The largest number of immigrants in Germany were from Ukraine, as of 2023. The top three origin countries were rounded up by Romania and Turkey. Immigrants are defined as having left a country, which may be their home country, to permanently reside in another. Upon arriving, immigrants do not hold the citizenship of the country they move to. Immigration in the EU All three aforementioned countries are members of the European Union, which means their citizens have freedom of movement between EU member states. In practice, this means that citizens of any EU member country may relocate between them to live and work there. Unrestricted by visas or residence permits, the search for university courses, jobs, retirement options, and places to live seems to be defined by an enormous amount of choice. However, even in this freedom of movement scheme, immigration may be hampered by bureaucratic hurdles or financial challenges. Prosperity with a question mark While Germany continues to be an attractive destination for foreigners both in and outside the European Union, as well as asylum applicants, it remains to be seen how current events might influence these patterns, whether the number of immigrants arriving from certain countries will shift. Europe’s largest economy is suffering. Climbing inflation levels in the last few months, as well as remaining difficulties from the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic are affecting global economic development. Ultimately, future immigrants may face the fact of moving from one struggling economy to another.

In 2023, around 1.93 million people immigrated to Germany. Numbers fluctuated during the time period covered in the graph at hand, peaking in 2015 during the high point of Europe’s refugee crisis. Significantly lower figures in 2020 may be attributed to the first year of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and subsequent restrictions implemented by the German government on entering the country, in order to control the spread of the disease. Immigration to Germany “Immigrant” is a term used from the point of view of the receiving country, or the country being migrated to by a person. While reasons for and circumstances leading to an immigrant entering a foreign country may vary, they often include love, include seeking residence, employment, family reunions, or applying for asylum. Various countries are represented among foreigners living in Germany, though currently the leading three by numbers are Turkey, Ukraine, and Syria. Around 5.2 million immigrants living in Germany do not need a residence permit due to having EU citizenship, and therefore being allowed freedom of movement based on EU law. Another 2.64 million immigrants were granted an unlimited permit to stay in Germany. The near future Germany remains a popular choice for immigrants, even in currently challenging economic and political times. Welfare benefits, healthcare, and various support initiatives for those moving to or arriving in the country are on the list of selling points, though in practice, difficulties may be encountered depending on individual situations and laws in different German federal states. While the unemployment rate among foreigners living in Germany had gone up in 2020, it dropped again in the following years, but increased once more in 2023 and 2024 to over 16 percent. The country is Europe’s largest economy, housing many global players in various industries, which continues to attract jobseekers, despite these very industries facing struggles of their own brought on both by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and geopolitical events in Europe.

As of 2024, around **** million people from Turkey were living in Germany. Foreign nationals are those who are not German based on Article 116 Paragraph 1 of the German constitution. These include stateless persons and those with unclear citizenship as well as the population group with a migration background. Individuals with a migration background can either have immigrated into Germany or been born in the country to at least one parent who was born a foreigner.

Objective: The German Emigration and Remigration Panel Study (GERPS) is the data base developed within the project “Individuelle Konsequenzen internationaler Migration im Lebensverlauf” funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) (project number 345626236). GERPS follows an origin-based sampling approach which allows to study individual consequences of international migrations form a life-course perspective. Apart the migration process and the sociodemographic attributes of international mobiles, the objective of GERPS is to conduct longitudinal data across the four following life domains: Employment and Income, Family and Partnership, Health and Well-being, and Social Networks and Participation.

Method: The study design of GERPS exploits information from German registers within a multistage stratified probability sample of emigrants and remigrants with German citizenship aged between 20 and 70 with a documented international migration between July 2017 and June 2018. Currently GERPS is comprising four waves covering a period of 24 months. The first wave started in November 2018 and ended in February 2019. The second wave started in May 2019, six months after the beginning of wave 1. The third wave started in November 2019 and ended in January 2020, six months after the beginning of wave 2. The fourth wave is scheduled for November 2020. Wave 1 includes information about 4.545 emigrants and 6.465 remigrants.

Analytical potential & Questionnaire: The research design complements traditional immigrant surveys conducted in major destination countries by surveying emigrants and remigrants from the perspective of the country of origin. The origin-based sampling approach has at least three major advantages compared to traditional approaches where samples are drawn from immigrants in their destination countries: First, it enables comparative studies of emigrants in various destination countries and of remigrants returning from different destination countries. Second, as GERPS is organized as SOEP-related study, the research design enables comparisons of the internationally mobile population with non-migrants staying in the country of origin by drawing on the German Socioeconomic Panel (SOEP). Third, the research design allows comparative studies on emigrants and remigrants, providing the opportunity to analyse consequences of international migration from at least two perspectives – shortly after emigration and shortly after return.

Each wave of GERPS covers questions on German migrant’s current living situation in the different areas of life, gradually enabling researchers to draw a picture of survey participants’ life course with every further wave. Additionally, each wave has its own focus: The first wave covers migration motives and the situation shortly before migration. This enables the realization of a hypothetical fifth retrospective measurement point, allowing researchers to reflect on causes and consequences of international migration right from the beginning. The second wave concentrates on income, labour market integration, and social background. The third wave covers in particular social and family relationships. The fourth wave will be supplemented by an open module.

