Unit 10: Ethnic footprints and structures in Germany

(Finn Sweers)

It is not only a sign of our modern times that people leave their home country in order to settle elsewhere.
The movement of ethnic or cultural groups over national frontiers were always the exception rather than the rule (Bade 1992:9). It is a proven fact that this occurred during the pre-Christian era before national bonds existed and the
definition of ethno- cultural structures were defined.

Indications of the migration of people in Central Europe, are fragments of the past. An example are many river names such as Rhine, Elbe and Lahn, which go back to their orginal Celtic roots (Doebler 1975:173). The French river Vézère on the has the same word-origin as the German "Weser" (from Celt: "Wase" for damp meadow/water, Pletsch 1997:173). Also many "Keltenschanzen" ( Celtic defensive structures) refer to the scattered distribution of the Celts in Central Europe.

The movement of the Slavic tribes in Eastern-Central Europe can easily be visualized. The typical Slavic place name endings (up -itz, -ow etc.) east of the Elbe are common. The Sorbs [1], a Slavic tribe, live in the Niederlausitz and have a culture over 1000 years old. In 1990, they lobbied for their own province "Lausitz" in Germany. The motion was defeated: however, it was decided that their culture and language would be encouraged (Elle 1995:170).

A completely different example of ethno-cultural overlapping are the Hugenots. These are Protestant religious refugees from France, who originally came  in large number at the end of 17th century to Germany. The reason for this mass movement was the removal of the edict of Nantes by Louis XIV (1685). The discrimination of Protestantism in France was rekindled. Particularly Berlin owes its rise from a small rural town to a European metropolis partially to this immigration influx (Bade 1992:282). Other areas of Germany saw the establishment of towns starting with Hugenot settlement, e.g. Friedrichsdorf (Taunus) and Bad Karlshafen or Erlangen [2].

In contrast to the Sorbs, the Hugenots lost their ethnic identity, especially their language. The Sorbs and Hugenots represent different examples of non-German ethno-cultural groups within Germany. On the other hand, German cultural features were spread in the course of the emigration over the whole world. It is not always easy to draw clear boundaries because these cultural fragments in many cases became mixed or blurred. Examples of early emigration are the High-Middle age settlement process in 12th century, which caused a shift in the boundaries of the German culture towards the east.
Since that time Germans had already established themselves in Hungary or Romania (Siebenbürger Saxons [3]) (Bade 1992:34) (Map [4]).

In terms of real numbers emigration achieved a far larger dimension from the middle of the 18th century. Many Germans left their homeland in order to establish themselves in the south of the Russian empire [5].Tzarina Catharine II had requested immigrants from Europe to settle in parts of the country. She promised the settlers exemption from taxes, and military service, their own administration and the free practice of their religion. The appeal for German citizens was high. This movement was strongly influenced by the devastations of the Seven Years' War and a poor harvest at that time. The right to freedom of religion was for many German Mennonites an incentive for leaving their country and for settling in the Ukrainian Steppes. In Prussia special laws limiting the freedom of religion were implemented. Within one century 50 % of the Mennonites left Prussia to emigrate to the Volga colonies (Frank 1992:88), where some reside to this day. The first German colonies were established in 1764 near Saratov (Ludwig 1995:132). Only ten years later, 25,781 Germans lived in these Volga settlements. In the 1897 census more than one million Germans were counted in Russia . In the course of socialist developments of the Soviet Union many Germans left these settlements.

The 19th century was influenced by significant emigration overseas (Bade 1983:17). The preferred land of emigration was the United States of America (Bade 1992:23). In the 18th century numerous German emigrants settled there. Examples are the German communities in Louisiana (1723) and Cayenne (1763/64) (Hoerder 1992:75). Large scale emigration first occured after 1850. However between 1854- 75 more than half a million Germans left for the "New World" (Bade 1992:19). Today the number of the Americans with German roots totals about 7 million (Hoerder 1992:200). A large number of cities in the USA [6], Canada [7], South America, New Zealand and Australia [8] take their names from this emigration (e.g. Germantown [9], Bismarck [10] etc.).

