By Brian Hicks
When I moved to Wokingham in 2006, I was unemployed for several years and on disability benefits.
I thought, in my mid-fifties, that I would never
get another paid job, although I applied for more than 100. I only got a single interview, for a market research position with a Bracknell company.
The company was openly sceptical about employing me, due to my age, but there were no suitable younger candidates with good German and so I got the job.
I spent three months working in Bracknell and then moved to Düsseldorf, coming back once a month to my flat in Wokingham. Rents were much cheaper than Wokingham, as they were controlled by the state. Beer in supermarkets was about half the price.
I found a nice flat near the River Rhinethat had no kitchen sink or cabinets. The previous tenant had taken them to his next flat, common practice in Düsseldorf.
There was an annual beer festival nearby and two Christmas markets. I got hooked on the huge number of German TV crime series and the lively Schlager music.
When washing my car on the street one weekend, my friendly neighbour Udo warned me it was forbidden, hence the many car washes in Düsseldorf.
I fell foul of another law when I cycled over a pedestrian crossing on a red light when there was no traffic. Two smiling policewomen told me firmly that being English was no excuse and gave me a EUR160 fine and a point on my driving licence. Had I been very drunk, I would have lost my driving licence.
The job was demanding but went well.
After four years I was made redundant. This could have been disastrous, but I had paid unemployment insurance as a part of my salary deductions in Germany, like every employee. As a result. I received unemployment benefit, earnings related and much more generous than the UK rate. I was taxed in Germany as I spent over 182 days per year there.
After a year on benefits, I managed to pick up some freelance assignments and these went on for another four years. I continued my nomadic existence between Düsseldorf and Wokingham, opting now to be self-employed in the UK tax system.
Following the 2016 Brexit vote, I applied for German citizenship to keep my options open. After a long process, the Immigration Office in Düsseldorf officially granted me citizenship on March 19, 2019. The official told me that Düsseldorf wanted to help Brits as much as possible as they saw us as valuable assets. After Brexit it is no longer possible for new applicants to hold British and German citizenship.
One of the first times I ever voted was in the UK referendum on June 5, 1975 when 67% of us opted to stay in the European Community, just two years after we had joined it. I was, and still am, a committed European and love the diversity, languages and peoples. We can learn so much, especially if we try to speak some of its languages.
I am sad that Brits are not as convinced today as 46 years ago to stay in the European partnership.
I am also disappointed that politicians have not fought more effectively to change how the EU operates and to make its institutions more democratic and accountable.
I would never have got this job if Brexit had already happened, as the Germany would have demanded that an EU national could and should do it. I would then probably have been a big drain on UK resources, rather than contributing to both economies.
British citizens, young or old, will no longer have similar opportunities as me in the EU. I have every reason to say a big thank you, vielen Dank, to Germany and to Düsseldorf.