The present study comprises the data for the second wave.
1. Screening module for recording moves since wave 1: move since the last survey; move within the city/municipality, to another city/municipality, (back) to Germany, (back) to the previous country or to another country; time of move; distance of the new dwelling from the old place of residence (open, distance category); reasons for move (e.g., own occupational reasons or occupational reasons of partner, family reasons, financial reasons, etc.); ease of getting along after move; experiences of disadvantage and preference in the country of residence. e.g., own professional reasons or partner´s professional reasons, family reasons, financial reasons, etc.); ease of getting along after the move; experiences of disadvantage and preference in the country of residence on the basis of origin.

1. Current living and housing situation: marital status, partnership and type of household: Household size; household composition remained the same, changed, or. Respondent has left previous household; household size at time of last interview; update of household composition information; change in household composition (person added, person left household); total number of persons in new household (household size) if respondent left previous household; stable partnership; move to Germany and new living environment; time of move to Germany; reasons and motives for move (back) to Germany; stay abroad planned only for a limited time; ease of getting along after move; driving force for move decision within partnership; partner´s move to Germany before/after respondent or at the same time already lived in Germany; time of move to current country of residence (country W2); contact with people...

Objective of population statistics is the provision of evaluations of those registered under reporting law Residents at the place of the main apartment. Re the registered residents at the place of the main residence count all persons registered in Würzburg with their main residence. People who live in Wuerzburg residences shall be held only once, at the place of the principal residence; proven. As ‘Germans with "Immigrant background" includes naturalised Germans born abroad, as well as emigrants. Children under 18 years of age, of which at least: If a parent has a migrant background, they are also among the Residents with a migrant background (family migrant background). To the Determination of the personal migrant background shall be based on the variables ‘First nationality, ‘second nationality’, ‘origin of origin’, ‘type of German nationality’ and ‘situation of the birth cake’ with the help of the Program MigraPro evaluated. Editor's reference: https://statistics.wuerzburg.de

Leisure behaviour, friendships, family, feelings and beliefs, identity, the current situation and vocational training of young people. Sibling situation.

Wave 4

1. Youth main questionnaire:

Topics: Leisure behaviour: frequency of different leisure activities (Visiting relatives, cinema, going out, reading, sports club or music club, concert, museum, newspaper reading); hourly expenditure on a typical school day for television, chatting, household work, video or computer games alone and with others.

Friendships: ethnic background of friends; interethnic background of friends; contact with people of selected ethnic origin; migration background; importance of equal education, religion, and ethnic background of the respondent´s own partner for the respondent personally and for his or her parents; boyfriend or girlfriend; details to partner: current activity, type of school attended or highest educational level, ethnic background, denomination, importance of religion for the partner; beginning of the relationship (duration of the relationship); context of getting to know each other (e.g. via friends); partner lives in the same neighbourhood; parents have knowledge of the relationship or have the partner already met; parents already knew each other before start of relationship; family relationships: interest of the family in conversations about the boyfriend or girlfriend; parental interference: request for information about activities and whereabouts at undertakings with the boyfriend or girlfriend, demand for immediate acquaintance of the friend; expected marriage; current boyfriend/girlfriend is first steady relationship; number of previous friends; family rejects relationship expected openness of the family in case of negative attitude towards the friend or to the girlfriend; the family leaves relationship decisions up to the respondent; arranged relationships through the family; demand of the family after termination of the relationship in case of lack of sympathy; preferred marriage age; desired number of children.

Family: migration background of the biological parents; frequency of visits in the country of origin of parents in the last 12 months; employment status of parents in the last 12 months; frequency of pocket money and amount of pocket money.

Feelings and beliefs: life satisfaction (scalometer); discrimination: sympathy scale for selected groups of origin; understanding of gender roles.

Self-assessment of German language skills (speaking, writing); national identity; sense of belonging to another group, and strength of identity; importance of religion to the respondent; self-assessment of the state of health compared to peers; delinquent behavior in the last three months: deliberate destruction of foreign property, stealing, carrying knives or weapon, drunkenness); frequency of hot meal and breakfast; frequency of alcohol consumption, sports, cigarette consumption and drug consumption; body height in centimetres and weight in kilograms; preferred and realistic educational aspiration; expectations for the future in terms of stay in Germany, marriage, children and state of health.

Current situation: school leaving certificate during the last school year; grades in mathematics, German and English in the diploma; overall grade on leaving certificate; current situation; currently visited type of school; branch of cooperative comprehensive school; currently attended class level; frequency of deviant behaviour in school (disputes with teachers, experienced punishment, unauthorized absence from lessons, late arrival); self-efficacy; attitude towards school: importance of good grades.

Vocational training: title of the training occupation (ISCO 2008, ISEI, SIOPS); duration of training; achievement of an additional educational attainment through the training; nature of this educational attainment; amount of training allowance per month (categorised); job title of the current occupation or job; amount of monthly net income (categorized); type of employment contract; start of employment in this occupation (month and year); job is the first job since leaving school; job title of the first job (ISCO 2008, ISEI, SIOPS); active search for a place of training or employment; professional title of the desired profession (ISCO 2008, ISEI, SIOPS).

