Photo: courtesy of Kelley Graves

The Demographic Divide in GermanyBackground to Immigration in Germany

Immigration TransitionGerman Identity post-Reunification

Essential Questions

Multiculturalism, Reunification and Identity in 21st Century Germany

Presented by Benjamin Peterson

Basha High School

Chandler, AZ

Peterson.benjamin@chandler.k12.az.us

Applications to AP Human Geography

Age-sex pyramid CBRCDR Fertility RateDemography Distance DecayMigration Pull FactorAcculturation Contagious DiffusionCultural landscape Cultural environmentsCultural perception BoundariesCentrifugal forces Centripetal forcesDevolution NationalismEnclave FederalismDeveloped country Economic sectorGlobalization InfrastructurePostindustrial Primary industrial regionSite SituationSocial stratification Urban function

German Demographics• Population: roughly 82 million

• By comparison: • UK: 61 million• France: 65 million • Italy: 51.9 million

• CBR (2011 est.): 8.3• CDR (2011 est.): 10.92• NIR (roughly): -2• TFR (2011 est.): 1.41• 20.6% of population over 65• Age Dependency Ratio:

34/100• Age Dependency Ratio in

2050: 53/100• Aging population• Shrinking work force• Shrinking natural increase

rate Source: http://www.berlin-institut.org/online-handbookdemography/population-ageing.html

CBR continues to shrink

Source: Federal Statistical Offi ce of Germany, Press Release #183, May 4, 2007.

Turkey

14.6%

Russia 9.4%

Poland

6.9%

Italy

4.2%

Serbia

3.0%

Croatia

2.6%

Bosnia

2.3%

Greece

2.2%

Romania

3.0%

Migration to Germany

“…Turkish immigrants living in Germany who, according to studies by the Berlin Institute for Population and Development, are less effectively

integrated on average than other immigrant groups. They are more likely than others to be poorly educated, underpaid and unemployed.

Anyone seeking to fathom the reasons for these discrepancies will uncover a decades-long history of failures, misunderstandings and missed

opportunities, shortsighted political strategies and a recurring and stubborn tendency to ignore reality.”

- excerpt taken from Der Spiegel article, “A Sorry History of Self-Deception and Wasted Opportunities”,

2010

Immigration Issues in Germany

• 1 in 5 Germans is a first or second generation immigrant

• Germany has become a nation of immigrants the past 30 years

• Just who is German?• What is a German?• How should immigrants

immerse themselves into Germany culture?

• How can immigrants be better integrated into German society?

• Is it immigrants’ job to better assimilate into German society?

11 of the 23 members of the 2010 World Cup

German National Soccer team came from

immigrant families.

Immigration Background• Germany is not a ‘melting pot’ or a historically immigrant nation.• Many of the immigrants came during the 1950s to find work

• Germany had labor shortages after WWII; needed able-bodied men to fill in• Between 1945-1961: 3.8 Germans moved from East to West• FRD increased recruitment of foreign workers after 1961• October 31, 1961: labor recruitment agreement with Turkey; prospective Turks

boarded trains from Ankara and Istanbul headed for Munich• Migrants were then distributed among country’s industrial zones

• “Rotation Clause” was removed in 1964 because of pressure from businesses• The jobs, labor and new industry all combined to create the “Economic Miracle”

in Germany• Majority of immigrants came from Turkey; by 1973 23% of foreigners in Germany

were Turks• These workers were known as gastarbeiter (Guest Workers)• The term, itself, denotes a sense of unwelcome- “you are a guest, not a

member of society”• Shortly after the 1970s, the gov’t was not willing to deport mass amounts of

immigrants who were establishing roots throughout Germany• Many immigrants planned to go back to Turkey, but standard of living was too

good in Germany• They brought families, tied down roots and became less connected to their

home country

Political Realizations

• The Green Party sought to introduce immigrant protection laws in the German system by the late 1990s

