European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 04, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Carpetbaggers from the West flock to the new East Germany by Serge Schmemann new York times ome Are anxious some can hardly Wail but it seems Hal everyone in Magdeburg is wailing Lor the West germans the government in East Berlin May be dragging its loot on legalizing  investment but the rambling sooty factories ringing Magdeburg have already begun laying Oil workers something unthinkable under the old order to make themselves More Alla Clive As joint ventures skilled workers Are quitting factory jobs to set up Independent garages and shops in anticipation of the West German wave seven dating services have been founded in recent months pensioners and unskilled labourers meanwhile tremble or their once sacred social benefits and obsolete factories fear for their survival in the Grimy Industrial Center of 290.000 set in Flat country Between Berlin and West Germany at the recent weekly demonstration the theme was no longer reunification or communists  this time the posters read protect our social  or no unemployment signs of a spreading apprehension about the Side effects of a capitalist invasion the weal germans in fact Are already in Magdeburg scores of Laller Day carpetbaggers come daily scouting possibilities for investments mayor Werner Nothe said he has had to restrict his meetings with West German entrepreneurs to 15 minutes each outside the City Hall a Jaguar sport Sedan disgorge a West German in shiny Gray suit Alligator briefcase and heavy Diamond ring i probably should not talk to  he said with a conspiratorial Wink but i m Here to set up a Casino and some video game Parlours " but what about the absence of Laws on foreign investment ii you wait Lor those to Start you la be last in line he said walking Oil briskly Down Karl Marx Street not All the carpetbaggers Are entrepreneurs there Are also the West German politicians who have been sucked into the political vacuum of the Post communist German state and who have now effectively declared East Germany s March elections a dry run for West Germany s own elections next december by All accounts the East German social democrats have taken a Long Lead and Are stretching it fast at their new Magdeburg Headquarters in offices recently vacated by communists the shelves and desks Are still Bare but stacks of freshly printed posters stand on the floor alongside a new copying machine All Courtesy of the Wes German social democratic party the West German party also sends Over two experts every week to hold seminars on campaigning organizing marketing and All the other unfamiliar rules of the game of democracy not Long ago. Willy Brandt the ormer West German Chancellor who is Likely to become the honorary president of the East German social democrats Drew 60,000 to a rally on the Cathedral Square More than a tilth of the City s total population similar scenes Are increasingly common across East Germany signs of a profound change that has come Over the East German revolution Over the past month if on new years Day the germans were still revelling in heir unexpected reunion the following weeks have witnessed a shift in mood and expectations As uncharted As the popular revolution of last fall the change has included a precipitous collapse of communist authority an outbreak of insecurity and a recognition across the entire spectrum of East German society that Union with West Germany is inevitable near and necessary is l err in Lewis or parents till out paperwork while a youngster plays at a refugee Camp in Giessen West Germany. The exodus of East germans to the West continues at the rate of almost 2,000 a Day. The most dramatic prod has been the continued exodus to the West of almost 2.000 East germans a Day. Among those who stay a elms have been ambivalent on the one hand an anticipation of sharing in the wealth of West Germany in the Lear that Obj. Social Security and savings Are All threatened in a nation Hal places a great Premium on Security and order the suspense has been troubling the government and opposition in Easl Berl n were forced to join hands and move up elections from May to March Premier Hans Modrow. Not Long ago a critic of reunification has now been forced to present his own plan for Unity and soviet president Mikhail s Gorbachev has had to endorse the process it is there in cities like Magdeburg that the immutable forces of the Easl German revolution have been logged the entire leadership of the regional communist party organization dissolved itself in Early january under Public pressure on Jan 16. Nothe a member of the socialist Unity party As the communist parly is officially known broke with the City administration and aligned himself with a round table of opposition leaders. Nolde has not waited Lor Easl Berlin to act Belore opening Inhat doors he can lowest germans scores me daily through his office now stripped of All communist insignia or portraits and his Spiel is As Slick and brisk As that of any Western City Booster. There s lots of space in the City Center for stores Congress Halls Leisure  he says. Many West German companies he adds have shown a special micros in linking up with the local factories to take advantage of their contacts with the soviet Union and East Europe. The West German electronics giant age. He said was about to open an office and other West German firms had shown a keen interest in the construction sector the City is in an Awakening  he said we have thousands of ideas and great support from our West German sister City Braunschweig there Are endless proposals but we can t Start until we have now profit Transfer Laws businessmen won t wait two years to take their Money Back " though it was largely flattened during the War and rebuilt in the dreary communist style. Magdeburg believes it has an advantage in Courim the West germans because it is Only 25 Miles from West Germany nearer than any other East German City the Premier of the neighbouring West German state of lower Saxony Ernst Albrecht was a recent visitor. Some 3,500 local luminaries packed a ballroom to hear him plug his party the cd Slian democrats and his stale. He also Lell a gift of a million roofing tiles prompting one wag from the audience to shout now give us Back our roofers a reference to the exodus of workers to the West. But similar delegations have been roving All Over East Germany Lothar Spall the Premier of Baderi Wurttemberge stale was m Dresden recently with a big delegation of industrialists and a gift of 20 million Marks about $12 million while some 150 West German entrepreneurs were visiting the Baltic port of Rostock the biggest problem in Magdeburg Nolde said is the growing Lear Lor the social Security net Many citizens have rushed to found private businesses and Many of them Are sure to collapse. It is unlikely for example thai All seven dating services would survive. Unemployment banished under the Lormor government had already appeared and former agents of the state Security police or stasis Are being paid Only through february Nothe had no figure Lor Magdeburg but in East Berlin a senior government official said of 51,000 unemployed most were former  often prevented from taking jobs by local indignation. At the municipal employment Agency. Wolfgang Wytrwal the director described the Radical change Hal came with the introduction of Market forces. Before his office used to have 180.000 working places at its disposal and could guarantee every applicant a Job. Now. Lor the first time he had a list of unemployed Only 260 so far but that was Only since Jan. 1. At the same Lime people were fleeing either to resettle in the West or to Cross into West Germany or West Berlin and work on the Black Market. Thus while unskilled workers or stasis were being Laid off sectors such As health care transport and services were in dire Straits. On balance however there s an optimism in the air we treat said. People know that things have to change Hal the or system was incapable of moving further. Even if there s confusion and insecurity people expect that after March 18 there will be stability that the government can finally Start making  Page 14 stars and stripes sunday