Gastarbeiter
Encyclopedia
Gastarbeiter (ˈɡastˌʔaɐ̯baɪtɐ) is German
for "guest worker." It refers to migrant worker
s who had moved to West Germany
(BRD) mainly in the 1960s and 70s, seeking work
as part of a formal guest worker programme (Gastarbeiterprogramm). On a smaller scale, the Netherlands
and Belgium
had a parallel scheme, called the gastarbeider programme.
East Germany (DDR) had a similar programme and referred to the workers as "Vertragsarbeiter".
era the term Fremdarbeiter
(German for foreign worker) was largely used. Most of the so called Fremdarbeiter were in fact doing forced labour. They were brought against their will from German-occupied Europe to the Third Reich. After WW II, this term had negative connotations and thus a new word was created.
in 1955, Greece
in 1960, Turkey
in 1961, Morocco
in 1963, Portugal
in 1964, Tunisia
in 1965 and Yugoslavia
in 1968. These agreements allowed the recruitment of Gastarbeiter to work in the industrial sector for jobs that required few qualifications.
There were several reasons for signing those contracts. First of all during the 1950s and 1960s Germany experienced a so called Wirtschaftswunder
"economic miracle" and needed laborers. The labour shortage was made more acute by the creation of the Berlin Wall
in August 1961, which reduced the large-scale flow of East German immigration virtually to zero overnight. Besides this the Federal Republic saw it as a form of developmental aid. It was hoped that the Gastarbeiter would learn useful skills in Germany, which could help them build their home countries after returning home.
The first Gastarbeiter were recruited from European nations.
Turkey however pressured the Federal republic to allow their countrymen to become guest workers. Theodor Blank
, Secretary of State for Employment, was opposed to such agreements. He held the opinion that the cultural gap between Germany and Turkey would be too big and also held the opinion that Germany needed no more labourers, because there were enough unemployed people living in the poorer regions of Germany, who could fill these vacancies. The USA however, put some political pressure on Germany. It wanted to stabilize Turkey. The German Department of Foreign Affairs carried on the negotiations after this and in 1961 an agreement was reached.
After 1961, Turkish citizens (largely from rural areas) soon became the largest group of Gastarbeiter in West Germany. The perception at the time on the part of both the West German Government and the Turkish Republic representatives was that working in Germany would be only "temporary". The migrants, mostly male, were allowed to work in Germany for a period of one or two years before returning to the home country in order to make room for other migrants. Many migrants did return, after having built up savings for their return.
The agreement with Turkey ended in 1973 but few workers returned because there were few good jobs in Turkey. Instead they brought in wives and family members and settled in ethnic enclaves. By 2010 there were about 4 million people of Turkish descent in Germany. The generation born in Germany attended German schools, but had a poor command of either German or Turkish, and had either low-skilled jobs or unemployment. Most are Muslims and are reluctant to become German citizens.
Gastarbeiter (plural, "Gastarbeiter") (ˈɡastˌʔaɐ̯baɪtɐ) is German
for "guest worker." It refers to migrant worker
s who had moved to West Germany
(BRD) mainly in the 1960s and 70s, seeking work
as part of a formal guest worker programme (Gastarbeiterprogramm). On a smaller scale, the Netherlands
and Belgium
had a parallel scheme, called the gastarbeider programme.
East Germany (DDR) had a similar programme and referred to the workers as "Vertragsarbeiter".
era the term Fremdarbeiter
(German for foreign worker) was largely used. Most of the so called Fremdarbeiter were in fact doing forced labour. They were brought against their will from German-occupied Europe to the Third Reich. After WW II, this term had negative connotations and thus a new word was created.
in 1955, Greece
in 1960, Turkey
in 1961, Morocco
in 1963, Portugal
in 1964, Tunisia
in 1965 and Yugoslavia
in 1968.Germany: Immigration in Transition by Veysel Oezcan. Social Science Centre Berlin. July 2004.Kaja Shonick, "Politics, Culture, and Economics: Reassessing the West German Guest Worker Agreement with Yugoslavia," Journal of Contemporary History, Oct 2009, Vol. 44 Issue 4, pp 719-736 These agreements allowed the recruitment of Gastarbeiter to work in the industrial sector for jobs that required few qualifications.