• German politicians became more comfortable dealing with issues of immigration by the mid-2000s

• Germany recognizes it needs immigration; it needs highly educated, bright individuals in special economic sectors; its needed to compensate for the aging, shrinking natural increase rate

• Germany recognizes asylum seekers (sees it as its historical responsibility)

• Germany believes it’s the responsibility of immigrants to become culturally and linguistically integrated into Germany society (learn about history, learn about music, learn about writers or thinkers, but don’t lose sight of ones self in the process)

Immigration Transition• 10 years ago: Immigration Act

• If parents are in Germany legally for 8 years, their kids born after 2000 have dual citizenship (if parents have a stable job)

• Parents can become citizens if:• No criminal records• Successful at a German language course• Stable job, stable income• No suspended license• Display proper German behavior/ethics

• Foreigners who graduate from German university are given a year to find work (German gov’t believes that university grads offer great promise and can assist in growing Germany’s economy)

• No naturalization laws in Germany- kids whose parents are in the country legally must illustrate success in school, and pass the Abitur in order to be offered the chance of citizenship

• Students/young adults must then choose either citizenship of Germany or their country of birth (no dual citizenship in Germany)

• The German gov’t has budgeted 1 billion dollars for state sponsored language programs

Identity Crisis in Germany• Deutsche Welle: Integration Success and Failure• PBS: (issues in education) Muslims in Germany• PBS World Focus: Immigration in Europe • Men are leaving for Turkey to find more traditional wives

• Those wives are brought back to Germany• Many families are having children in Germany, but providing them with no

German instruction• Kids are going to the 1st grade, but w/out any German language

• Success becomes difficult and too many young Turks are dropping out• Many Turks don’t feel as though they belong in Germany, or are accepted in

Germany• Disproportionate number of undereducated, unemployed come from

immigrants from Turkey• 40% of Turks in Berlin are unemployed• Immigrants typically live in communities populated by the same

ethnicity; don’t learn the languages or customs of host country• No anti-discrimination laws in Germany to promote the minorities from unfair

labor or social actions

Identity & the Wall• Nov. 9, 1989 capsulated DDR citizens’

main role in death of East Germany• Citizens left DDR through Eastern

Bloc embassies• Citizens protested for reforms in

streets of Leipzig, Dresden, Berlin• The reforms demanded would have

contradictory effect on the reasons for a socialist state

• History happened at break-neck pace, post-1989• DDR dissolved, USSR crumbled,

free elections in Poland and Hungary

• Debate in Germany: • How quickly to bring the two

Germanys together? • How intense should the reforms

take shape?• What, who will guide the re-

unification?

“Aufbau Ost”: Revitalize the East

• Solidarity Pact (1993): goal was to create equal living conditions in West and East German cities• Renovate inner-city residential

districts in Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz

• Improve infrastructure: telecommunications, sewage systems

• Increase industrial output• Create competitive university

systems• Create criteria to protect environment

• Early exuberance for re-unification led to mistrust, misunderstandings, economic and social frustrations• East bore the social burden• West bore the economic burden

• 2009 est.: EUR 1.6 trillion netSource: Cologne Institute for Economic Research

The Wall in People’s Heads• Within months of re-unification the life East

Germans knew and understood drastically changed

• Brain Drain: East to West migration (roughly 2 million)

• Disappearance of 2/3 of E. German industry• State-owned industries were transferred to

public• Rapid unemployment• Way of life, what and how people were taught

was drastically altered• “Truth” and “Reality” had to be reconciled

• zum beispiel: Stasi files were opened to the public in 1992

• Nazi files were finally open to East German scholars

• Ostaglia: nostalgia for a time passed, for a cultural identity

• Freedoms were gained, but something was lost in re-unification

• Difficult for East Germans to understand the competitive, free-market, material-driven society in the West

• Easterners felt as if they were treated like 2nd class citizens

The unification of two Germanys but notice how the East Germany flag is missing it’s coat of

arms- the colors remain but the ideology and all that it represents is eradicated.

