Latest news with #non-Germans
Gulf Insider
3 days ago
- Politics
- Gulf Insider
Knife Crime In Germany Surges, With Foreigners Heavily Over-Represented In Latest Figures
The number of violent knife crimes in Germany has risen sharply once again, with newly released Federal Police figures confirming a worsening trend. In the first half of 2025, 730 cases were recorded under Federal Police jurisdiction, a 17 percent increase compared to the same period last year. The data, provided by the German government in response to a parliamentary query from Alternative for Germany (AfD) domestic affairs spokesman Martin Hess and obtained by Junge Freiheit, show a marked overrepresentation of foreign suspects. Out of the recorded offenses, 278 involved German suspects and 270 involved non-Germans. While foreigners make up just under 15 percent of Germany's population, they accounted for over 36 percent of knife crime suspects. Among them, Syrians formed the largest group with 29 cases, followed by Afghans with 23 and Poles with 20. Algerian and Afghan suspects were among the most likely to use a knife rather than merely carry one, with 83 percent of cases involving actual use. The Federal Police recorded the majority of incidents at train stations, with 409 cases. Hess said the figures were 'largely a direct consequence of mass migration,' accusing left-wing parties of 'denial of reality' and warning that public spaces must not become 'places of fear.' He criticized symbolic measures such as weapon-free zones and said that effective border controls and large-scale deportations had yet to be implemented. Knife violence is not confined to Berlin, though the capital's police force drew ridicule last year for website advice suggesting that victims sing loudly to deter attackers — a tip later removed after public backlash. In North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous state, knife crime rose 20.7 percent in 2024, following a 44 percent jump the previous year. There, foreigners make up just 16.1 percent of the population but 47.6 percent of knife crime suspects. In May, German criminal lawyer Udo Vetter warned that the country has 'imported knife violence' following several high-profile incidents, including a Kosovar man injuring a 12-year-old girl and two others, a Syrian asylum seeker stabbing five people outside a student bar, and a rioter wounding a police officer. He pointed to cultural norms where knives are carried as status symbols. Manuel Ostermann of the Federal Police Union also called for urgent action, warning that the knife 'always immediately poses a concrete threat to life and limb' and that politicians must use all available measures to curb the trend.
Daily Mail
25-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Germany unveils plans for two-storey 'deportation terminal' to return 100 migrants a day at Munich airport
One of Germany 's biggest airports is planning on building a 'deportation terminal' that will be used to send up to 100 migrants back to their home countries per day. Munich International Airport is set to build a two-storey terminal on a five-acre parcel of land by the end of 2027 that will be used to clear a backlog of 24,000 people who have been ordered to leave the Bavaria region. The new facility, according to the Times, will be overseen by Germany's federal police. It will be staffed by up to 300 officers from Bavaria's state police, 145 security guards and 90 officials from other public bodies. On top of being a deportation centre, the new facility will also act as a place for asylum applications to be processed for those who arrive in Germany by plane. Joachim Herrmann, Bavaria's interior minister, told German newspaper Bild: '[The proposed facility] is organisationally necessary so that we can make deportations quicker and more efficient.' But there are several factors expected to hinder its development. The terminal has politically split the local authorities, which include both Munich city council and the council of nearby town Freising, understood to be hesitant over any expansion of the airport. While Munich's Social Democratic Party Dieter Reiter supports the project, the city's Green party and two smaller left-leaning parties have voiced their opposition. On top of this, the airport is looking to build the new deportation terminal on a parcel of land that is protected under local conservation laws. Since 2022, Munich airport has had a 'combined transit and deportation facility' that is surrounded by barbed wire and has recreation and exercise rooms. It has enough cells to hold up to 22 deportees, and can hold up to 29 'transit' migrants who claim asylum after landing at the airport. In May, Germany's chancellor Friedrich Merz issued orders to turn undocumented migrants away from the nation. The new rules would now see everyone without proper documentation, apart from children and pregnant women, turned away if they try to get into Germany from a neighbouring country. Merz, who made the order on his first day in office, pledged during the election to crack down on migration. This pledge came following a spate of knife and car attacks carried out by non-Germans that galvanised support for the hard-right AfD party.
