswig-Holstein, Baden-Württemberg, Niedersachsen, and Nordrhein-Westfalen showed higher sympathy for their own Western states and less for Eastern ones. Meanwhile, the Free States of Saxony and Bavaria polarised opinions: Saxons were favoured in the East but not the West, while Bavarians fared well in the middle and South but faced cooler responses further north.
Notably, Schleswig-Holstein, Baden-Württemberg, Lower Saxony, and North Rhine-Westphalia also scored high in popularity. Conversely, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony, and Thuringia received fewer sympathy points.
Achim Hildebrandt, an extraordinary professor at the University of Stuttgart, offered insights into the aversion towards Berlin. He attributed it to the city's association with the government seat, the 'failed state' cliché, general metropolis aversion, and perceptions of it as a 'den of sin'. These findings provide a snapshot of regional sympathies in Germany, revealing both unity and division among its federal states.
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