Appreciation for Re-unification… it does exist

• Poll numbers taken from Institut für Demoskopie Allensbach (2009/Nr. 7)• 63% polled have positive view of unity• 17% still see unity as a cause for concern• 64% believe East and West growing successfully

• 68% in West; 51% in East• 34% still believe East and West will “remain like two separate states”

• 1990: 72% in former DDR said things had to change a lot between East and West

• 2009: 45% in former DDR still said things had to change a lot between East and West

• 1995: 45% believed that people (East & West) were far apart to be unified• 2009: less than 25% believed that people were too far apart to be unified• 58% describe Germany’s development as a success

• 64% of that comes from polling in East• 47% believe economic development in East has been a success

Differences are no Longer EmphasizedWhen you compare those in the East as

compared to those in the West, do you put more emphasis on differences or similarities?

Germany: Immigration, Re-unification & Identity• Immigration issues were ignored far too long by politicians• Conservatives were less apt to work with immigrant issues, citing

Germany was not an immigrant nation• The left was too enamored with the Utopian ideals of personal freedoms

and multicultural harmony• The gaps, violence, misunderstanding, frustrations continued while

Germany debated social and economic ramifications of immigration• Due to demographic constraints, Germany needs immigration• What was once treated as a burden, immigration is a vital piece of

German society in 21st century• Add to the frustrations was reunification in 1990

• Two German cultures were reunified after the fall of the Wall• What was this “new/unified” Germany and how was it to look and feel?• 21 years after reunification an identity crisis still affects many Germans

from the former East- (they see their culture/way of life/economic system/ideologies hijacked by Western ideals)

• The question still begs: what does it mean to be German in the 21st century?

Essential Questions

• What is a German in the 21st century?• What has been the impact of the new wave of

immigration on the population of Germany?• How is multiculturalism defined in Germany?• Who is responsible for immigrants’ assimilation and

integration into German society? • The Federal Government? • The local governments, or is it the personal

responsibility of the immigrants?• Is immigration and integration critical for

immigrants in Germany, and Europe in general?• How has Germany’s re-unification affected German

identity?

Sources• Bartsch, M., Brandt, A. & Steinvorth, D. (2010, July 09). A sorry history of self-deception

and wasted opportunities. Retrieved from http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,716067,00.html

• Gobel, J. (2010, August 20). Joy over german unity unbroken. Retrieved from http://www.magazin-deutschland.de

• Hoffman, G. (2010, May 05). The past to freedom: 20 years of german unity. Retrieved from http://www.magazin-deutschland.de

• Institute for Demoskopie Allensbach. (Designer). (2009). Ostdeutsche-westdeutsche. [Web Graphic]. Retrieved from http://www.ifd-allensbach.de/news/prd_0907.htm

• Introduction to immigration to germany. (2008). Retrieved from http://www.workpermit.com/germany/employer1.htm

• Jervis, R., Prewitt, J., & Shockley, P. (2007). Germany today. (2007 ed., p. 53-58). Bonn: Inpuncto.

• Munkler, H. (2010, July 06). 20 years of german unity: a process without historical precedence. Retrieved from http://www.magazin-deutschland.de

• Oezcan, V. (2004, Jul). Germany: immigration transition. Retrieved from http://www.migrationinformation.org/profiles/display.cfm?id=235

• (2010). Pbs: worldfocus. (2010). [Web Video]. Retrieved from http://watch.thirteen.org/video/1450063603/#

• Public affairs program: german immigration issues. (2005, November 21). Retrieved from http://www.carnegiecouncil.org/resources/transcripts/5280.html

• The world factbook: germany. (2011, July). Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gm.html

To be German: 21st century• Progressive• Transparent• Euro-centric• Confident• Quietly arrogant• Proud• Self-deprecating• Warm, welcoming• Multicultural• Multilingual• Conscience of the past• Sensitive• Orderly