Local Germany
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Local Germany
OPINION: Yes you can make local friends in northern Germany, here's how
Last month, we asked readers in Hamburg about their experiences of living there . While a solid majority of respondents said they would recommend Germany's second city, a common theme of criticism was its inhabitants' perceived unapproachability. But is Hamburg really, as one reader put it, 'a beautiful city with unfriendly people'? Our columnist Brian Melican disagrees – and explains how to make friends in his adoptive hometown. Yes, it's true, Hamburg can be a tough nut to crack. Even those born and bred in Germany's windswept northern port city wouldn't claim that we are known for bonhomie. Our informal anthem 'City Blues' , a hip-hop hymn to Hamburg by the legendary Beginner group, puts it like this: ' Wir müssen mit allem rechnen, weil man hier sonst erfriert. Deswegen wirken wir so komisch und so kompliziert. ' Translation: 'You've got to watch out here else you'll freeze to death. That's why we seem so strange and so complicated.' Even though climate change has taken the sting off of the cold since the track was released in 2003, winters here are still long, dark, and sometimes quite depressing – and Hamburgers are still guarded, reserved, and sometimes awkward. One thing we are not, however, is unfriendly. Quite the opposite. We just have trouble showing it sometimes. Hamburg is different to many other German cities As the song says: ' Da im Süden von der Elbe, da sind die Menschen nicht diesselben ' – 'South of the Elbe river, people aren't the same'. I've also lived in Düsseldorf, for instance, whose Rhineland inhabitants are known for their gregariousness. One of their local Schlager numbers calls the old town 'the world's longest bar', and in a classic Altstadt brewery, it isn't hard to get chatting with whoever is stood next to you. Further up the Rhine, wine festivals are big social events, with anyone welcome to plop themselves down with a glass and introduce themselves. Same goes for Bavaria's beer gardens, where I challenge anyone to get through a Maß without being talked to. READ ALSO: 'They avoid non-Germans': Is Munich really an unfriendly city for foreigners? But, as anyone who has ever been out for a drink in Hamburg will know, this is not the way things work here. Pubs and bars in northern Germany have set tables for small groups, and you're expected to keep yourself to yourself. There is one major exception, of course: the area around the Reeperbahn, to which Hamburgers will only go late at night and only after they've drunk enough to feel comfortable having conversations with strangers – or, potentially, for more… Advertisement 'Here today, gone tomorrow!' In that sense, we're a bit like Londoners. Which is probably one reason I feel at home here – and, in addition to the rain, one reason Hamburg is known as Germany's 'most British' city. Not that it is, statistically speaking: Brits aren't even in the top 20 of foreign minorities (in Berlin, we're in 14 th place). A few over Hamburg harbour during the spring Hafengeburtstag festival. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/Hamburg Messe und Congress GmbH | Hartmut Zielke Hamburg is, however, very international: almost 20 percent of the city's population has come from abroad and over 40 percent have roots outside of Germany. Many more have moved here from elsewhere in the country, too, as the population has risen by almost 10 percent in two decades to 1.85 million – even as tens of thousands move away every year. Advertisement This churn leaves people actually born in Hamburg now firmly in the minority (41.5 percent). And, in another parallel to London and other cosmopolitan cities, it leads to a certain blasé attitude to Quiddjes , (newcomers) – as well as to a certain degree of annoyance among long-term residents about how difficult it has become to find somewhere to live these days. It's not that Hamburgers don't welcome new arrivals: it's just that, in an increasingly crowded port city well-used to comings-and-goings, we want to know who's sticking around before opening up (and granting forgiveness for nabbing that nice three-bed flat over the road). Another barrier to overcome is that northern Germans, although by no means as taciturn as they seem, do not always feel comfortable just chatting: sticklers for punctuality and with a keen sense of civic duty, they're usually on their way somewhere – to meet existing friends, for instance, or to take part in an organised activity. READ ALSO: New homes and an Olympics bid - What the SPD-Green coalition has in store for Hamburg How to meet people and make friends in Hamburg The key to actually meeting Hamburg locals and overcoming their initial reserve is to show that you, too, are planning to stick around – and to meet them in contexts in which they are prepared to socialise. Here are my three personal top tips. Advertisement Sports: Hamburgers love nothing more than joining a sports club: almost one in three residents has a membership (as against one in six in Berlin), so if you're wondering where everyone is, this is part of the answer! Football, of course, is big, but if you want to meet real Hamburgers, one guaranteed place to find them is on our emblematic canals and rivers: from long-established rowing clubs to new paddleboarding groups, there are organisations for all conceivable forms of water sport. ( Kayak polo , anyone?) Other recherché options include air sports (we have not just one , but two gliding clubs with their own airfields) and, er, basketball on inline roller-skates … Hamburg is also the city which gave the world a new way to sweat: Hyrox . So if you're a gym-bunny, you're sure to find like-minded fitness fanatics at your local joint. (That's where I met one of my best friends here.) People in Hamburg enjoy summer in the city. