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As young, well-to-do Poles from the city of Szczecin pour across the border in search of real estate bargains, their influence challenges assumptions about rich west, poor east.

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The general view of the village of Rosow, Germany located near the Polish border, April 5, 2013. Large numbers of well-to-do Poles from Szceczin are moving into Germany and buying properties on such a scale that sleepy Prussian villages are taking on a Polish air.PETER ANDREWS/Reuters

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Pawel Pilsniak, his wife Anna and two children Micheasz and Nathan pose for a photograph by the entrance to the village of Neu Rosow, Germany near the Polish border April 6, 2013.PETER ANDREWS/Reuters

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Polish Catholic priest Cezary Korzec stands in front of his house in the village of Rosow. Korzec said that in the parish to which the village belongs, the number of practising Catholics had gone from 1,200 to 1,800 in the past few years because of the influx of Poles.PETER ANDREWS/Reuters

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Gabriela Karp picks up firewood in the courtyard of her house which is under renovation in the village of Rosow.PETER ANDREWS/Reuters

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Jozef Walukiewicz, his wife Anna and daughter Katarzyna stand inside their renovated house in Rosow. When Poland joined the European Union a decade ago, people in the Polish border city of Szczecin expected their neighbours in Germany to move in with their bulging wallets and buy up Polish houses and businesses. But events took an unexpected turn.PETER ANDREWS/Reuters

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The Walukiewiczs stand in front of their house in Rosow.PETER ANDREWS/Reuters

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Gabriela Karp, a businesswoman, stands inside her house under renovation in Rosow, where several stone cottages are falling down. But now there is a rebuilt farmhouse in the centre of the village, a second renovated property a few doors away, and a former restaurant being converted into apartments, all owned by Poles.PETER ANDREWS/Reuters

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Ms. Karp stands in front of her house.PETER ANDREWS/Reuters

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Priest Cezary Korzec conducts a Holy Mass in a chapel in his house in Rosow, Germany. “This is the fastest developing parish in Germany,” he said.PETER ANDREWS/Reuters

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Anna Pilsniak and her sons Micheasz and Nathan are photographed in their house in the village of Neu Rosow, Germany.PETER ANDREWS/Reuters

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Priest Cezary Korzec climbs a ladder in his house in Rosow.PETER ANDREWS/Reuters

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Real estate agent Radoslaw Popiela poses for a photograph togther with his wife Dominika, daughter Konstancja and two sons, Kajetan and Franciszek outside their house in the village of Rosow, Germany. About 80 per cent of property transactions in German areas adjacent to Szczecin involve Polish buyers, according to Popiela.PETER ANDREWS/Reuters

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Dominika Popiela holds her daughter Konstancja in their house in the village of Rosow.PETER ANDREWS/Reuters

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A border crossing between Poland and Germany near the village of Rosow April 6, 2013.PETER ANDREWS/Reuters

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