Erfurt has been crowned as the happiest of Germany’s 40 biggest cities, jumping to the top of a nationwide survey.
The SKL Happiness Atlas shows the Thuringian capital rising from sixth place to the top. Former leader Kassel slumped to 13th spot in the annual survey.
While Düsseldorf, Germany’s seventh-largest city, came in third place, smaller cities tended to pack the higher rankings. Augsburg in Bavaria, Krefeld in western Germany and the northern city of Kiel made up the rest of the top five.
Germany’s second-largest city, Hamburg, rated a solid tenth. However, the Bavarian capital, Munich, was joint 24th alongside Leipzig, and Berlin found itself sharing 35th place with Nuremberg.
Erfurt led with a score of 7.74 out of 10, while the northern port city of Rostock was rated last by a wide margin: 5.8 compared to the next unhappiest town of Wiesbaden on 6.5.
Regional divides persisted. Western cities scored highest on average, while eastern cities lagged despite modest gains. Cities in the northwestern state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous in Germany, posted some of the largest improvements.
Researchers said Erfurt displayed some key strengths, including a relatively solid economy compared with other eastern German cities. Low rents in comparison with larger places, as well as strong environmental quality, also played a role.
“Indicators of material prosperity do not fully capture people’s happiness,” said study author Bernd Raffelhüschen of the University of Freiburg. “Intangible factors such as a sense of community and personal identification with one’s place of residence also play a major role.”
Pollsters from the Allensbach Institute research group carried out the survey for the SKL state lottery association.