There were several reasons for signing those contracts. First of all during the 1950s and 1960s Germany experienced a so called Wirtschaftswunder
"economic miracle" and needed laborers. The labour shortage was made more acute by the creation of the Berlin Wall
in August 1961, which reduced the large-scale flow of East German immigration virtually to zero overnight. Besides this the Federal Republic saw it as a form of developmental aid. It was hoped that the Gastarbeiter would learn useful skills in Germany, which could help them build their home countries after returning home.
The first Gastarbeiter were recruited from European nations.
Turkey however pressured the Federal republic to allow their countrymen to become guest workers. Theodor Blank
, Secretary of State for Employment, was opposed to such agreements. He held the opinion that the cultural gap between Germany and Turkey would be too big and also held the opinion that Germany needed no more labourers, because there were enough unemployed people living in the poorer regions of Germany, who could fill these vacancies. The USA however, put some political pressure on Germany. It wanted to stabilize Turkey. The German Department of Foreign Affairs carried on the negotiations after this and in 1961 an agreement was reached.Heike Knortz: Diplomatische Tauschgeschäfte. "Gastarbeiter" in der westdeutschen Diplomatie und Beschäftigungspolitik 1953-1973. Böhlau Verlag, Köln 2008Heike Knortz: Diplomatische Tauschgeschäfte. "Gastarbeiter" in der westdeutschen Diplomatie und Beschäftigungspolitik 1953-1973. Böhlau Verlag, Köln 2008
After 1961, Turkish citizens (largely from rural areas) soon became the largest group of Gastarbeiter in West Germany. The perception at the time on the part of both the West German Government and the Turkish Republic representatives was that working in Germany would be only "temporary". The migrants, mostly male, were allowed to work in Germany for a period of one or two years before returning to the home country in order to make room for other migrants. Many migrants did return, after having built up savings for their return.
The agreement with Turkey ended in 1973 but few workers returned because there were few good jobs in Turkey.Stephen Castles, "The Guests Who Stayed - The Debate on 'Foreigners Policy' in the German Federal Republic," International Migration Review Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 517-534 in JSTOR Instead they brought in wives and family members and settled in ethnic enclaves. Gottfried E. Volker, "Turkish Labour Migration to Germany: Impact on both Economies," Middle Eastern Studies, Jan 1976, Vol. 12 Issue 1, pp 45-72 By 2010 there were about 4 million people of Turkish descent in Germany. The generation born in Germany attended German schools, but had a poor command of either German or Turkish, and had either low-skilled jobs or unemployment. Most are Muslims and are reluctant to become German citizens.Katherine Pratt Ewing, "Living Islam in the Diaspora: Between Turkey and Germany," South Atlantic Quarterly, Volume 102, Number 2/3, Spring/Summer 2003, pp. 405-431 in Project MUSE
Gastarbeiter (plural, "Gastarbeiter") (ˈɡastˌʔaɐ̯baɪtɐ) is German
for "guest worker." It refers to migrant worker
s who had moved to West Germany
(BRD) mainly in the 1960s and 70s, seeking work
as part of a formal guest worker programme (Gastarbeiterprogramm). On a smaller scale, the Netherlands
and Belgium
had a parallel scheme, called the gastarbeider programme.
East Germany (DDR) had a similar programme and referred to the workers as "Vertragsarbeiter".
era the term Fremdarbeiter
(German for foreign worker) was largely used. Most of the so called Fremdarbeiter were in fact doing forced labour. They were brought against their will from German-occupied Europe to the Third Reich. After WW II, this term had negative connotations and thus a new word was created.
in 1955, Greece
in 1960, Turkey
in 1961, Morocco
in 1963, Portugal
in 1964, Tunisia
in 1965 and Yugoslavia
in 1968.Germany: Immigration in Transition by Veysel Oezcan. Social Science Centre Berlin. July 2004.Kaja Shonick, "Politics, Culture, and Economics: Reassessing the West German Guest Worker Agreement with Yugoslavia," Journal of Contemporary History, Oct 2009, Vol. 44 Issue 4, pp 719-736 These agreements allowed the recruitment of Gastarbeiter to work in the industrial sector for jobs that required few qualifications.