Additionally coded: international respondent ID; national respondent ID; country of data collection; mode of collection; interview date; flag variable (interview date d...

Objective: The German Emigration and Remigration Panel Study (GERPS) is the data base developed within the project “Individuelle Konsequenzen internationaler Migration im Lebensverlauf” funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) (project number 345626236). GERPS follows an origin-based sampling approach which allows to study individual consequences of international migrations form a life-course perspective. Apart the migration process and the sociodemographic attributes of international mobiles, the objective of GERPS is to conduct longitudinal data across the four following life domains: Employment and Income, Family and Partnership, Health and Well-being, and Social Networks and Participation.

Method: The study design of GERPS exploits information from German registers within a multistage stratified probability sample of emigrants and remigrants with German citizenship aged between 20 and 70 with a documented international migration between July 2017 and June 2018. Currently GERPS is comprising four waves covering a period of 24 months. The first wave started in November 2018 and ended in February 2019. The second wave started in May 2019, six months after the beginning of wave 1. The third wave started in November 2019 and ended in January 2020, six months after the beginning of wave 2. The fourth wave is scheduled for November 2020. Wave 1 includes information about 4.545 emigrants and 6.465 remigrants.

Analytical potential & Questionnaire: The research design complements traditional immigrant surveys conducted in major destination countries by surveying emigrants and remigrants from the perspective of the country of origin. The origin-based sampling approach has at least three major advantages compared to traditional approaches where samples are drawn from immigrants in their destination countries: First, it enables comparative studies of emigrants in various destination countries and of remigrants returning from different destination countries. Second, as GERPS is organized as SOEP-related study, the research design enables comparisons of the internationally mobile population with non-migrants staying in the country of origin by drawing on the German Socioeconomic Panel (SOEP). Third, the research design allows comparative studies on emigrants and remigrants, providing the opportunity to analyse consequences of international migration from at least two perspectives – shortly after emigration and shortly after return. Each wave of GERPS covers questions on German migrant’s current living situation in the different areas of life, gradually enabling researchers to draw a picture of survey participants’ life course with every further wave. Additionally, each wave has its own focus: The first wave covers migration motives and the situation shortly before migration. This enables the realization of a hypothetical fifth retrospective measurement point, allowing researchers to reflect on causes and consequences of international migration right from the beginning. The second wave concentrates on income, labour market integration, and social background. The third wave covers in particular social and family relationships. The fourth wave will be supplemented by an open module.

The present study comprises the data for the first wave providing the baseline survey.

This statistic shows the number of foreigners in Germany in 2023, by country of origin. As of 2023, around 1.55 million people from Turkey living in Germany. Foreigners are those who are not German based on Article 116 Paragraph 1 of the German constitution. These include stateless persons and those with unclear citizenship as well as the population group with a migration background. Individuals with a migration background can either have immigrated into Germany or been born in the country to at least one parent who was born a foreigner.

The United States hosted, by far, the highest number of immigrants in the world in 2020. That year, there were over ** million people born outside of the States residing in the country. Germany and Saudi Arabia followed behind at around ** and ** million, respectively. There are varying reasons for people to emigrate from their country of origin, from poverty and unemployment to war and persecution. American Migration People migrate to the United States for a variety of reasons, from job and educational opportunities to family reunification. Overall, in 2021, most people that became legal residents of the United States did so for family reunification purposes, totaling ******* people that year. An additional ******* people became legal residents through employment opportunities. In terms of naturalized citizenship, ******* people from Mexico became naturalized American citizens in 2021, followed by people from India, the Philippines, Cuba, and China. German Migration Behind the United States, Germany also has a significant migrant population. Migration to Germany increased during the mid-2010's, in light of the Syrian Civil War and refugee crisis, and during the 2020’s, in light of conflict in Afghanistan and Ukraine. Moreover, as German society continues to age, there are less workers in the labor market. In a low-migration scenario, Germany will have **** million skilled workers by 2040, compared to **** million by 2040 in a high-migration scenario. In both scenarios, this is still a decrease from **** skilled workers in 2020.

Identification. Political attitudes and behaviour. Social and political commitment and integration.

Topics: Identification: country of birth; year of immigration to the Federal Republic of Germany; reasons for immigration; German citizenship; foreign citizenship; German citizenship by birth, as (late) ethnic German repatriate without or with a German citizenship, by naturalisation; year of naturalisation; previous nationality; nationality(s) of parents; country of birth of parents; desire to acquire German nationality; religion: denomination or religious community; religious group membership within Islam; pride and identification: equal opportunities in Germany; current territory of the country of origin of father and mother; identification with the country of origin of father and of mother; identification with Germany; invitation to join a German family; considerations about working in the German civil service; like to work in Germany; language spoken in the household; respect shown in Germany; more interest in politics in Germany or in the country of origin; main reasons for dissatisfaction.

