Former Geographic Centres of the European Union

The geographic center of the European Union has changed location multiple times as the EU expanded to include more member states. In 1990, the center of the 12-member Union was located in Saint-Clément, France. By 1995, after Austria, Finland and Sweden joined, it shifted north to Viroinval, Belgium. The 2004 enlargement, which brought in ten new members from Central and Eastern Europe, moved the center further east to Kleinmaischeid in Germany’s Rhineland-Palatinate.

The trend continued as the EU grew. In 2007, with the addition of Bulgaria and Romania, the center shifted to Gelnhausen, in the German state of Hesse. By 2013, after Croatia joined, it moved to Westerngrund in Bavaria. These changes highlight how each wave of enlargement gradually pulled the EU’s geographic heart eastward, reflecting the integration of Central and Eastern Europe into the Union.