There were several reasons for signing those contracts. First of all during the 1950s and 1960s Germany experienced a so called Wirtschaftswunder
"economic miracle" and needed laborers. The labour shortage was made more acute by the creation of the Berlin Wall
in August 1961, which reduced the large-scale flow of East German immigration virtually to zero overnight. Besides this the Federal Republic saw it as a form of developmental aid. It was hoped that the Gastarbeiter would learn useful skills in Germany, which could help them build their home countries after returning home.
The first Gastarbeiter were recruited from European nations.
Turkey however pressured the Federal republic to allow their countrymen to become guest workers. Theodor Blank
, Secretary of State for Employment, was opposed to such agreements. He held the opinion that the cultural gap between Germany and Turkey would be too big and also held the opinion that Germany needed no more labourers, because there were enough unemployed people living in the poorer regions of Germany, who could fill these vacancies. The USA however, put some political pressure on Germany. It wanted to stabilize Turkey. The German Department of Foreign Affairs carried on the negotiations after this and in 1961 an agreement was reached.Heike Knortz: Diplomatische Tauschgeschäfte. "Gastarbeiter" in der westdeutschen Diplomatie und Beschäftigungspolitik 1953-1973. Böhlau Verlag, Köln 2008Heike Knortz: Diplomatische Tauschgeschäfte. "Gastarbeiter" in der westdeutschen Diplomatie und Beschäftigungspolitik 1953-1973. Böhlau Verlag, Köln 2008
After 1961, Turkish citizens (largely from rural areas) soon became the largest group of Gastarbeiter in West Germany. The perception at the time on the part of both the West German Government and the Turkish Republic representatives was that working in Germany would be only "temporary". The migrants, mostly male, were allowed to work in Germany for a period of one or two years before returning to the home country in order to make room for other migrants. Many migrants did return, after having built up savings for their return.
The agreement with Turkey ended in 1973 but few workers returned because there were few good jobs in Turkey.Stephen Castles, "The Guests Who Stayed - The Debate on 'Foreigners Policy' in the German Federal Republic," International Migration Review Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 517-534 in JSTOR Instead they brought in wives and family members and settled in ethnic enclaves. Gottfried E. Volker, "Turkish Labour Migration to Germany: Impact on both Economies," Middle Eastern Studies, Jan 1976, Vol. 12 Issue 1, pp 45-72 By 2010 there were about 4 million people of Turkish descent in Germany. The generation born in Germany attended German schools, but had a poor command of either German or Turkish, and had either low-skilled jobs or unemployment. Most are Muslims and are reluctant to become German citizens.Katherine Pratt Ewing, "Living Islam in the Diaspora: Between Turkey and Germany," South Atlantic Quarterly, Volume 102, Number 2/3, Spring/Summer 2003, pp. 405-431 in Project MUSE
Ruth Mandel, Cosmopolitan Anxieties: Turkish Challenges to Citizenship and Belonging in Germany (Duke University Press, 2008)
Germany used to have a Jus sanguinis
, a "right of the blood". This is a policy by which nationality or citizenship is not determined by place of birth, but by having an ancestor who is a national or citizen of the state. It contrasts with Jus soli
(Latin for "right of soil") that can be found in other States such as the USA. According to the Jus Sanguinis children born to Gastarbeiter were not automatically granted citizenship; instead they were granted the "Aufenthaltsberechtigung" ("right to reside") and might choose to apply for German citizenship later in their lives. German citizenship was granted to persons who had lived in Germany for at least fifteen years and fulfilled a number of other preconditions (they must work for their living, they should not have a criminal record and other preconditions).
Nowadays the Jus Sanguinis has been modified. Children of foreigners born on German soil now will be automatically granted the German citizenship if the parent has been in Germany for at least eight years as a legal immigrant. As a rule those children have the additional citizenship of the home country of their parents. Those between 18 and 23 years of age must choose to keep either German citizenship or the other citizenship.
The governments of the German States have begun campaigns to persuade immigrants to acquire German citizenship, which has become much easier now that people must have lived only 8 years in Germany rather than 15.