Political attitudes and behaviour:

Electoral behaviour: party preference (Sunday question); alternative vote; party that the respondent would never vote for; proximity to party in Turkey (sympathy); party membership (party); political interest; satisfaction with democracy; Political knowledge: knowledge of the President of the Federal Republic of Germany; knowledge of Chancellor Angela Merkel´s party affiliation; political participation: personal opportunities for political participation in Germany and in the country of origin.

Parties, politicians, political problems: sympathy scale for the parties SPD, CDU, CSU, Die Linke, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, FDP, and AfD; currently the most important problem in Germany; problem-solving competence of the parties; better representation of personal interests by politicians with a migration background; naming the politician.

Political fundamentalism, populism: agreement with various statements on politics, state and society (no more ideals in society, capitalism destroys the world, USA is behind the 09/11 attacks, those up there do what they want, rejection of homosexual friends, acceptance of violence in conflicts in every democracy, call for leaders, Russia as sole culprit in international conflicts, West prevents development of the Islamic world, shame on the family by Muslim woman marrying a Christian, insult as Muslim by Mohammed caricatures, literal compliance of the rules of the Koran, adaptation of the teachings of Islam to conditions of the modern world, events in Palestine typical for the contact with all Muslims, depraved sexual morals of the western society, eligibility of a Christian party for Muslims, Islam belongs to Germany, discrimination of non-German looking people, no party in Germany represents the interests of migrants, immigrants should adapt their behaviour to the German culture, who lives in Germany should learn the German language, Jews cannot be trusted).

Social and political commitment: membership in a non-profit association or organisation in Germany; type of association or organisation; memberships in the country of origin; active participation in an association, initiative or self-help group in Germany; area of active participation; start of voluntary work (number of years); impetus for taking over the activity.

Integration: most important problem of Germans with a migration background and foreigners in Germany; most suitable party for solving this problem; evaluation of the integration efforts of the CDU: sufficient commitment of the CDU for the integration of foreigners and Germans with a migration background as well as for repatriates and late repatriates.

Demography: sex; age; attainment of the highest educational qualification in the country of origin or in Germany; highest school leaving certificate; highest vocational qualification; recognition of vocational training in Germany; employment status; occupational status; satisfaction with current or last occupational activity; current or last occupational status. last job corresponds to vocational training; desire to pursue the occupation learned; self-assessment of religiousness; frequency of churchgoing; accessibility: use of the mobile phone used for the interview exclusively alone, with others or only by chance; number of other mobile phone users aged 14 and over; landline connection in the household; number of mobile phone numbers; number of landline numbers; federal state; size of location; size of household; number of persons in the household under 18 years of age.

Additionally coded: respondent ID; weighting factor; group membership (Germans without migration background, Germans with migration background or foreigners); political community size classes.

There is large variation across countries of origin in the gender composition of migrants coming to Germany. We argue that women’s economic rights in developing countries of origin have three effects on their migration prospects to a place like Germany that is far away and difficult to reach. First, the lower are women’s economic rights the less women have access to and control over the resources needed to migrate to Germany. Second, the lower are rights the lower is women’s agency to make or otherwise influence migration decisions. These two constraining effects on the female share in migrant populations dominate the opposing third effect that stems from low levels of women’s economic rights generating a potentially powerful push factor. We find corroborating evidence in our analysis of the gender composition of migration to Germany over the period 2009 to 2017.

TIES Germany is part of an international survey, conducted in 8 countries (Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Netherlands, France, Spain and Austria). It is about children of immigrants from Turkey, Yugoslavia and Morocco.

Personal details; educational biography; labour market and occupational biography; biography of partner and parents; housing and neighbourhood; social relations and political participation; gender roles and child care; identity, language and transnationalism; religion and religiosity; income.

Topics: 1. Personal details: moved out of parents household; age at the time of moving; reason for moving; number and age of siblings; number of children that live elsewhere; German citizenship; German citizenship by birth; year of receipt the German citizenship; allegiance to other nations; intention to achieve the German citizenship within the next two years; reasons for no intention; other citizenship; received that citizenship by ancestry, marriage or naturalization.

