Germany’s economy is so bad even sausage factories are closing

In the 1980s the German Democratic Republic’s Eberswalder Wurstwerke was the biggest maker of sausages in Europe, with around 3,000 workers. The 65-hectare production site had its own hairdresser, clinic, library and restaurant. Those communist days are long gone. Last week the roughly 500 remaining employees learned that the newish (west German) owner of the company, which enjoys a cult of devoted customers for its skinless bratwurst and Schorfheider Knüppelsalami, would close its factory in Britz by the end of February.