Those who have German citizenship have a number of advantages. For example only those holding German citizenship may vote in certain elections. Also there are some jobs that may only be performed by those holding German citizenship. As a rule these are jobs which require a high identification with the government. Only those holding German citizenship will be allowed to be a schoolteacher, a policeman or a soldier. Most jobs however do not require the person to hold German citizenship. Those who do not hold German citizenship, but the Aufenthaltsberechtigung ("right to reside") will be granted most rights every citizen has. They may attend schools, receive medical insurance, be paid children's benefits, receive welfare and housing assistance.
In many cases the Gastarbeiter integrated neatly into the German society. Dietrich Tränhardt did some scientific work on the integration of the Spanish Gastarbeiter. While many Spanish that came to Germany were illiterate peasants, their offspring were successful when it came to academic achievement (see: Academic achievement among different groups in Germany
) and did well on the job market. Spanish were also very likely to marry Germans, which can be counted as a sign of assimilation. According to a study in 2000, 81.2% of all Spanish or partly Spanish children in Germany were from a inter-racial Spanish-German family.Thränhardt, Dietrich (4 December 2006). "Spanische Einwanderer schaffen Bildungskapital: Selbsthilfe-Netzwerke und Integrationserfolg in Europa" (in German). Universität Münster.
There were some and still are some tensions in German society, because Muslim immigrants feel they have been religiously discriminated against. For example while the Christian churches are allowed to collect Church tax
in Germany, Muslims cannot do so because they are not as yet organised in a corporative association (which is sometimes criticised as forcing Christian organisation-style on non-Christians). While German universities educated Jewish, catholic and Protestant clerics and religious teachers in the past none of the German universities offered education for Muslim teachers and clerics. However nowadays such university courses exist.
Also Muslims were often not pleased with the fact that the Christian cross is a common item to be found in German classrooms, and used to be more so. The fact that most schools offer Catholic and Protestant religious education and ethics but no Islamic religious education has also been criticised (especially because religious education is compulsory, replaceable by ethics). Students are allowed to wear a normal headscarf in school, however recently a Muslim student has sued a Gymnasium headmaster, because she was not allowed to wear a Khimar in school.
The guest workers in East Germany came mainly from the Eastern Bloc, Vietnam
, North Korea
, Angola
, Mozambique
and Cuba
. But their opportunities were controlled by the Stasi
. Residency was typically limited to only 3 years. The conditions East German Gastarbeiter had to live in single-sex dormitories. In addition, contact between guest-workers and East German citizens was extremely limited; guest-workers were usually restricted to their dormitory or an area of the city which Germans were not allowed to enter. Sexual relations with a German led to deportation. Female Vertragsarbeiter were not allowed to fall pregnant during their stay. If they did they were forced to have an abortion.Karin Weiss: "Die Einbindung ehemaliger vietnamesischer Vertragsarbeiterinnen und Vertragsarbeiter in Strukturen der Selbstorganisation", In: Almut Zwengel: "Die "Gastarbeiter der DDR - politischer Kontext und Lebenswelt". Studien zur DDR Gesellschaft; p. 264
Following the fall of the Berlin Wall and German reunification in 1990, the population of guest-workers still remaining in the former East Germany faced deportation, premature discontinuation of residence and work permits as well as open discrimination in the workplace. Out of the 100,000 guest-workers remaining in East Germany after reunification, about 75% left because of the rising tide of xenophobia in former East German territories.
Also the Vietnamese (in contrast to other Gastarbeiter) were not granted the "right to reside", because of diplomatic reasons. Thus they lived in a "grey zone". Many started selling goods at the roadside. Ten years after the fall of the Berlin wall most Vietnamese were granted the right to reside however and many started opening little shops.