1. Educational biography: age at first school experience (including pre-school and kindergarten); attendance of pre-school or kindergarten and its duration; kind of most important primary school; reason for attending that primary school; number of children of immigrant origin at that primary school; ever changed schools in primary school; ever repeated a grade or class in primary school; ever interrupted primary school in Germany to go abroad for a period of more than three months; age of leaving primary school; teacher’s recommendation at the end of primary school; recommended and actually entered kind of school; country specific level at which entered secondary school; still attending that school or level; completed that school or level and obtained a diploma or certificate; reason for quitting; age when completed or left the school; teacher’s recommendation for another education at the end of that school level; level or school attended next; returned to attend school again later in life; still attending that school or school level; completed that school or level and obtained a diploma or certificate; age of leaving that school; highest school level completed with a diploma; continued beyond that level and why; field or domain of highest qualification or current study; ever changed schools in secondary school; ever interrupted going to secondary school in Germany to go abroad for a period of more than three months; grade when interrupted; type of most important secondary school; number of children of immigrant origin at that secondary school, reason for attending that school; ever went to a remedial teacher during secondary school; ever had homework guidance during secondary school; got along with most teachers; got along with most classmates; most teachers really listened to what one had to say; when one needed extra help, one would receive it from teachers; quiet place at home to do homework during secondary school; number of books at home; siblings with a school diploma or certificate; highest diploma or certificate obtained by sibling(s); older and/or younger siblings who have left secondary school without diploma or certificate; close friends in secondary school who left without diploma or certificate; importance of mother, father, elder siblings, peers, teachers for support during secondary school; during secondary school: parents controlled time spent on homework, helped doing homework, made one do household chores or look after siblings, talked about school or studies with parents, parents met or talked to teachers; times an older sibling helped with the homework, talked about ones school or study with an older sibling; feeling of social acceptance in comparison to students of German origin during secondary school; experience of hostility or unfair treatment because of origin or background from students, teachers, principal, supervisor or headmaster; satisfaction with the achieved level of education; evaluating equal opportunities offered by German school system.

2. Labour market and occupational biography: current occupational situation; name or title of main job; kind of work (ISCO); year since working in that job; sector of the organization or company; kind and location of organization; number of working hours; kind of working agreement; supervising others; number of employees working in the business; current job; job and educational level correspondence; promotion in current job; number of (full-time) jobs before the cur...

TIES Germany is part of an international survey, conducted in 8 countries (Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Netherlands, France, Spain and Austria). It is about children of immigrants from Turkey, Yugoslavia and Morocco.

Personal details; educational biography; labour market and occupational biography; biography of partner and parents; housing and neighbourhood; social relations and political participation; gender roles and child care; identity, language and transnationalism; religion and religiosity; income.

Topics: 1. Personal details: moved out of parents household; age at the time of moving; reason for moving; number and age of siblings; number of children that live elsewhere; German citizenship; German citizenship by birth; year of receipt the German citizenship; allegiance to other nations; intention to achieve the German citizenship within the next two years; reasons for no intention; other citizenship; received that citizenship by ancestry, marriage or naturalization.

1. Educational biography: age at first school experience (including pre-school and kindergarten); attendance of pre-school or kindergarten and its duration; kind of most important primary school; reason for attending that primary school; number of children of immigrant origin at that primary school; ever changed schools in primary school; ever repeated a grade or class in primary school; ever interrupted primary school in Germany to go abroad for a period of more than three months; age of leaving primary school; teacher’s recommendation at the end of primary school; recommended and actually entered kind of school; country specific level at which entered secondary school; still attending that school or level; completed that school or level and obtained a diploma or certificate; reason for quitting; age when completed or left the school; teacher’s recommendation for another education at the end of that school level; level or school attended next; returned to attend school again later in life; still attending that school or school level; completed that school or level and obtained a diploma or certificate; age of leaving that school; highest school level completed with a diploma; continued beyond that level and why; field or domain of highest qualification or current study; ever changed schools in secondary school; ever interrupted going to secondary school in Germany to go abroad for a period of more than three months; grade when interrupted; type of most important secondary school; number of children of immigrant origin at that secondary school, reason for attending that school; ever went to a remedial teacher during secondary school; ever had homework guidance during secondary school; got along with most teachers; got along with most classmates; most teachers really listened to what one had to say; when one needed extra help, one would receive it from teachers; quiet place at home to do homework during secondary school; number of books at home; siblings with a school diploma or certificate; highest diploma or certificate obtained by sibling(s); older and/or younger siblings who have left secondary school without diploma or certificate; close friends in secondary school who left without diploma or certificate; importance of mother, father, elder siblings, peers, teachers for support during secondary school; during secondary school: parents controlled time spent on homework, helped doing homework, made one do household chores or look after siblings, talked about school or studies with parents, parents met or talked to teachers; times an older sibling helped with the homework, talked about ones school or study with an older sibling; feeling of social acceptance in comparison to students of German origin during secondary school; experience of hostility or unfair treatment because of origin or background from students, teachers, principal, supervisor or headmaster; satisfaction with the achieved level of education; evaluating equal opportunities offered by German school system.

2. Labour market and occupational biography: current occupational situation; kind of work (ISCO); year since working in that job; sector of the organization or company; kind and location of organization; number of working hours; kind of working agreement; supervising others; number of employees working in the business; current job; job and educational level correspondence; promotion in current job; number of (full-time) jobs before the current one; main reason for l...

