A museum of European emigration is opening in Bremerhaven. Its visitors will learn that from 1830 to 1974, seven million people left Europe forever through this port city. Of these, 90% went to seek happiness in the USA. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Europeans, including thousands of Germans, set out from Europe across the ocean, fleeing wars, revolutions, poverty, and fear of the future.
Over the past half-century, Germany — at least its western part — has not experienced any political or social upheavals. In terms of living standards and social security, Germany was and remains one of the most prosperous countries. For hundreds of thousands of people in developing countries, moving to Germany is a desirable goal. Despite this, the emigration of Germans from their country has not become a purely historical fact.
According to the Federal Statistical Office, 600,000 foreigners came to Germany last year. In the same year, 547,000 people left the country, of whom more than 150,000 were German citizens. As statisticians point out, the number of emigrants with German passports has been continuously rising since 1991. At that time, 99,000 left Germany for permanent residence in other countries; in 2001, 109,000; in 2003, 127,000 Germans.
Emigrants fall into two groups. The vast majority of Germans go abroad in search of work. Protracted problems in the labor market and a high unemployment rate, especially in eastern Germany, have played their part. As a rule, emigrants are men aged 25 to 44 with medium-level qualifications, craftsmen, representatives of technical professions, and service sector workers.
The second-largest group of emigrants consists of pensioners and German citizens who have married foreigners. The most popular destinations among pensioners are Switzerland and Austria, as well as warm countries, primarily Spain. Approximately 170,000 German pensioners live outside Germany.
In search of work, Germans go to other European Union countries where the economy is currently developing more dynamically than in Germany, as well as to the classic immigration countries — the USA, Canada, and Australia. In Europe, the fastest-growing community of German origin is in Switzerland. Currently, 100,000 Germans live there.
Moving to other EU states is made easier by the fact that they do not need a visa or a work permit. The number of German guest workers is growing every year in neighboring Austria. Last year, 45,000 people with German passports worked there, a significant portion of them from East Germany. As a rule, they work in the hotel industry, gastronomy, construction, and the healthcare system. Highly qualified specialists from Germany also seek to find work in Austria. According to an employee of the recruiting agency Inventa Austria, Germans often account for 50% of applicants for executive positions in the technical field.
Highly qualified German specialists also move to Scandinavian countries and the United Kingdom because of higher pay and favorable working conditions. For example, 2,600 German doctors and roughly the same number of scientists live and work in the UK. The number of researchers working in British universities and scientific institutions has doubled over the past ten years. What attracts them to the UK is not so much the higher salary as the absence of rigid hierarchy and less bureaucratization.