Now that the European Union includes one less country, its geographical center has shifted to the southeast – landing in a nondescript field in Bavaria.
Gadheim, a village of 80 people near the German city of Wuerzburg, has long been prepared for its new post-Brexit identity; the EU flag was hoisted in the village months ago. Back in 2017, Gadheim residents published a satirical video on YouTube in which they promoted the village as a future hub of EU activity. They appealed to Scotland not to make a second bid for independence in order to stay in the EU, which would scupper Gadheim's special status, and joked that the rural village has space "to host many international investment banks which will leave London and move their headquarters to the new center of the EU."
Veitshoechheim Mayor Juergen Goetz said he first heard of France's national cartographic institute's (IGN) calculation on a local radio station in March 2017, months after Britain voters decided to leave the bloc in a 2016 referendum.
The EU's geographical center, as calculated by IGN, has been in Germany ever since the bloc expanded from 15 to 25 members in May 2004 by taking in 10 mostly eastern European countries. It has moved around, however, with the 2007 expansion to include the eastern nations of Romania and Bulgaria and then in 2013 with the arrival of the newest member, Croatia. Britain's departure has reduced the bloc's membership to 27 nations.
