Immigration, Integration, Foreignness: Foreign Workers in Germany Since the Turn of the Century

Abstract

Three aspects of the debate over asylum seeking and antiforeigner senti ment in postunification need to be emphasized at the outset. First, despite the fact that the foreigner question has periodically resur faced in Germany, each time it appears it is treated as the first occurrence and historical precedent is lost. Second, in the current debate both sides begin from positions of moral fundamentalism. On the one hand, there is the position that Germany is not an immigration country and immigra tion presents a threat to German national identity; on the other side, there is the tendency to dismiss any effort to limit migration as a threat to liberal and constitutional principles as well as a denial of moral obligations that rich countries owe to poorer regions. Third, proponents and opponents of immigration argue that radical opening up or closure of the borders, respectively, will provide immediate solutions to the problems that immi gration brings. Such simplified views are contradicted by historical evi dence. The history of sponsored immigration of foreign workers into Ger many goes more than a hundred years. Since the time of Polish immigration in the period of industrialization, employers have emphasized the advantages of such immigration: Foreign workers worked for lower pay, and as long as their standards were based on conditions in their countries, were likely to be willing to do less-desirable work for lower pay than were Germans. Early observers also expressed fears associated with immigration: Themes of racial contamination and unwanted assimilation had appeared already at the turn of the century. The solution during the Second Empire was laws and practices that restricted immigration and limited the rights of migrants. In particular, workers were brought in for only a certain portion of the year and sent regularly. In this manner, not only was permanent immigration avoided, but it was assured that these workers were more likely to think in terms of the standards back home than to adopt wage and living standards common among German workers. In contrast with the treatment of Polish temporary immigrants, there is the case of the who, since they originated in Prussian Posen, were German citizens. Despite a strong state policy in favor of Germani zation, however, the Ruhr Poles continued to maintain a somewhat sepa rate identity and institutions even a generation or two after migration. By 1914, there were over a million foreigners living in Germany, most of them industrial workers. The political debates that resurfaced over their