Berlin residents are the least popular inhabitants among Germany’s federal states, according to a representative survey conducted by the Free University of Berlin, reported the Tagesspiegel on Monday. The survey found that Hamburgers are the most popular, followed by residents of Schleswig-Holstein and Baden-Württemberg.
Stuttgart political scientist Achim Hildebrandt told the newspaper, “Berlin is identified with the seat of government and with the cliché of a ‘failed state,’ where not even the airport works.” The Tagesspiegel noted a clear East-West divide: the lower rankings were mostly occupied by eastern German states. Residents of Saxony-Anhalt placed second-to-last, while those from Saxony were third-to-last.
The survey measures clichés and projections, said Hildebrandt: “You need a cliché in your head to answer the question of sympathy.” The researchers at the FU speak of a form of polarization that has received little attention to date. This exists not only between voters of different parties, but also “between people from different regions: East versus West, Bavaria versus the rest, city versus countryside.”
According to the report, researchers surveyed 1,630 participants aged 18 to 69 about their sympathy for residents of all federal states. The survey was representative in terms of age, gender, education, and federal state.
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