The post-war years were marked by reconstruction and good relations with Denmark and the whole of Scandinavia. The co-existence of Denmark and Germany with their minorities on each side of the border has become a model for the Europe of the future.
Tabellarische Darstellung:
| 1945-1970 | • The consequences of the Nazi dictatorship and the war are long evident in the spiritual and moral collapse of Germany, the start of a new democracy and the formation of a strong Danish minority, with short-term evidence noticeable in the economic collapse and the stream of refugees and exiles. • 1948: currency reform. • 1949: the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany. The town has greatly benefited from Germany’s entry into the Common Market (1957), Denmark’s membership of EFTA (1960), the establishment of the EC (1967), and in particular from the customs union of the EC (1968) and Denmark’s entry into the EC (full membership since 1978). • Written language: High German. • Spoken language: High German, Low German, High Danish. |
| 1946 | • Inauguration of the College of Further Education. |
| 1950 | • Inauguration of a radio station (NWDR) next to the Deutsches Haus. • In the census of 13.9. a population of 102,832 is counted. |
| 1952 | • The federal office for the registration of vehicles is transferred from Bielefeld to Flensburg. |
| 1953 | • The district railway (the local line Flensburg – Kappeln is closed). |
| 1958 | • A branch of Danfoss starts production. It is the most important of a number of Danish firms, which get established just south of the border within the sphere of the Common Market; partly in Flensburg and partly in Harrislee. |
| 1961 | • Census. After the programme to re-allocate refugees, in the fifties, the population sinks to 98,464. |
| 1962 | • The water tower in the Volkspark and the new sewage plant Kielseng are put into operation. |
| 1964 | • The new Town Hall at ‘Pferdewasser’ is finished. |
| 1965 | • The federal office for the registration of vehicles moves to a new building in Mürwik. |
| 1967 | • Opening of the sports hall for the Danish minority: the ‘Idraetshallen’ in the Moltkestraße. |
| 1968 | • Completion of the west by-pass (till 1987 BAB 205, now BAB 200). • The ‘Holm’ becomes a pedestrian precinct. |
| 1969 | • The first supplies of district heating from the Department of Works. |
| 1970 | • Census from 27.5.: 95,476 inhabitants. |
| 1973 | • Inauguration of the waste processing plant to turn garbage into compost. • The tram service is shut down. • The 'Seegrenzschlachthof' is closed down. |
| 1975 | • The first sod for the new building of the University of Applied Sciences is turned (the new buildings in the Kanzeleistraße). |
| 1976 | • The pedestrian precinct is extended to the ‘Große Straße’ and to the Norderstraße where a minimum of traffic is allowed. • Agreement about the first plans to renovate the old town. • The first renovation works started in the town centre. |
| 1978 | • Opening of the section of the BAB 7 motorway between Jagel and Denmark including the border point ‘Ellund’. • New central customs office moves into Waldstraße 20. • The railway line Flensburg – Niebüll is shut down. |
| 1979 | • The first buildings completed for the University of Applied Sciences in the Kanzleistraße are put into use. |
| 1980 | • Building construction for a school centre at the Nikolaistrasse/Zur Exe begins (now known as the ‘Friesische Lücke’). |
| 1981 | • The central post office in the Bahnhofstraße is completed. |
| 1983-1987 | • After the oil crisis 1973/1974, the increase in oil prices causes global economic weakness, which hits Flensburg particularly hard as well as long-term owing to the imbalance of its commercial structure. The number of unemployed in the town steadily increases until 1987 to over 17%, which is more than 6,000 people. Nearly 45% of the town’s budget is needed for welfare payments. The municipal authorities order restrictions in the budget on many occasions. • The Harmstorf wharf and, so too, the FSG start insolvency proceedings, followed by bankruptcy proceedings. |
| 1983 | • The new road lay-out for the B200 – with the south motorway junction – is opened. • Inauguration of a Rudolf Steiner school. |
| 1984 | • New buildings of the civic nursing home ‘Valentinerhof’ are opened. • Flensburg celebrates its 700th anniversary with great celebrations in the town and at the harbour. • Inauguration of the maritime museum in the old customs hall. |
| 1985 | • The ‘Northern University’ is founded, running as a private enterprise. (1989 closed by the Schleswig-Holstein government.) • The whole of the northern part of the old town and the districts of St. Johannis and St. Jürgen are included in the areas to be renovated (in total an area of ca. 96 ha). |
| 1986 | • The first shopping arcade (Holm-Passage) is opened. |
| 1987 | • Census of 25.5.: 86,554 inhabitants. |
| 1988 | • A large extension to the University of Applied Sciences is opened. • The new buildings for the telecommunications offices are finished. • The first phase of construction for a ‘Centre for Trade and Technology’ in the Lise-Meitner-Straße is begun. |
| 1989 | • The new 215-metre transmission mast on the ‘Fuchsberg’ in the district of Engelsby is put into operation. (The previous 216 metre mast in the district of Fruerlund is taken down in 1989/90.) • The Clinic for Women and Children is opened. • The ‘East Clinic’ is closed down. |