The short survey on current issues relating to migration / integration was conducted by the Verian opinion research institute on behalf of the Press and Information Office of the Federal Government. During the survey period from 22.05.2024 to 28.05.2024, the German-speaking population aged 14 and over was asked about their attitudes to migration and integration in telephone interviews (CATI). The focus is on attitudes towards refugee issues, immigration in general, immigration regulation measures and the federal government´s immigration policy. Respondents were selected using a multi-stage random sample as part of a multi-topic survey (Emnid-Bus), including landline and mobile phone numbers (dual-frame sample).
Agreement with statements on the topic of immigration to Germany (integration of immigrants into German society has been successful overall so far, there are already so many immigrants living in Germany that no more can be taken in, immigrants are causing a very sharp rise in crime in Germany, I think it´s good that Germany is becoming more culturally diverse through immigration, Germany needs immigration); satisfaction with various aspects of the German government´s immigration policy (dealing with the population´s concerns about immigration, how immigration policy goals and measures are explained to the population, efforts to date to integrate immigrants into the German labor market, efforts to date to find a European solution for immigration to Europe); concerns about the current number of refugees in Germany; short-term and long-term forecast regarding the advantages or disadvantages for Germany of accepting refugees; suitable measures to reduce the number of refugees in the long term (consistently and quickly deport rejected asylum seekers, carry out border controls within the EU, fight smuggling gangs that bring refugees to Europe illegally, grant refugees no or only very little financial support from the state, control the EU´s external borders more closely, ensure better living conditions in the countries of origin, improve living conditions in refugee camps outside the EU, examine asylum applications at the EU´s external borders); perception of problems in connection with refugees in the local area; naming specific problems (open); migration background: Born in Germany; parents born in Germany.

Demography: sex; age; education; occupation; household size; number of people in the household aged 14 and over; party preference; voting eligibility; net household income; survey via mobile or landline.

Additionally coded: consecutive respondent number; weighting factor; interview date; location size (BIK location size and political location size); federal state; survey area west/east.

Within the framework of the Immigrant German Election Study (IMGES), for the first time in Germany exclusively persons with a Turkish migration background or an origin from countries of the former Soviet Union were interviewed about political attitudes and behaviour. One of the main objectives of the study was to investigate whether the voting behaviour of German citizens with a migration background can be explained by established theories of electoral research or whether it is more dependent on migration-specific characteristics. The survey was conducted after the 2017 federal elections and was conducted simultaneously with the post-election survey of the German Longitudinal Election Study (GLES). The project was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) between October 2016 and March 2020.

This study aims to contribute to knowledge about the peace-building agency of civilian actors in marginalized social-housing neighborhoods, who deal with the consequences of terrorist violence in European cities. The bulk of peace and conflict studies literature has provided insight in the dynamics of violence rather than peace. The innovative character of this study therefore is that it interprets existing and new data on dealing with violence with a novel approach, that of geographies of peace. This innovative approach breaks with the tendency of peace and conflict studies to focus on the Global South, state processes and armed conflict and makes it very relevant for studying initiatives in European cities that deal with the aftermaths of paroxysmal violence. The study draws on data collected in three different cities: Grenoble, Freiburg and Brcko. This dataset concerns the data that has been collected in the region of Freiburg (DE).

The title of the sub-project was "Everyday Peace2 and sought to answer how peace is understood, experienced, and lived by migrant women at different stages of an asylum procedure in Germany.

The data is collected by Leonie Bozenhardt and Felicitas Winker under the supervision of Claske Dijkema, in the context of a Research Lab in the MA program Changing Societies at the University of Basel (2021-2022).

“Everyday Peace” is a participatory research project conducted by students from the University of Basel. It is a part of the Horizon 2020 funded URPEACE project that is interested in urban peace-making and the peace-building agency of stigmatized civilian actors in European cities dealing with the consequences of violence.

The everyday peace sub-project invited migrant women at different stages of an asylum procedure in Germany to a conversation throughout a workshop series. The aim is gain knowledge about how peace is understood, experienced, and manifested in migrants` everyday lives in Germany. The research is dedicated to finding out more about how peace is perceived and experienced in the country of arrival, instead of looking at the countries of origin. On the one hand this approach offers a personal insight of the women into very individual ideas about and experiences of peace in contrast to only looking at peace as the absence of war; and on the other hand, it helps to identify overlapping experiences and concepts. We conducted two focus groups, working with migrant women from the area around a city in Southern Germany. Focus group discussions give the opportunity to concentrate on the exchange among the participants. The aim of this project is to improve knowledge about different understandings of peace and the challenges to peace in migrants´ lives in Germany.

The research project “Everyday Peace – How is peace understood, experienced and manifested in migrants’ everyday lives in Germany” was conducted between November 2021 and April 2022 by two students from the University of Basel. Within that period two focus groups were formed and brought together for a total of four workshops; each group participated in two workshops within a week’s time and expressed themselves about how peace is understood, experienced, and manifested in their everyday lives. The workshops took place in Freiburg im Breisgau and each meeting lasted around two to three hours and was audio recorded. To understand how people feel and think about the subject, each workshop day was based on a participatory research method. The first workshop day included certain aspects of the game “Dixit” as a photo elicitation and during the second workshop day the participants created a “Relief Map”. While methods will be described later in depth, it can be already mentioned that the students not only took on the role as researcher but also as a participant themselves and moderator. Furthermore, outside of the workshops one is still being the social worker of two participants of Group A.