The children of the Vietnamese Gastarbeiter caused what has been called the "Vietnamese miracle". As shown by a study while in the districts of Lichtenberg and Marzahn, Vietnamese account for only 2 percent of the general population, they make up 17 percent of the university preparatory school population of those districts.Von Berg, Stefan; Darnstädt, Thomas; Elger, Katrin; Hammerstein, Konstantin von; Hornig, Frank; Wensierski, Peter: "Politik der Vermeidung". Spiegel. According to the headmaster of the Barnim Gymnasium, a university preoparatory school that has a focus on the natural sciences, 30 percent of the schools freshmen come from Vietnamese families.
is still colloquially applied to them as well as to their naturalised children and grandchildren. A new word has been used by politicians for several years: Menschen mit Migrationshintergrund (German term for: people with an immigration
background). The term was thought to be politically correct because it includes both immigrants and those who, being naturalized, cannot be referred to as immigrants—who are colloquially (and not by necessity xenophobically) called "naturalized immigrants" or "immigrants with a German passport". To emphasize their Germanness, they are also with quite a frequency called fellowcitizens, which may result in calling "our Turkish fellow citizens" also those who are foreigners still, or even such Turks in Turkey who never had any contact to Germany.
Gastarbeiter, as a historical term however, referring to the guest worker programme and situation of the 1960s, is neutral and remains the most correct designation. In literary theory, some German migrant writers (e.g. Rafik Schami
) use the terminology of "guest" and "host" provocatively.
The term "Gastarbeiter" lives on in Serbian, Croatian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, and Slovene languages, generally meaning "expatriate" (mostly referring to a second generation from the former Yugoslavia or Bulgaria born or living abroad). The South Slavic spelling reflects the local pronunciation of gastarbajter (in Cyrillic: гастарбаjтер or гастарбайтер). In Belgrade
's jargon, it is commonly shortened to gastos (гастос), and in Zagreb
's to gastić.
In modern Russia
, the transliterated term gastarbeiter (гастарбайтер) is used to denote workers from former Soviet republics coming to Russia (mainly Moscow
and Saint Petersburg
) in search of work. These workers come primarily from Ukraine
, Moldova
, Armenia
, Tajikistan
and Uzbekistan
. Also for a guest worker from outside Europe, from China
, Afghanistan
, Vietnam
, Angola
, Mozambique
and Ethiopia
. In contrast to such words as "gastrolle" (гастроль, сoncert tour), "gast professor" (invited to read the course at another university), which came to Russian from German, the word "gastarbeiter" - is not neutral in modern Russian and has a negative connotation.
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
for "guest worker." It refers to migrant worker
Migrant worker
The term migrant worker has different official meanings and connotations in different parts of the world. The United Nations' definition is broad, including any people working outside of their home country...
s who had moved to West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
(BRD) mainly in the 1960s and 70s, seeking work
Employment
Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as:- Employee :...
as part of a formal guest worker programme (Gastarbeiterprogramm). On a smaller scale, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
had a parallel scheme, called the gastarbeider programme.
East Germany (DDR) had a similar programme and referred to the workers as "Vertragsarbeiter".
Historical background
During the NaziNazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
era the term Fremdarbeiter
Forced labor in Germany during World War II
The use of forced labour in Nazi Germany and throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II took place on an unprecedented scale. It was a vital part of the German economic exploitation of conquered territories. It also contributed to the mass extermination of populations in German-occupied...
(German for foreign worker) was largely used. Most of the so called Fremdarbeiter were in fact doing forced labour. They were brought against their will from German-occupied Europe to the Third Reich. After WW II, this term had negative connotations and thus a new word was created.
West Germany
During the 1950s and 1960s, West Germany signed bilateral recruitment agreements with ItalyItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
in 1955, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
in 1960, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
in 1961, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
in 1963, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
in 1964, Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
in 1965 and Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
in 1968. These agreements allowed the recruitment of Gastarbeiter to work in the industrial sector for jobs that required few qualifications.
There were several reasons for signing those contracts. First of all during the 1950s and 1960s Germany experienced a so called Wirtschaftswunder
Wirtschaftswunder
The term describes the rapid reconstruction and development of the economies of West Germany and Austria after World War II . The expression was used by The Times in 1950...
"economic miracle" and needed laborers. The labour shortage was made more acute by the creation of the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
in August 1961, which reduced the large-scale flow of East German immigration virtually to zero overnight. Besides this the Federal Republic saw it as a form of developmental aid. It was hoped that the Gastarbeiter would learn useful skills in Germany, which could help them build their home countries after returning home.