A particularly sad section of emigration took place during the Third Reich. Over half a million people fled from Germany because of discrimination and persecution by the nazis (Hoerder 1992:201). Many of them hoped to return to their home country later.  However, the majority of these emigrants remained  in exile permanently. Some hundred thousand also emigrated after the Second World War.

But the 20th century was also a phase in which a large number of foreign sub-populations arrived in Germany. Before the beginning of the First World War the number of people of non-German origin in the German Reich was already about 1.2 million (Hoerder 1992:202). They came during the rapid economic advances after the foundation of the Reich in 1871. A high proportion of the foreign population lived in the big cities and industrial centres of Germany. Berlin was like a magnet to many of them, attracting especially artists and intellectuals. After Posen the city was the political centre of Poles within Prussia. More than 80,000 people of Polish descent lived

During the Weimar Republic, the number of foreigners dropped. The reason was the limited number of visas and the economic crisis. At the beginning of the Nazi-dictatorship, their number amounted to fewer than half a million (Hoerder 1992:203/04). However, this changed out of the necessity during World War II, when the number of the foreigners rose steeply. A reason was the displacement of workers from the occupied countries for the arms factories of the Third Reich. The displacement took place under duress and force. Until today a lot of German enterprises have problems with claims for millions of marks by former forced laborers.

After the end of war the so-called "German economic-miracle" began. The first contracts for workers in Germany during this economic "boom" were signed in 1955. In the beginning only Italy signed these papers, later Greece, Turkey, Portugal, Morocco and Tunisia were added. Up to the recruitment period of 1973 about 14 million so-called "Guest Workers" ("Gastarbeiter") came to Germany. More than 3 million of them live here with their families today (Hoerder 1992:204 ). As a result of this, there are many cities and regions, in which the ethno-cultural population structure has changed ( about the current situation [11]).

Today the international mix of inhabitants attracts attention e.g. in a multitude of Mediterranean, Asian or Oriental restaurants. Mosques and churches of other confessions (Copt, Greek or Russian Orthodox) are particulary evident in large cities such as Hamburg, Frankfurt or Berlin. There are Islamic centres with a large regional influence for example in Aachen, Munich and Bonn (Elle 1995:221). The practice of the religion is very important. Many of the immigrant traditions are part of their religion. The practising of one's religion means a piece of home is kept alive. In the meantime there are a lot of associations and clubs which support the integration and tolerance of foreign culture and foreigner as their fellow citizens.

In fact, the problems of the integration of minorities into other societies in the course of history has changed. Such integration is not always desired; even if it is, such an integration can take many years to be accomplished. This can be demonstrated by the German immigration countries. New immigrants tend to take up residence near other German settlements ("ethnic neighbourhood" - "Little Germany") (Bade 1992:164).
Today there are many parties and associations in the countries, which look after the interests, customs, language, religion and other cultural concerns of the immigrants. In the same way, many immigrants in Germany created institutions in order to retain a piece of their own culture.

[1] http://www.sorben.de/
[2] http://www.erlangen.de/home.asp
[3] http://mitglied.lycos.de/HansJoachimSchaefer/Glossar/Hugenotten.htm
[4] http://www.feefhs.org/maps/ah/ah-ehung.html
[5] http://www.ahsgr.org/
[6] http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/european/imde/germany.html
[7] http://germancanadian.uwinnipeg.ca/
[8] http://www.southaustralianhistory.com.au/hahndorf.htm
[9] http://www.mvcc.net/Germantown/
[10] http://www.bismarck.org/
[11] http://www.destatis.de/basis/d/bevoe/bevoetab4.htm

Bibliography

Useful Links:

Welcome to Population Index 1986-1999, Populationcouncil- population matters because people matter, How did Hamburg become an emigration center, Immigrants, German influence, early settlers, Ethnos- Nation: a bilingual scientific journal

Acknowledgements:
This translation would not have been possible without the help of Grand Grams and Julia Kluge. For their advice and support I am very grateful.