Berlin's property market might be booming, and some investors are even looking to the surrounding state of Brandenburg for bargains. But watch out: that nice picturesque village might be in the direct path of a huge excavator, a number of which churn through vast areas of eastern Germany to extract brown coal (Braunkohle).

If your property is in the way - well, basically you'll need to pack your bags. The latest victims are the villages of Kerkwitz, Grabko and Atterwasch in the far south east of Brandenburg, which are scheduled to be eaten up by the coal diggers. Residents will of course be compensated for the inconvenience, and it'll be a decade or two before the machines get there, but nevertheless these are not places you'd want to build a property - as Grabko's mayor, Gerd Wieden, has just found out: he's just finished work on his own house.

(Fortunately for Berlin, the open-cast mining areas are a long way away - nowhere within reasonable commuting distance will be affected).

Posted at 12:54 PM in