Turkey however pressured the Federal republic to allow their countrymen to become guest workers. Theodor Blank
Theodor Blank
Theodor Anton Blank was a German politician of the CDU. He was one of the founders of the CDU in 1945....
, Secretary of State for Employment, was opposed to such agreements. He held the opinion that the cultural gap between Germany and Turkey would be too big and also held the opinion that Germany needed no more labourers, because there were enough unemployed people living in the poorer regions of Germany, who could fill these vacancies. The USA however, put some political pressure on Germany. It wanted to stabilize Turkey. The German Department of Foreign Affairs carried on the negotiations after this and in 1961 an agreement was reached.
After 1961, Turkish citizens (largely from rural areas) soon became the largest group of Gastarbeiter in West Germany. The perception at the time on the part of both the West German Government and the Turkish Republic representatives was that working in Germany would be only "temporary". The migrants, mostly male, were allowed to work in Germany for a period of one or two years before returning to the home country in order to make room for other migrants. Many migrants did return, after having built up savings for their return.
The agreement with Turkey ended in 1973 but few workers returned because there were few good jobs in Turkey. Instead they brought in wives and family members and settled in ethnic enclaves. By 2010 there were about 4 million people of Turkish descent in Germany. The generation born in Germany attended German schools, but had a poor command of either German or Turkish, and had either low-skilled jobs or unemployment. Most are Muslims and are reluctant to become German citizens.
Gastarbeiter (plural, "Gastarbeiter") (ˈɡastˌʔaɐ̯baɪtɐ) is German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
for "guest worker." It refers to migrant worker
Migrant worker
The term migrant worker has different official meanings and connotations in different parts of the world. The United Nations' definition is broad, including any people working outside of their home country...
s who had moved to West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
(BRD) mainly in the 1960s and 70s, seeking work
Employment
Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as:- Employee :...
as part of a formal guest worker programme (Gastarbeiterprogramm). On a smaller scale, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
had a parallel scheme, called the gastarbeider programme.
East Germany (DDR) had a similar programme and referred to the workers as "Vertragsarbeiter".
Historical background
During the NaziNazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
era the term Fremdarbeiter
Forced labor in Germany during World War II
The use of forced labour in Nazi Germany and throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II took place on an unprecedented scale. It was a vital part of the German economic exploitation of conquered territories. It also contributed to the mass extermination of populations in German-occupied...
(German for foreign worker) was largely used. Most of the so called Fremdarbeiter were in fact doing forced labour. They were brought against their will from German-occupied Europe to the Third Reich. After WW II, this term had negative connotations and thus a new word was created.
West Germany
During the 1950s and 1960s, West Germany signed bilateral recruitment agreements with ItalyItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
in 1955, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
in 1960, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
in 1961, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
in 1963, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
in 1964, Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
in 1965 and Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
in 1968.Germany: Immigration in Transition by Veysel Oezcan. Social Science Centre Berlin. July 2004.Kaja Shonick, "Politics, Culture, and Economics: Reassessing the West German Guest Worker Agreement with Yugoslavia," Journal of Contemporary History, Oct 2009, Vol. 44 Issue 4, pp 719-736 These agreements allowed the recruitment of Gastarbeiter to work in the industrial sector for jobs that required few qualifications.
There were several reasons for signing those contracts. First of all during the 1950s and 1960s Germany experienced a so called Wirtschaftswunder
Wirtschaftswunder
The term describes the rapid reconstruction and development of the economies of West Germany and Austria after World War II . The expression was used by The Times in 1950...
"economic miracle" and needed laborers. The labour shortage was made more acute by the creation of the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
in August 1961, which reduced the large-scale flow of East German immigration virtually to zero overnight. Besides this the Federal Republic saw it as a form of developmental aid. It was hoped that the Gastarbeiter would learn useful skills in Germany, which could help them build their home countries after returning home.
Turkey however pressured the Federal republic to allow their countrymen to become guest workers. Theodor Blank
Theodor Blank
Theodor Anton Blank was a German politician of the CDU. He was one of the founders of the CDU in 1945....