Both student researchers have a professional background in social work in contexts of migration and they could draw on already existing and trust-based relationships. The snowball method was used to find additional participants. The used method is described in detail in the document “Research Lab Report Winker and Bozenhardt”. This method led to the formation of two groups of women, one from central and west-Africa and the other from Afghanistan. Their legal perspectives to stay in Germany differed greatly. A list of participants, with their pseudonym, country of origin, age, political status etc. is among the uploaded documents. They have all signed a statement that the discussions could be recorded and could be made public under the condition that the results were pseudonymized. In the transcripts all names have been pseudonymized. The pseudonyms have been chosen by the participants themselves.

This database contains the transcripts of the focus groups that took place on:

29 January 2022 (Workshop 1, Group A)
05 February 2022 (Workshop 2, Group A)
07 Mach 2022 (Workshop 1, Group B)
08 March 2022 (Workshop 2, Group B)

ALLBUS (GGSS - the German General Social Survey) is a biennial trend survey based on random samples of the German population. Established in 1980, its mission is to monitor attitudes, behavior, and social change in Germany. Each ALLBUS cross-sectional survey consists of one or two main question modules covering changing topics, a range of supplementary questions and a core module providing detailed demographic information. Additionally, data on the interview and the interviewers are provided as well. Key topics generally follow a 10-year replication cycle, many individual indicators and item batteries are replicated at shorter intervals.

Since the mid-1980ies ALLBUS also regularly hosts one or two modules of the ISSP (International Social Survey Programme).

The main question module of ALLBUS/GGSS 2016 covers the acceptance of immigration and attitudes towards ethnic and religious minorities in Germany. Other topics include family and gender roles, transnationalism, national pride, and political attitudes. Additionally included are the ISSP modules “Work Orientations IV” and “Role of Government V”.
1.) Family and gender roles: family as a prerequisite for happiness; marriage in case of steady partnership; desire to have children; attitudes towards working fathers and mothers [split]; division of labor regarding house and family work.

2.) Acceptance of immigration and attitudes towards ethnic and religious minorities in Germany: attitude towards the influx of various groups of immigrants; scale of attitudes towards foreigners [split]; contacts with foreigners (or alternatively: contacts with Germans) within the family, at work, in the neighborhood, or among friends; positive and negative experiences with foreigners (or alternatively with Germans); perceived consequences of presence of foreigners in Germany; perception and evaluation of discriminatory behavior towards foreigners; assumed social evaluation of statements on foreigners; ranking in terms of importance of different citizenship requirements; attitudes towards the possibility of becoming German (assimilation); opinion on dual citizenship and on equal rights for foreigners; support for the teaching of Islam in public schools; attitude towards ethnically mixed neighborhoods; estimation of proportion of foreigners in East and West Germany; presence of foreigners as advantage for Germany; living in neighborhoods with high percentage of foreigners; estimated percentage of foreigners in own neighborhood; attitudes towards cultural diversity; perceived differences in lifestyle between Germans and different ethnic groups; indicators for social distance to ethnic minorities and foreigners; attitudes towards equal legal rights for ethnic and religious minorities; feelings towards ethnic and religious minorities; attitudes towards Jews (anti-Semitism); attitudes towards Islam (Islamophobia); contacts with refugees; presence of refugees in own neighborhood; perceived risks and chances with respect to refugees.

3.) Transnationalism: contacts with family members or friends living in another country, frequency of contacts with theses persons, countries in which these persons live; consumption of foreign-language media; frequency of consumption of foreign-language media; frequency and duration of visits to other countries.

4.) Citizenships and country of origin: first, second, and third citizenship of respondent and of spouse or partner; number of citizenships of respondent; original citizenship of respondent and of spouse or partner; country of origin of respondent and of respondent´s parents and grandparents; country respondent lived in when young; length of residence in Germany.

5.) National pride: pride in German institutions and German achievements, pride in being a German.

6.) Political attitudes: political interest, postmaterialism (importance of law and order, fighting rising prices, free expression of opinions, and influence on governmental decisions), self-placement on left-right continuum, voting intention (Sonntagsfrage), participation in last federal elections, recall of vote in last federal elections, membership in a political party.

7.) Personality: social pessimism and orientation towards the future (anomia), interpersonal trust, reciprocity, authoritarianism, overall life satisfaction.

8.) Other topics: self-assessment of social class, fair share in standard of living, assessment of the present and future economic situation in Germany, assessment of the present and future personal economic situation, sense of security in the immediate vicinity (fear of crime); identification with own community, the federal state, the Federal Republic of Germany, the former GDR and Europe; telephone, possession of mobile phone, Internet use.

9.) ALLBUS-Demography: Details about the respondent: month and year of birth, age, gender, citizenship (nationality), number of citizenships, place of residence (federal state, size of municipality, BIK-type...

General personal values and values in the context of family, school and work, national group and ethnic group. Well-being and self-esteem. Identification with national group and ethnic minority group. Intergroup attitudes and intergroup contact. Social distance.

