Even though in Europe agriculture plays a decreasing economic role for rural livelihoods, the increases in land transactions by non-local and/or non-agricultural investors pervades rural life. Farms become larger and agricultural land more expensive. We conducted an empirical study in Saxony-Anhalt in 2016 to find out about the relationship between agriculture and rural people. Moreover, we analyzed literature about land grabbing in developed industrialized countries. There is evidence, that processes of land grabbing are taking place, yet land grabbing needs to be newly defined in a westernized developed context. Therefore, we propose six socio-cultural criteria: legal irregularities, non-residence of new owners, centralization in decision-making structures, treating land as an investment object, concentration of decision-power and limited access to land markets.