, Secretary of State for Employment, was opposed to such agreements. He held the opinion that the cultural gap between Germany and Turkey would be too big and also held the opinion that Germany needed no more labourers, because there were enough unemployed people living in the poorer regions of Germany, who could fill these vacancies. The USA however, put some political pressure on Germany. It wanted to stabilize Turkey. The German Department of Foreign Affairs carried on the negotiations after this and in 1961 an agreement was reached.Heike Knortz: Diplomatische Tauschgeschäfte. "Gastarbeiter" in der westdeutschen Diplomatie und Beschäftigungspolitik 1953-1973. Böhlau Verlag, Köln 2008Heike Knortz: Diplomatische Tauschgeschäfte. "Gastarbeiter" in der westdeutschen Diplomatie und Beschäftigungspolitik 1953-1973. Böhlau Verlag, Köln 2008
After 1961, Turkish citizens (largely from rural areas) soon became the largest group of Gastarbeiter in West Germany. The perception at the time on the part of both the West German Government and the Turkish Republic representatives was that working in Germany would be only "temporary". The migrants, mostly male, were allowed to work in Germany for a period of one or two years before returning to the home country in order to make room for other migrants. Many migrants did return, after having built up savings for their return.
The agreement with Turkey ended in 1973 but few workers returned because there were few good jobs in Turkey.Stephen Castles, "The Guests Who Stayed - The Debate on 'Foreigners Policy' in the German Federal Republic," International Migration Review Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 517-534 in JSTOR Instead they brought in wives and family members and settled in ethnic enclaves. Gottfried E. Volker, "Turkish Labour Migration to Germany: Impact on both Economies," Middle Eastern Studies, Jan 1976, Vol. 12 Issue 1, pp 45-72 By 2010 there were about 4 million people of Turkish descent in Germany. The generation born in Germany attended German schools, but had a poor command of either German or Turkish, and had either low-skilled jobs or unemployment. Most are Muslims and are reluctant to become German citizens.Katherine Pratt Ewing, "Living Islam in the Diaspora: Between Turkey and Germany," South Atlantic Quarterly, Volume 102, Number 2/3, Spring/Summer 2003, pp. 405-431 in Project MUSE
Project MUSE
Project MUSE is an online database of current and back issues of peer-reviewed humanities and social sciences journals. It was founded in 1993 by Todd Kelley and Susan Lewis and is a project of the Johns Hopkins University Press and the Milton S. Eisenhower Library. It had support from the Mellon...
Gastarbeiter (plural, "Gastarbeiter") (ˈɡastˌʔaɐ̯baɪtɐ) is German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
for "guest worker." It refers to migrant worker
Migrant worker
The term migrant worker has different official meanings and connotations in different parts of the world. The United Nations' definition is broad, including any people working outside of their home country...
s who had moved to West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
(BRD) mainly in the 1960s and 70s, seeking work
Employment
Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as:- Employee :...
as part of a formal guest worker programme (Gastarbeiterprogramm). On a smaller scale, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
had a parallel scheme, called the gastarbeider programme.
East Germany (DDR) had a similar programme and referred to the workers as "Vertragsarbeiter".
Historical background
During the NaziNazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
era the term Fremdarbeiter
Forced labor in Germany during World War II
The use of forced labour in Nazi Germany and throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II took place on an unprecedented scale. It was a vital part of the German economic exploitation of conquered territories. It also contributed to the mass extermination of populations in German-occupied...
(German for foreign worker) was largely used. Most of the so called Fremdarbeiter were in fact doing forced labour. They were brought against their will from German-occupied Europe to the Third Reich. After WW II, this term had negative connotations and thus a new word was created.
West Germany
During the 1950s and 1960s, West Germany signed bilateral recruitment agreements with ItalyItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
in 1955, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
in 1960, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
in 1961, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
in 1963, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
in 1964, Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
in 1965 and Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
in 1968.Germany: Immigration in Transition by Veysel Oezcan. Social Science Centre Berlin. July 2004.Kaja Shonick, "Politics, Culture, and Economics: Reassessing the West German Guest Worker Agreement with Yugoslavia," Journal of Contemporary History, Oct 2009, Vol. 44 Issue 4, pp 719-736 These agreements allowed the recruitment of Gastarbeiter to work in the industrial sector for jobs that required few qualifications.