A: Adolescents questionnaire:

Wave 1: General personal values: Portrait Value Questionnaire (PVQ): Power: social status and prestige, control or dominance over people and resources (authority, social power, wealth, preserving my public image), Achievement: personal success through demonstrating competence according to social standards (ambitious, successful, capable, influential), Hedonism: pleasure or sensuous gratification for oneself (pleasure, enjoying life,self-indulgent), Stimulation: excitement, novelty, and challenge in life (daring, a varied life, an exciting life), Self-direction: independent thought and action-choosing, creating, exploring (creativity, freedom, independent, choosing own goals, curious), Universalism: understanding, appreciation, tolerance, and protection for the welfare of all people and for nature (equality, social justice, wisdom, broadminded, protecting the environment, unity with nature, a world of beauty), Benevolence: preservation and enhancement of the welfare of people with whom one is in frequent personal contact (helpful, honest, forgiving, loyal, responsible), Tradition: respect, commitment, and acceptance of the customs and ideas that traditional culture or religion provide (devout, respect for tradition, humble, moderate), Conformity: restraint of actions, inclinations, and impulses likely to upset or harm others and violate social expectations or norms (self-discipline, politeness, honoring parents and elders, obedience), Security: safety, harmony, and stability of society, of relationships, and of self (family security, national); values in the context: familiy, student, nationality, ethnic group (Values in Context Questionnaire (VICQ); self-esteem (Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale), satisfaction with life; need for cognitive closure; identification with national group and ethnic minority group; intergroup attitudes; intergroup contact; social distance; cognititve ability (Latin Square Task).

Demography: age; sex; number of siblings; position in sibling succession; family situation; migration background: country of birth; age at immigration; country of origin of father and mother; time of immigration (as a child, as an adult, after the respondent´s birth, before the respondent´s birth (Germany only); language skills; language spoken at home; number of Russian- and Hebrew-speaking friends (Israel) or of Russian and Turkish-speaking friends (Germany); number of living space; occupation of father and mother; family religion (Jewish, Christian, Muslim or other); parents´ education; wish to have children; number of children the respondent would like to have.

Wave 2: General personal values (Portrait Value Questionnaire (PVQ); values in the context: familiy, student, nationality, ethnic group (Values in Context Questionnaire (VICQ); self-esteem (Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale), satisfaction with life; need for cognitive closure; identification with national group and ethnic minority group; intergroup attitudes; intergroup contact; ego identitiy questionnaire (only Germany); hierarchical self-interest (only Germany).

B: Parents questionnaire:

Wave 1: General personal values (Portrait Value Questionnaire (PVQ); values in the context: familiy, work, nationality, ethnic group (Values in Context Questionnaire (VICQ); satisfaction with life; outgroup attitudes; education style (dyadic adjustment).

Wave 2: General personal values (Portrait Value Questionnaire (PVQ); values in the context: familiy, work, nationality, ethnic group (Values in Context Questionnaire (VICQ); satisfaction with life; outgroup attitudes; education style (dyadic adjustment); ego identitiy questionnaire (only Germany); hierarchical self-interest (only Germany).

Demography: age; marital status; duration of marriage or years since divorce; living together with the parent of the participating child; number of children and age of these children; migration background: country of birth; age when migrating to Germany or Germany, respectively Israel; mother tongue(s); number of living space; household size; household income in relation to average income; occupation learnt; occupation of current activity; religion of the family (Jewish, Christian, Muslim or others); religiosity; religious affiliation (Israel only); years of schooling; highest level of education.

General situation of young people of Turkish descent and their relationship to Germany and the Germans. Sense of belonging and identity. Integration. Society and politics.

1. General situation and relationship to Germany and the Germans: born in Germany; general life satisfaction; parents are still alive, parents live in Germany or abroad; own future rather in Germany, in Turkey, in Europe, or elsewhere; life satisfaction in Germany; positive and or disturbing characteristics of Germany; personal contacts with Germans: proportion of people of German origin in the circle of friends; origin of the two closest friends; readiness for a partnership with a non-Muslim partner (Muslims only).

2. Sense of belonging and identity: German nationality; intention to German citizenship; closeness to Germany and to Turkey; self-assessment of German and Turkish language skills; identity as a German Turk (Muslims only: or Muslim); culture and cultural alienation: religiousness and religious practice in everyday life; attitudes towards religion and society.

3. Integration: sense of acceptance as an equal citizen; frequency of discrimination experience in different situations; attitude towards integration (scale); information on personal immigrant background (generation); better integration of the generation of the parents or of the own generation; self-assessment of personal integration; important aspects with regard to the integration of immigrants (immigrants themselves, state and German society); realization of these aspects and measures.

4. Society and politics: future worries; interest in politics; satisfaction with democracy; opinion on immigration: more advantages or disadvantages by immigration for Germany; Germany should take more or less refugees.

Demography: sex; age; employment status; religious affiliation; Muslim affiliation; number of own children; marital status; duration of stay in Germany (age); memberships in clubs, associations, ecclesial and social organizations, and in groups, that maintain the traditions of the country of origin of the family; purpose of residence permit; graduation acquired; acquisition of graduation in Germany, in Turkey or elsewhere; highest education degree; highest in Turkey acquired education degree; occupational position; household income.

Also encoded was: respondent-ID; weighting factor; BIK-type of municipality; integration-INDEX.

Sampling Procedure Comment: Probability Sample: Stratified Sample: Disproportional