Successful campaign: more main residence registrations again

Under the slogan "You have reached your destination", the city of Jena advertised to new students and trainees at the start of the winter semester to register their main residence in Jena. The campaign included banners, posters and publications on various social media channels. In addition, first-year students were able to visit stands on the university campus and at Ernst Abbe University of Applied Sciences to find out about the advantages of choosing Jena as their main place of residence. The campaign was once again implemented by the student agency "Die Zwanziger".

As an incentive to re-register, every student and trainee receives a bonus of 120 euros. The campaign was effective: a total of 2,132 new people registered in Jena in the period from October 1 to November 31. In the same period last year, there were 1,940 new registrations. 1,667 of the 2023 people who moved to Jena during the campaign period chose Jena as their main place of residence - compared to 1479 in the previous year. The main residence rate thus continued to rise - from 70.83 percent in 2020, 75.10 percent in 2021, 76.20 percent in 2022 to 78.20 percent now.

Training bonus shows effect

"The fact that 1,667 young people between the ages of 18 and 30 have chosen Jena as their future main place of residence and that the number of new registrations has risen again compared to previous years is very pleasing," says Head of Finance Benjamin Koppe (CDU). "The city's campaign with the training bonus is now a decisive factor for Jena in attracting young people to the city in the long term. As a city, we want to make our contribution to strengthening the science location with the renowned institutions Friedrich Schiller University and Ernst Abbe University and counteracting the shortage of skilled workers." In addition to the bonus, students and trainees will also benefit from the fact that it will be easier for them to deal with the authorities directly where they live. The city of Jena, in turn, gains in diversity and can also maintain its status as a major city.

For Benjamin Koppe, the financial aspects for the municipal budget are also a decisive criterion for the continuation of the main residence campaign: "For every additional resident, the state allocations in the municipal financial equalization system increase. The key allocations for municipal tasks will increase by 1,046 euros per inhabitant in 2024, the key allocations for district tasks by 426 euros and the additional burden equalization for tasks in the transferred sphere of influence by 210 euros. This means that additional annual income of EUR 1,665 per new citizen can be expected," explains the head of department.

About "Die Zwanziger"

The communications agency "Die Zwanziger" (formerly "Die Goldenen Zwanziger") was founded in 2003 by students at Friedrich Schiller University and has been responsible for the design and implementation of the annual main residency campaign ever since. Around 15 students from various disciplines currently work freelance for the agency.

Die Hauptwohnsitzkampagne 2023 stand unter dem Motto "Du hast Dein Ziel erreicht".

© Stadt Jena