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Thomas Müller Volunteering: Northern Germans are not known for being boastful, so many people here keep their voluntary activities rather quiet. Once you start asking, though, you'll realise that one reason your neighbour is always in a rush on Saturdays is because he's visiting the local old persons' home. Your colleague, too, might be taking a couple of hours off on Tuesday afternoons to read to schoolkids (and you thought she was sneaking out to get a massage and facial). Over the years, I've met some very close friends through volunteering: in a local residents' association, for instance, and all manner of other clubs and groups. Whatever your interest, there'll be something for you. If I had any time left, for instance, I'd sign up to help Gans Hamburg count, track, and generally take care of the city's geese. (Firstly, because I think geese are great; secondly, because I just love the association's punning name!) Advertisement Work: This is a tricky one – socialising with workmates comes with attendant risks – but in my experience, people in Hamburg often meet each other through their jobs. That's because we all spend a lot of time working (and then retire to the coast) and because, once we are working together, we have a reason to talk to each other. So if a colleague or business contact suggests getting lunch together sometime, my advice would be to take the plunge. It might, however, take them a few months to ask. Whatever it is you do to meet people in Hamburg, don't expect too much, too soon. As 'City Blues' puts it: ' Wir brauchen halt 'ne kleine Wele bis wir auftau'n' – 'It takes us a while to thaw'. You can take heart in the next line, though: ' Man glaubt's kaum, aber dann sind wir echt kuschelig ' – 'Hard to believe, but then we're warm and cuddly.' READ ALSO: Five German cities ranked among the 'unfriendliest in the world' I wouldn't quite go that far, but we do make good, lasting friendships. And we're a happy bunch – Germany's happiest , actually. It's just that, like our friendliness, our happiness isn't always immediately apparent to new arrivals. Give us some time: once you get past our city blues, you'll be able to consider yourself at home!
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
When big business rolled over for fascism — and cashed in: A lesson, or a warning?
At the beginning of 1933, the National Socialist German Workers Party, better known as the Nazis, found themselves on the brink of financial ruin. The party had spent down its reserves on a now-historic election campaign earlier that year in which it won a plurality, though not a majority, of seats in the Reichstag, Germany's parliament. Adolf Hitler, who now held executive power as chancellor — with the backing of mainstream conservatives who hoped to control him — parlayed his gains to call for new elections that spring, in hopes of riding his momentum, along with a heavy dose of political thuggery, to an absolute majority. This was a major gamble. To feed its propaganda apparatus and pay for the "brownshirts," Nazi militias who stalked Germany's streets "discouraging" opposition, the party needed money it didn't have. "We are all very discouraged, particularly in the face of the present danger that the entire party may collapse," complained Joseph Goebbels, a party leader who later led the Reich's propaganda ministry and "total war" economy. "The financial situation of the Berlin organization is hopeless. Nothing but debts and obligations.' The aid that Goebbels and other Nazi leaders needed soon arrived, along with 20 or so bankers and industrialists who arrived in chauffeured cars at the official residence of Reichstag president Hermann Göring on the night of Feb. 20. The agenda for the meeting was set: Hitler would assure this group of Germany's richest men that their fortunes would be preserved, or more likely multiplied, under Nazi rule. In return, they would offer Hitler the money he needed to destroy the political opposition — forever. After more than a decade of Nazi ascendance, the party and the barons who would bail them out still distrusted one another. One can debate how seriously the Nazis took themselves as a "socialist" party, but it was right there in the name — they were aggressively nationalistic and racist but also, at least rhetorically, a working man's party. In addition to demanding land and territory to "settle our surplus population," barring Jews from German citizenship and deporting any non-Germans who had entered the country after 1914, the 25-point NSDAP program published in 1920, before Hitler took control of the party, also called for "the nationalization of all businesses which have been formed into corporations." The key word in that clause is "all," because it was entirely deceptive. In his own words, and as manifested later in actual Reich policy, Hitler believed in nationalizing only some businesses, or some parts of businesses — those owned by people he deemed undesirable and/or subhuman — and dividing their assets between the Nazi state and loyal