Anja Meisel has returned to the Vogtland area and the management assistant is the person who ensures that everything runs smoothly at Bauplanung Plauen GmbH. She loves her challenging job and the quality of life in her home region – that is what she appreciates about life in Plauen.

Anja Meisel says that she has always been attached to her home region. Despite this, she wanted a taste of something new after completing her school-leaving exams in Klingenthal. “I wanted to get away – there wasn’t enough going on for young people in the Vogtland region back then,” the 33-year-old now recalls. She worked in the controlling department at Siemens in Nuremberg until 2015; then she decided to return home.

„I was commuting almost every weekend anyway, I maintained my friendships and usually had more friends here than in Nuremberg. And I noticed how the Vogtland region was continuing to develop; it offers young people a huge number of opportunities and events now – there’s plenty going on."

The architects and engineers at Bauplanung Plauen GmbH centred around the manager Karsten Kroll are looking for more specialist workers and the order books are well-stocked. Anja Meisel hopes that more people will see that they have a future in the Vogtland region – just like her.

She looks after all the organisational tasks that occur.

„I was just one of many employees at the Siemens Group. Here I can see the results of everything that I do. I’m closer to the action at a medium-sized company like Bauplanung and my work’s more varied.“

There is not only a clear difference between the Vogtland region and Central Franconia in terms of her work. “There are many young people and families in Nuremberg who come from former East Germany. It’s not always easy when their family lives some distance away and they don’t have any support. My brother has now returned to the Vogtland area too after spending a fairly long time away. It’s true that you earn more money in the Western German cities, but the cost of living there is so high that there are greater possibilities in the Vogtland region.

"You’re more likely to be able to afford a plot of land or a house here than in Nuremberg."

The Vogtland region has another, enormous advantage for Anja Meisel: the snow. She is an enthusiastic winter sports athlete and has been familiar with the cross-country ski trails and downhill runs near her home town since her childhood. There was no avoiding the regular training runs and competitions during her school days at the sports grammar school in Klingenthal.

„I missed that in Nuremberg; it often only rained in winter, while it was snowing in the Vogtland region.“

Even if she now lives in Plauen – it is no longer very far to travel to her local winter sports area. In addition to winter sports, she loves long-distance travel. There is a huge map of the world hanging over Anja Meisel’s desk at work – and there are some places on the map that she would like to get to know. She is currently fulfilling a long-standing dream and is travelling through Australia for three weeks.