Italians in Germany

Italian emigrants in Germany (called "Gastarbeiter"), receiving instruction in 1962

Large numbers of Italians have resided in Germany since the early Middle Ages, particularly architects, craftsmen and traders. During the late Middle Ages and early modern times many Italians came to Germany for business, and relations between the two countries prospered. The political borders were also somewhat intertwined under the German princes' attempts to extend control over all the Holy Roman Empire, which extended from northern Germany down to Northern Italy. During the Renaissance many Italian bankers, architects and artists moved to Germany and successfully integrated in the German society. On the other hand, Germany was not a major destination Italians during the waves of Italian emigration during the 19th century, with most leaving for the Americas.[3]

Italian worker in Duisburg in 1962

Italian workers in Cologne in 1962

With Germany's post-World War II economic boom (Wirtschaftswunder), a large wave of immigrants from Italy relocated to Germany. Italy and Germany have been joint members of the European Coal and Steel Community (later the European Economic Community). Since the establishment of freedom of movement for workers between the two countries in 1961, more than 580,000 Italians migrated to Germany for work, mainly from southern and north-eastern Italy. The majority Italians that came with this wave of immigration were men without families; many initially intended to return there in the medium term, although a great many ended up settling in Germany permanently. From the early 1970s onward, many of these workers' families joined them.[4]

Among the German cities Wolfsburg and Ludwigshafen had the highest share of Italian migrants in 2011 according to German Census data. [5]

• Germany–Italy relations

• Johannes Augel, Italienische Einwanderung und Wirtschaftstätigkeit in rheinischen Städten des 17. und 18. Jahrhunderts, Bonn, L. Röhrscheid, 1971.
• Gustavo Corni, Christof Dipper (eds), Italiani in Germania tra Ottocento e Novecento: spostamenti, rapporti, immagini, influenze, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2006, ISBN 88-15-10731-2.
• Marco Fincardi, Emigranti a passo romano: operai dell'Alto Veneto e Friuli nella Germania hitleriana, Verona, Cierre, 2002, ISBN 88-8314-179-2.
• Malte König, Racism within the Axis: Sexual Intercourse and Marriage Plans between Italians and Germans, 1940–3, in: Journal of Contemporary History 54.3, 2019, pp. 508-526.
• Brunello Mantelli, Camerati del lavoro. I lavoratori emigrati nel Terzo Reich nel periodo dell'Asse 1938-1943, Scandicci, La Nuova Italia, 1992.
• Claudia Martini, Italienische Migranten in Deutschland: transnationale Diskurse, Hamburg, D. Reimer, 2001, ISBN 3-496-02496-8.
• Edith Pichler, Ethnic economics: the Italian entrepreneurs in Germany, in: Chiapparino, F. (ed.), The Alien Entrepreneur, Milano, 2011, pp. 54-82.
• Edith Pichler, 50 anni di immigrazione italiana in Germania: transitori, inclusi/esclusi o cittadini europei?, in: Altreitalie, International journal of studies on Italian migrations in the world, Nr. 33, pp. 6-18. Torino, 2006.
• Edith, Pichler, Junge Italiener zwischen Inklusion und Exklusion. Eine Fallstudie. Berlin, 2010.
• Edith, Pichler, Dai vecchi pionieri alla nuova mobilità. Italiani a Berlino tra inclusione ed esclusione, in: De Salvo, E./Ugolini, G./Priori, L. (eds), Italo-Berliner. Gli italiani che cambiano la capitale tedesca, Milano-Udine, Mimesis, 2014.

• Italian emigration in Germany during the 20th century (in German)