businessmen. Empowering the workers? Not so much. "We have to bring a process of selection into the matter in some way, if we want to come to a natural, healthy and also satisfying solution of the problem, a process of selection for those who should be entitled — and be at all permitted — to have a claim and the right to property and the ownership of companies," he told Otto Wagener, his economic policy advisor, in 1930. At his core, Hitler despised Marxism, viewing it as an insidious Jewish conspiracy. The international class struggle predicted by Karl Marx directly contradicted the Nazis' racial-nationalist and decidedly anti-egalitarian weltanschauung, which championed welfare only for healthy, virtuous and "useful" members of the master race. The feeling was mutual; in 1932, Leon Trotsky rebuked the NSDAP as a socialist party in name only that "conducts terrorism against all socialist organizations ... in its ranks one finds all classes except the proletariat." Hitler's avowed opposition to left-wing politics would later endear him to Germany's capitalists, though that moment had to wait for many years after he explained his beliefs in "Mein Kampf." Throughout the 1920s, most of Germany's wealthy industrialists preferred to support explicitly business-friendly conservative parties, who offered a less overtly destabilizing vision for the nation's future. At first, most wealthy Nazi supporters were a mixed bag of aimless socialites, heirs and heiresses who wanted to feel special (in this case, racially and culturally special; see Nordic Circle) and those who held antisemitic beliefs or were attracted to Hitler's call for national revanchism and perhaps to Hitler himself. But as the Weimar Republic's economy collapsed, so did the ruling coalition led by the center-left Social Democratic Party. Popular discontent emboldened both the Nazis and the Communists, and increasingly, industrial and banking leaders came to see Hitler as the weapon they could wield to crush the radical left. "Not all capitalists were particularly enthusiastic about the Nazis, but their skepticism was relative and ended as soon as it became clear that Hitler was the only person capable of destroying the labor movement," recalled Albert Krebs, a Nazi Party official. That, of course, was not universally true; Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach, a heavy industry magnate whose famous firm produced the bulk of German war materiél during World War I, was an enthusiastic Hitler backer well before the 1933 breakthrough, making large financial contributions to the party and distributing copies of "Mein Kampf" among his workers. After the Nazis won a plurality of Reichstag seats in July 1932, a group of conservative elder statesmen from the Weimar government, largely representing business and aristocratic interests, collaborated to have Hitler appointed as chancellor the following January. In elevating Hitler as nominal government leader, while retaining 85-year-old military hero Paul von Hindenburg as president and Franz von Papen as vice chancellor (and presumed puppetmaster), the group hoped that Hitler would crush their opponents on the left and cede effective authority to them. He did the first, but not the second. A month later, Göring convened another group of leaders from Germany's capitalist class for an election fundraiser of sorts in his official residence. Among those who accepted the invitation were banker Hjalmar Schacht, who would later become the Third Reich's chief finance minister; Georg von Schnitzler, head of the chemical and pharmaceutical giant I.G. Farben; and industrialist Günther Quandt, who was also, oddly enough, the former husband of Goebbels' wife Magda. Krupp, the arms king, was also present. Despite holding political power, the Nazis badly needed those men. The party's financial situation remained perilous, and they needed to assure the invited audience that their alliance would remain useful even after the Communists had been defeated or destroyed. Clad in a civilian suit and tie rather than his Nazi stormtrooper's uniform, Hitler outlined plans to purge the government of leftists and eliminate trade unions, arguing that the moneyed assemblage's economic interests were best served by assertive militarism and the outright destruction of Germany's parliamentary system. "Private enterprise cannot be maintained in the age of democracy," he declared. After Hitler departed, Schacht asked the other attendees to deposit as much money as they could into his private trust, which the Nazis could use however they liked heading into the March 5 election. Göring added that the election "will surely be the last one for the next 10 years, probably even for the next 100 years," a situation that would ease the "financial sacrifices" asked of them. In the end, the fundraiser generated 3 million reichsmarks, about $30 million in today's money. Even if Göring was technically incorrect — the Nazis continued to stage elections, for a while — effective political opposition ceased to exist, and by July of 1933, all non-Nazi parties were banned. Two years later, the Nuremberg Race Laws, which designated Jews, Roma and Black people as "enemies of the race-based state," allowed the government to officially expropriate Jewish property and businesses and distribute the spoils to non-Jewish Germans. Adolf Rosenberger, the Jewish co-founder of Porsche, was convicted of "racial crimes" because of his relationship with a Gentile and stripped of his stake in the