Portuguese in Germany

Portuguese in Germany (German: Portugiesen in Deutschland) are citizens and residents of Germany who are of Portuguese descent.

Portuguese in Germany (also known as Portuguese Germans/ German Portuguese Community or, in Portuguese, known as Portugueses na Alemanha / Comunidade portuguesa na Alemanha / Luso-alemães) are the citizens or residents of Germany whose ethnic origins lie in Portugal.

Portuguese Germans are Portuguese-born citizens with German citizenship or German-born citizens of Portuguese ancestry or citizenship.

There are about 245,000 Portuguese people living in Germany as of 2021. They represent 0.29% of the country's population.^[2][3]

History

Portuguese in Germany have been known since the 16th century. They are now part of the Portuguese diaspora scattered around the world and are generally considered low profile and well integrated.^[4]

The initial larger Portuguese community in Germany emerged during the 16th century in the Hanseatic city of Hamburg, when Sephardic Jews sought refuge here from the Inquisition.^[5]

During the

In the final three years of World War II, some Portuguese individuals were deported to German concentration camps, mainly from occupied France. Recent estimates suggest that around 1,000 Portuguese, mainly members of the Luso-French community, were used by Nazi Germany.^[8] Sadly, a few dozen of them lost their lives there. In 1941, about 150 Portuguese volunteers joined the Spanish Blue Division to support Nazi Germany. They were primarily ex-Legion Viriatos members and fought on the Eastern Front.^[9][10][11]

n the post-war period, Hundreds of thousands of Portuguese settled as guest workers in other European countries, especially in Western Europe.

Following a recruitment agreement between the Federal Republic of Germany and Portugal, tens of thousands of Portuguese guest workers arrived since 17 March 1964.

The Portuguese Armando Rodrigues de Sá was officially welcomed in 1964 as the millionth "guest worker" in Germany and was given a certificate of honor and a two-seater Zündapp Sport Combinette – Mokick.^[12]

After the Carnation Revolution in 1974 and Portugal's EU accession in 1986, the country experienced significant economic growth and a decline in emigration.

In Germany, the demand for foreign labor was extremely high during the "Golden Years" (Wirtschaftswunder) of the 1960s. Following the 1973 oil crisis, the German government curtailed immigration and, until 1983, implemented a policy to promote and encourage return migration.^[13][14][15]

Due to growing xenophobia and an increase in unemployment among foreign workers, the German government passed a law in October 1983 to finance the voluntary return of foreign workers to their countries of origin. Foreign workers who were legally recruited and residing in the country individually received a reimbursement of 10,500 Deutsche Marks – approximately the amount they had contributed to the German social security system (retirement fund).^{[16][17][18][19][20]}

This program was only applicable to foreigners leaving Germany before 30 June 1984. According to Zimmermann et al. (1998: 1–7), 20 thousand Portuguese workers participated in the program. As a result, the Portuguese population in Germany decreased to 69 thousand by 1987.^{[21][22][23][24][25]}

However, with the economic crisis in Portugal after the 2007 financial crisis, emigration from Portugal to Germany increased once again.

Nowadays, the immigrants are mostly

The largest Portuguese community is located in Hamburg, where about 25,000 people with Portuguese heritage live. There is also a Portugiesenviertel (Portuguese quarter) in Hamburg near the Port of Hamburg and between the subway stations of Landungsbrücken and Baumwall where many Portuguese restaurants and cafes are located there.^{[28][29][30][31]} In Germany there are 145 Portuguese associations.^[32] The Portuguese associations are found all over Germany and are often related to sports centers, language centers or community centers.^[33][34] Despite the widespread presence of Portuguese centers, there is a higher concentration in Nordrhein-Westphalen (North Rhine-Westphalia), Baden-Württemberg and Hessen: despite hosting around 42% of Germany's population, these states (Länder) host around 60% of the Portuguese community.^[35]

The Portuguese community, despite being highly integrated, retains distinctive features of Portuguese religious culture such as Catholic Christmas and devotion to Our Lady of Fátima.^[36][37]

Portuguese in Germany tend to have settled long time ago, and they have generally spent more than 20 years in the country.^[38]

Remittances

The two countries enjoy friendly relationships and mutual trust, witnessing increasing trade as well.^{[32][39][40][41]}

The Portuguese community in Germany retains strong ties with its homeland and, between 2000 and 2021, it has sent approximately 4.5