Leaving Czechia: Where is Zittau and why are so many people moving there?

People in Czechia are increasingly relocating to the German border town of Zittau, according to a late November Czech Television (CT) report, drawn by cheaper housing, easy integration, lower day-to-day costs, and an environment where cross-border living and work are both easy and culturally accepted. 

While it has long been common for Czechs to cross into Germany for better shopping or higher-paying jobs, Zittau—just 30 kilometers north of Liberec—represents a new trend in Czech work and migration patterns.

This growing migration, drawing people from the Liberec region and even Prague, is motivated by a simple but strong incentive: improving overall quality of life by benefiting from stark differences between the housing markets and economies of both states.

The primary magnet is affordable real estate. Zittau’s property prices remain far below those in Liberec or major Czech cities, offering Czechs larger or higher-quality homes for dramatically less money. 

According to the CT report, a 6+2 flat in Zittau may cost around 40 percent less than a modest 2+1 apartment in Prague’s Nusle district. What’s more, a two-bedroom, 54-square-meter apartment with a garden in Liberec costs around twice as much as in Zittau.

One Czech resident told Czech Television that garden plots in Zittau can be “up to ten times” cheaper than on the Czech side.

This price gap is partly the result of long-term population decline in the former East German region, which left an oversupply of aging houses. Many of these would risk disrepair if not for Czech buyers, who are now restoring them. 

Zittau has become highly Czech-friendly, the CT report says. Czech is now the most commonly spoken language in town after German and English. Many shop and restaurant workers speak Czech at some level, and local government offices often employ bilingual staff. 

Much of the signage across the town appears in both languages, making daily life straightforward for incoming Czech residents. One Czech resident renting a cottage told Czech Television that “locals are extremely kind and friendly.”

Another German local told CT: "Recently, I have been to a hospital where almost everyone was Czech.”

The town’s openness is reinforced by commuting patterns. Many newcomers continue working in Liberec or other Czech cities, taking advantage of short travel times. “They can have access to both the German and Czech zones this way,” Zittau Mayor Thomas Zenker tells CT, who supports multilingualism as a way to expand “opportunities and possibilities.”

As summarized by CT: “This whole region has seen a big boom—especially in work and housing—in the last 10 years. Czechs’ children attend Czech-German schools and kindergartens here; many of these people work in Czechia, but live in Zittau.”

Local Germans note that the Czech presence is both visible and welcome. As one German woman told Czech Television: “I feel good and actually happy that they come here.”