Indians in Germany
![]() | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (August 2017) |
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Total population | |
---|---|
161,000[1] 1.95‰ of the German Population | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Dortmund | |
Languages | |
English, German, Malayalam, Tamil and various languages of India | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Indian diaspora |
The community of Germans with Indian background includes Indian expatriates in Germany, as well as German citizens of Indian origin or descent. In 2009, the German government estimated that the number of people of Indian descent residing in Germany at 110,204. Of which 43,175 people were holding an Indian passport, while 67,029 were holding a German passport.[2]
History
In the late 1960s and 1970s, many Malayali Catholic women from Kerala were recruited by the German Catholic institutions to work as nurses in German hospitals.[3] Until 1973, when Germany ceased issuing working visas for guest workers, German companies hired many Indians as engineers. In 2001, the German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder issued the German green card for IT professionals, which brought another 20,000 Indians to Germany.[citation needed] Indian IT professionals working in Germany on green cards are primarily men. 2001 statistics showed just 7.8% were women.[4]
Modern era
Germany has become a popular destination for higher learning, and of the total student population in Germany about 12% are International students[5]. Hundreds of schools in India have signed up to teach students German as their primary foreign language as part of an effort by Germany's top technical colleges to attract more Indian students[6]. As a result, there has been a steady increase in the Indian student population in Germany which has quadrupled in 7 years since 2008[7][8]. Of these, more than 80% Indian students pursue their studies or research in the STEM fields i.e., Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics[9]. There are also Indians in Germany who actively take up and organize lectures and discussions on relevant social and political issues[10][11]. In 2016, many students and research fellows at the University of Göttingen, and Goethe Institute Göttingen took part in the Dalit Asmita Yatra (meaning, Dalit Pride March)[12]. In July 2017, the first International Conference on Periyar Self-Respect Movement was organized at the University of Cologne to commemorate the 91st anniversary of the Self-Respect Movement that started in 1926[13].
Academic year | No. of Indian students enrolled in German universities |
---|---|
2008-09 | 3,516[7] |
2011-12 | 5,998[8] |
2012-13 | 7,532[7] |
2013-14 | 10,000[14] |
2014-15 | 11,860[9] |
2015-16 | 13,740[8] |
Notable people
- Sandeep Bhagwati, composer
- Rahul Peter Das, South Asianist (Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg) and President of the German Association for Asian Studies
- Robin Dutt, football club manager
- Sebastian Edathy, member of the German parliament (Social Democratic Party)
- Collien Fernandes, media person
- Shanta Ghosh, sprinter
- Gujjula Ravindra Reddy, member of the state parliament of Brandenburg and former mayor of Altlandsberg
- Anant Kumar, author
- Judith Lefeber, singer
- Subrata K. Mitra, political scientist (Heidelberg University, retired)
- Xavier Naidoo, singer
- Anita Bose Pfaff, economist, daughter of Subhas Chandra Bose
- Kamala Reddy, Hindu guru
- Sabrina Setlur, singer and ex-girlfriend of Boris Becker
- Shweta Shetty, singer
- de:Ashok-Alexander Sridharan, Lord Mayor of Bonn
- Indira Weis, singer
- Josef Winkler, member of the German parliament (Alliance '90/The Greens)
- Atul Chitnis, open-source software developer
- Tino Sehgal, Berlin-based artist of Indian and British descent
- Irshad Panjatan, Berlin-based actor and mime artist of Indian descent
- Shyam Sundar, Father of Paderborn
References
- ^ "Immigration from outside Europe almost doubled". Federal Institute for Population Research. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
- ^ Bundesamt für Flüchtlinge und Migration, Dr. habil. Sonja Haug Stephanie Müssig, M.A. Dr. Anja Stichs (Hrsg): Muslimisches Leben in Deutschland, 2009: page 76, chart 5
- ^ Goel 2008, p. 57 harvnb error: multiple targets (3×): CITEREFGoel2008 (help)
- ^ Van Hoven & Meijering 2005, p. 78
- ^ "Germany welcomes record number of Indian students: Study in Germany". Careerindia.com. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
- ^ "Germany to Indian students: Willkommen!". Washington Post. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
- ^ a b c "Indian students' enrolment in German universities up more than 100% in 5 years". Times of India. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
- ^ a b c "Number of Indian students in Germany doubles". Timeshighereducation.com. 2 June 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
- ^ a b "Germany scores high for students; record growth in Indians studying in Germany for 2014-15". Blogs.economictimes.indiatimes.com/. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
- ^ "Exhibits at the Anti-Caste Photo Exhibition in Germany". Velivada.com. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
- ^ "Anti Caste Photo Exhibition at University of Magdeburg Otto Von Guericke Germany". Velivada.com. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
- ^ "Dalit Asmita Yatra sends ripples across the globe". Times of India. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
- ^ "International Periyar Self Respect Conference Movement in Cologne Germany". Velivada.com. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
- ^ "'In last 5 years, intake of Indian students in German universities has doubled'". Indianexpress.com. 22 August 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
Further reading
- Van Hoven, Bettina; Meijering, Louise (2005), "Transient Masculinities: Indian IT-professionals in Germany", in Van Hoven, Bettina; Hörschelmann, Kathrin (eds.), Spaces of masculinities, Critical geographies, vol. 20, Routledge, pp. 75–85, ISBN 978-0-415-30696-6
- Goel, Urmila (2008), "The Seventieth Anniversary of 'John Matthew': On 'Indian' Christians in Germany", in Jacobsen, Knut A.; Raj, Selva J. (eds.), South Asian Christian Diaspora: Invisible Diaspora in Europe and North America, Ashgate Publishing, pp. 57–74, ISBN 978-0-7546-6261-7
- Meijering, Louise; Van Hoven, Bettina (2003), "Imagining difference: The experiences of 'transnational' Indian IT-professionals in Germany" (PDF), Area, 35 (2): 175–182, doi:10.1111/1475-4762.00253
- Lal, Brij V.; Reeves, Peter; Reeves, Rajesh, eds. (2006), "Germany", The encyclopedia of the Indian diaspora, University of Hawaii Press, pp. 358–362, ISBN 978-0-8248-3146-2
- Goel, Urmila (2007), "'Indians in Germany': The imagination of a community" (PDF), UNEAC Asia Papers, 20
- Goel, Urmila (2008). "'Half Indians', Adopted 'Germans' and 'Afghan Indians'. On Claims of 'Indianness' and their contestations in Germany". Transforming Cultures eJournal. 3 (1). doi:10.5130/tfc.v3i1.676.
- Goel, Urmila (2008), "The German Internet Portal Indernet: A Space for Multiple Belongingness", in Goggin, Gerard; McLelland, Mark (eds.), Internationalizing Internet Studies: Beyond Anglophone Paradigms, Routledge advances in internationalizing media studies, vol. 2, Taylor & Francis, pp. 128–144, ISBN 978-0-415-95625-3
External links
- Indians in Magdeburg - a student initiative that helps and provides useful information to non-German speakers, especially Indian students
- Magdeburg Indians- Magdeburg Indians e.V. - a private organization registered in Magdeburg, Germany, Saxony-Anhalt
- Deutsch-Indische Gesellschaft
- Indians in Germany
- Indien-Institut in Munich/Bavaria ; attached to Völkerkundemuseum
- Escape from East Germany 1972, autobiographical account of an Indian Ph.D. student in Dresden who married an East German woman