Minorities in Germany – From the second world war

up to now

Foreign fellow citizens in Germany

Turkish Italians

PolesSerbians & Montenegrians

GreeksCroatiansRussians

AustriansBosnians & Hercegovinas

DutchmenUkrainians

PortugueseFrenchmen

SpanishAmericans

Britons

in 1000

In 2007 there were 6,74 Million foreigners in Germany.

The biggest group of foreigners were the Turkish with 1,71 million people, followed by the Italians with 528.000 and citizens from Poland with 385.000 inhabitants. At fourth there were the Serbians and Montenegrians and at fifth the Greeks.

The history of the immigrant worker

In 1955, when Germany was in economic miracle there were not enough workers in the industries and there were many places that could not be filled by locals. This is the reason why foreign workers such as Turkish, Spanish, Italian, Tunisian, Portuguese, Greek and Maroccan people were recruited.

In 1969 Germany had an economic crisis and unemployment rose, so in 1969 a law was established that a foreigner can only be accepted for a job if no suitable German has applied. They also needed a work permit.

In 1973, foreign workers could not be recruited because it was planned that the guest workers should only remain in Germany for a short time.

Integration was not provided, but the foreigners in Germany felt like home.

In the 70s first attempts to include foreign workers in the German society were made by giving them the right to vote.

In addition the return trip for foreigners was supported financially.

Since 2007 6.7 million foreigners have been living in Germany.

JewsAfter the 2nd worldwar in Germany

DRESDEN MAY 1945

In the center the New Market and the ruins of the Frauenkirche after the war.

“ Frauenkirche” – the famous church in Dresden.

Landsberg ,1945 : After the liberation out of the concentration camp the full extent of the holocaust was revealed.

“DISPLACED PERSONS“

Bild durch Klicken auf Symbol hinzufügen

After the end of the 2nd world war surviving Jews of different backgrounds and nationalities were mostly

housed in camps for “displaced persons“.

Central Committee for Jewish Liberatees concentrated on the help to emigrate.

The Konrad Adenauer era put a general law for "reparations", which provided for a

financial compensation for the victims of the Third Reich. Few Jews rejected this form of dealing with the past as "blood money" .

In the 1950s and 60s, there were 20,000 to 30,000 people of Jewish faith living in the Federal Republic of Germany, for the most part there were mostly the elderly and the sick who could not emigrate to the U.S. or to Palestine. A new Jewish community life was constituted.

Before 1990/1991 ca. 70000 – 80000 Jews lived in the German Federal Republic.

In April 1990 the People‘s Parliament of the DDR asked the Jews for forgiveness.

Today 13 Million Jews live all over the world, ca. 41% of them in Israel.

Today there are 102 797 Jewish communities in Germany.

National minorities in Germany

Dänen (Denmark)

Friesen

SorbenRoma and Sinti

In Germany there are four different national minorities. The minorities are Sorbian, Roma and Sinti, Frisian and Danish people. They have a special law for the preservation of their ethnic background. The national minorities speak their own languages and some of them have their own religion (Roman and Sinti for example). All of them have their own culture.

Frisian Sorbian Roma Denmark

Danish

The Danish ethnic minority in the north of Germany has existed by this name since 1920. One of the most common names they use to describe themselves is danske sydslesvigere (Danish South Schleswegians).

Frisians

Origin: Netherlands

Population: about 700.000 (0,8%)

Religion: mainly members of the Reformed Church

Language: Frisian dialects, Dutch, German

Sorbian Sorbs are Western Slavic people of Central

Europe living predominantly in Lusatia, a region on the territory of Germany and Poland. In Germany they live in the states of Brandenburg and Saxony. They speak the Sorbian languages - closely related to Polish and Czech - officially recognized and protected as a minority language of Germany. They are predominantly Roman Catholics and Lutheran Protestants.

Roma and Sinti

There are 80.000-120.000 Roma and Sinti in Germany.

They are believed to have originated in the region of India and Pakistan in South Asia. They began their migration to Europe and North Africa via the Iranian plateau about 1,000 years ago. Today over 12 million Sinti and Roma are living all over Europe. Most of them (8 mio) live in Portugal, Spain, Romania, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia as a national minority.

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