company. (Rosenberger was luckier than most other German Jews; he fled to the U.S. and spent the rest of his life in California under the name Alan Robert.)Hitler, honoring the promises made at this "Secret Meeting," disbanded and outlawed all independent trade unions, then imposed a centralized, party-governed "union" called the German Labour Front, which was effectively an instrument for the Nazis to exert control over workers' lives. Strikes and collective bargaining were not permitted, and the union's primary purpose was to fuel the Nazi war economy, which was largely contracted out to private industry. Indeed, it was these major capitalists who reaped the greatest rewards from Germany's early wartime victories. The conquest of Poland and several other territories in Eastern Europe brought to Germany an influx of slave laborers — drafted civilians, prisoners of war and concentration camp inmates — who were forced to work dangerous machinery without protective clothing, denied medical attention and adequate food, and summarily executed for minor infractions. The life expectancy of slave laborers at the I.G. Farben facility at Auschwitz was less than four months; more than 25,000 died at the construction site alone. That, of course, was the point — if someone was useful enough to work but not worthy of normal life, they were worked to death. Replacements were almost endlessly available; an estimated 12 to 20 million people were deported to Germany as laborers during the war, and at least 2.5 million died. Under Nazi patronage, German corporations offered generous, bloody tribute, and were well compensated. Krupp supplied heavy armaments, including tanks, artillery and U-boats; Allianz provided insurance for the concentration camps; Hugo Boss furnished (but did not always design) the uniforms of the SS, SA, Wehrmacht and Hitler Youth; and Degussa, a subsidiary of I.G. Farben, produced and delivered more than 56 tons of the pesticide known as Zyklon B to Nazi extermination facilities from 1942 to 1944. Its only use was to fulfill the "Final Solution" as far as possible — that being the extermination of Europe's Jewish population — as well as to murder millions of other camp inmates. After the war, 24 I.G. Farben executives were put on trial for their role in the Holocaust. In his opening statement, prosecutor Telford Taylor declared that "they were the magicians who made the fantasies of 'Mein Kampf' come true ... They were the guardians of the military and state secrets.' In this case, the stereotypical German penchant for record-keeping doomed the defendants; 6,384 documents submitted as evidence — purchase orders, meeting notes, inventories, internal letters and memos — indicated beyond doubt that they knew exactly how many Zyklon B canisters were sent to Auschwitz and what they were being used for. The defense argument that they were just bureaucrats punching the clock didn't fly, and 13 of them were convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Some of them got off lightly. Schnitzler, one of the convicted I.G. Farben executives, was released after four years and returned to the business world. Quandt, the ex-husband of Goebbels' wife, was judged to be a Mitläufer, meaning someone who accepted Nazi ideology but did not directly partake in its crimes. Schacht, tried with other leading Nazis like Göring, Albert Speer and Joachim von Ribbentrop, was acquitted on charges of conspiracy and crimes against peace, largely because he'd been imprisoned by the Nazis after the July 1944 assassination attempt against Hitler (although Schacht was not involved). The 75-year old Krupp was supposed to be tried alongside Schacht, but had become senile and was deemed medically unfit. His son Alfried and 11 other corporate directors faced charges in a later trial for participating in 'the murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, imprisonment, torture, and use for slave labor of civilians.' The younger Krupp was sentenced to 12 years in prison, but reportedly never expressed remorse during or after his detainment. When a Daily Mail journalist asked him in 1959 if he felt any guilt for his role, he responded: "What guilt? For what happened under Hitler? No. But it is regrettable that the German people themselves allowed themselves to be so deceived by him." It was unclear from that phrasing whether Krupp considered himself to be among the deceived.
Local Germany
31-03-2025
- Local Germany
TELL US: Is Hamburg a good place for foreigners to live in Germany?
Alongside international hubs like Frankfurt, Berlin and Munich, Hamburg is one of the most popular cities among foreigners moving to Germany. According to recent figures, almost a quarter of Hamburg's 1.8 million residents have an international background, with around 400,000 non-Germans currently living in the city. With the northern port city recently being crowned the happiest in the country , it's no wonder that many people from abroad want to make Hamburg their home. But recent surveys carried out by expat community InterNations have found that the Hansastadt can be one of the hardest places for foreigners to settle in Germany . If you live in Hamburg - or have lived there in the past - we'd love to hear your thoughts for a future article. Does Hamburg offer a good quality of life for its foreign residents, or are internationals better off looking elsewhere? Advertisement Please let us know by filling in the survey below. If the survey doesn't load, click here instead .
