Italians in Germany

Italians in Germany consist of ethnic Italian migrants to Germany and their descendants, both those originating from Italy as well as from among the communities of Italians in Switzerland. Most Italians moved to Germany for reasons of work, others for personal relations, study, or political reasons. Today, Italians in Germany form one of the largest Italian diasporas in the world and account for one of the largest immigrant groups in Germany.

Italians in Germany
Distribution of Italian citizens in Germany (2014).
Total population
873,000 (with Italian ancestry)[1]
596,127 (Italian citizens)[1]
Regions with significant populations
Berlin · Hamburg · Munich · Rhein-Ruhr · Frankfurt · Stuttgart · Cologne
Languages
German · Italian · other languages of Italy
Religion
Major Catholicism · Lutheranism · Others
Related ethnic groups
Italian people · other European peoples

It is not clear how many people in Germany are of Italian descent, since the German government does not collect data on ethnicity. However, based on the German "microcensus," which surveys 1% of the German population annually and includes a question on the nationality of the surveyees' parents,[2] the number is at least 873,000 people.[1] The total number (i.e. including third generation Italian Germans and beyond) is likely considerably higher.

History
Italian emigrants in Germany (called "Gastarbeiter"), receiving instruction in 1962

Large numbers of Italians have resided in Germany since the early Middle Ages, particularly architects, craftsmen and traders. During the late Middle Ages and early modern times many Italians came to Germany for business, and relations between the two countries prospered. The political borders were also somewhat intertwined under the German princes' attempts to extend control over all the Holy Roman Empire, which extended from northern Germany down to Northern Italy. During the Renaissance many Italian bankers, architects and artists moved to Germany and successfully integrated in the German society. On the other hand, Germany was not a major destination Italians during the waves of Italian emigration during the 19th century, with most leaving for the Americas.[3]

Italian worker in Duisburg in 1962
Italian workers in Cologne in 1962

With Germany's post-World War II economic boom (Wirtschaftswunder), a large wave of immigrants from Italy relocated to Germany. Italy and Germany have been joint members of the European Coal and Steel Community (later the European Economic Community). Since the establishment of freedom of movement for workers between the two countries in 1961, more than 580,000 Italians migrated to Germany for work, mainly from southern and north-eastern Italy. The majority Italians that came with this wave of immigration were men without families; many initially intended to return there in the medium term, although a great many ended up settling in Germany permanently. From the early 1970s onward, many of these workers' families joined them.[4]

Among the German cities Wolfsburg and Ludwigshafen had the highest share of Italian migrants in 2011 according to German Census data. [5]

Notable people

In general

Football players

See also

Bibliography
  • Johannes Augel, Italienische Einwanderung und Wirtschaftstätigkeit in rheinischen Städten des 17. und 18. Jahrhunderts, Bonn, L. Röhrscheid, 1971.
  • Gustavo Corni, Christof Dipper (eds), Italiani in Germania tra Ottocento e Novecento: spostamenti, rapporti, immagini, influenze, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2006, ISBN 88-15-10731-2.
  • Marco Fincardi, Emigranti a passo romano: operai dell'Alto Veneto e Friuli nella Germania hitleriana, Verona, Cierre, 2002, ISBN 88-8314-179-2.
  • Malte König, Racism within the Axis: Sexual Intercourse and Marriage Plans between Italians and Germans, 1940–3, in: Journal of Contemporary History 54.3, 2019, pp. 508-526.
  • Brunello Mantelli, Camerati del lavoro. I lavoratori emigrati nel Terzo Reich nel periodo dell'Asse 1938-1943, Scandicci, La Nuova Italia, 1992.
  • Claudia Martini, Italienische Migranten in Deutschland: transnationale Diskurse, Hamburg, D. Reimer, 2001, ISBN 3-496-02496-8.
  • Edith Pichler, Ethnic economics: the Italian entrepreneurs in Germany, in: Chiapparino, F. (ed.), The Alien Entrepreneur, Milano, 2011, pp. 54-82.
  • Edith Pichler, 50 anni di immigrazione italiana in Germania: transitori, inclusi/esclusi o cittadini europei?, in: Altreitalie, International journal of studies on Italian migrations in the world, Nr. 33, pp. 6-18. Torino, 2006.
  • Edith, Pichler, Junge Italiener zwischen Inklusion und Exklusion. Eine Fallstudie. Berlin, 2010.
  • Edith, Pichler, Dai vecchi pionieri alla nuova mobilità. Italiani a Berlino tra inclusione ed esclusione, in: De Salvo, E./Ugolini, G./Priori, L. (eds), Italo-Berliner. Gli italiani che cambiano la capitale tedesca, Milano-Udine, Mimesis, 2014.

Notes

    References
    1. "Bevölkerung in Privathaushalten nach Migrationshintergrund im weiteren Sinn nach ausgewählten Geburtsstaaten". Statistisches Bundesamt (in German). Retrieved 2021-02-09.
    2. "Migrationshintergrund". Statistisches Bundesamt (in German). Retrieved 2021-02-10.
    3. Hatton, Timothy J.; Williamson, Jeffrey G. (1994). "What Drove the Mass Migrations from Europe in the Late Nineteenth Century?". Population and Development Review. 20 (3): 533–559. doi:10.2307/2137600. ISSN 0098-7921.
    4. Prontera, Grazia. "Italienische Zuwanderung nach Deutschland. Zwischen institutionalisierten Migrationsprozessen und lokaler Integration | bpb". bpb.de (in German). Retrieved 2021-02-09.
    5. "Kartenseite: Italiener in Deutschland - Landkreise". kartenseite.wordpress.com. 2017-03-26. Retrieved 2017-04-19.
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