Construction costs are currently skyrocketing

400€ down payment is also 4800€ per year. What will come out in the end, no one can say reliably at the moment. In addition to the contract prices, there is also the gas levy. Whether the contracts are even worth anything this winter is another question. And then, of course, what happens when all the existing contracts expire now. Of course, you can go to the basic supply, but where does the basic supplier get its gas from? The same game with electricity. The portals are now well above 50c and EnBW as our future basic supplier will be somewhere around 40c from autumn if I remember the announcement correctly.

they "move to the village" and this village has 4000 inhabitants, its own primary school and an Aldi. That is then a small town and no longer a village.

From 2000 inhabitants on, a town, before that a village ;) that’s how it is regulated in Germany... fits

But basically this rule applies. Whoever has something like that in the place does not live in a village.

What nonsense the latter. Just google what makes a town or small town.

We live in a municipality. District means municipal part and has just under 2000 inhabitants. The residents call it a village! And it is also referred to as a village in the local media.

The village has, among other things, a cobbler, pig and other animal husbandry, the best-equipped Edeka within 20km, where people travel from the big city, 2 banks, doctors, hairdresser, primary school and sports club. And a cathedral (I can look at it from the toilet). It is village-like and remains village-like. It will not become a small town or even a town.
At the only "large" intersection, a pasture, two detached houses and a farm house meet.

A €400 discount is also €4800 per year. No one can reasonably say what will come out in the end at the moment. On top of the contract prices, there is also the gas surcharge. Whether the contracts are even worth anything this winter is another question. And then, of course, what happens when all the existing contracts expire now.

Except maybe that for electricity and gas, even in 15-20 year old houses ("insulation is nonsense, you’ll never get it back in..") you should already calculate at least €600 per month. For older & larger houses, certainly more. Many will probably no longer find their buying decision for a lot of money without renovation quite so great..

So our house from 1921 was insulated in 1993 and with 4 people we consume about 10,500 kWh/year on average over the last 5 years for the 100m2 and we have a gas advance payment of 65€. From January certainly more, because the contract expires then, but I can only be amazed at many consumptions. Due to the very mild last winter, we will not even reach 10,000 this year but will be around 9,500.

We live in a community. A district means a part of the community and has just under 2000 inhabitants. The residents call it a village! And it is also referred to as a village in the local media.

And now look, in our community the entire municipality has about 2500 inhabitants spread over 10 districts which are then, consequently, also called villages. The core town has about 1000 inhabitants. And yes, that is small, but not unusual for municipalities here. The neighboring community H. has 2000 inhabitants, the community M. has 2600 inhabitants, S. has 2500, etc. There are also larger municipalities, although apart from the towns, these usually have about 3500-5000 inhabitants for the entire community. And the towns then have around 10,000-20,000 inhabitants. Of course, there is also infrastructure in the districts; some village bakers have survived from historical times and some craftsmen have set up their companies in their place of residence. But with the discussion about the number of inhabitants, we are somewhat diverting from the actual point. Rural areas have less infrastructure. Whether one calls it a village or not is actually not relevant. But those who "move to the village" want to imply exactly the rural area with that statement.

I can only marvel at many consumptions.

Some things do not surprise me. There are quite a few people who like to leave the windows tilted even in winter or rinse under running water. Whoever actually uses their bathtub also consumes a lot of heat for it. And then one should not forget that humans as heating in a small house have a much greater share than in a large one.

So our house from 1921 was insulated in 1993 and with 4 people we consume on average over the last 5 years about 10500 kWh/year per 100m2 and have a gas payment of 65€. From January certainly more, because the contract expires then, but I can only be surprised by many consumptions. Due to the very mild last winter, we won’t even reach 10,000 this year but will be around 9500.

You only have 100 sqm, other old houses have x2.