There were several reasons for signing those contracts. First of all during the 1950s and 1960s Germany experienced a so called Wirtschaftswunder
Wirtschaftswunder
The term describes the rapid reconstruction and development of the economies of West Germany and Austria after World War II . The expression was used by The Times in 1950...
"economic miracle" and needed laborers. The labour shortage was made more acute by the creation of the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
in August 1961, which reduced the large-scale flow of East German immigration virtually to zero overnight. Besides this the Federal Republic saw it as a form of developmental aid. It was hoped that the Gastarbeiter would learn useful skills in Germany, which could help them build their home countries after returning home.
Turkey however pressured the Federal republic to allow their countrymen to become guest workers. Theodor Blank
Theodor Blank
Theodor Anton Blank was a German politician of the CDU. He was one of the founders of the CDU in 1945....
, Secretary of State for Employment, was opposed to such agreements. He held the opinion that the cultural gap between Germany and Turkey would be too big and also held the opinion that Germany needed no more labourers, because there were enough unemployed people living in the poorer regions of Germany, who could fill these vacancies. The USA however, put some political pressure on Germany. It wanted to stabilize Turkey. The German Department of Foreign Affairs carried on the negotiations after this and in 1961 an agreement was reached.Heike Knortz: Diplomatische Tauschgeschäfte. "Gastarbeiter" in der westdeutschen Diplomatie und Beschäftigungspolitik 1953-1973. Böhlau Verlag, Köln 2008Heike Knortz: Diplomatische Tauschgeschäfte. "Gastarbeiter" in der westdeutschen Diplomatie und Beschäftigungspolitik 1953-1973. Böhlau Verlag, Köln 2008
After 1961, Turkish citizens (largely from rural areas) soon became the largest group of Gastarbeiter in West Germany. The perception at the time on the part of both the West German Government and the Turkish Republic representatives was that working in Germany would be only "temporary". The migrants, mostly male, were allowed to work in Germany for a period of one or two years before returning to the home country in order to make room for other migrants. Many migrants did return, after having built up savings for their return.
The agreement with Turkey ended in 1973 but few workers returned because there were few good jobs in Turkey.Stephen Castles, "The Guests Who Stayed - The Debate on 'Foreigners Policy' in the German Federal Republic," International Migration Review Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 517-534 in JSTOR Instead they brought in wives and family members and settled in ethnic enclaves. Gottfried E. Volker, "Turkish Labour Migration to Germany: Impact on both Economies," Middle Eastern Studies, Jan 1976, Vol. 12 Issue 1, pp 45-72 By 2010 there were about 4 million people of Turkish descent in Germany. The generation born in Germany attended German schools, but had a poor command of either German or Turkish, and had either low-skilled jobs or unemployment. Most are Muslims and are reluctant to become German citizens.Katherine Pratt Ewing, "Living Islam in the Diaspora: Between Turkey and Germany," South Atlantic Quarterly, Volume 102, Number 2/3, Spring/Summer 2003, pp. 405-431 in Project MUSE
Project MUSE
Project MUSE is an online database of current and back issues of peer-reviewed humanities and social sciences journals. It was founded in 1993 by Todd Kelley and Susan Lewis and is a project of the Johns Hopkins University Press and the Milton S. Eisenhower Library. It had support from the Mellon...
Ruth Mandel, Cosmopolitan Anxieties: Turkish Challenges to Citizenship and Belonging in Germany (Duke University Press, 2008)
Germany used to have a Jus sanguinis
Jus sanguinis
Ius sanguinis is a social policy by which citizenship is not determined by place of birth, but by having a parent who are citizens of the nation...
, a "right of the blood". This is a policy by which nationality or citizenship is not determined by place of birth, but by having an ancestor who is a national or citizen of the state. It contrasts with Jus soli
Jus soli
Jus soli , also known as birthright citizenship, is a right by which nationality or citizenship can be recognized to any individual born in the territory of the related state...
(Latin for "right of soil") that can be found in other States such as the USA. According to the Jus Sanguinis children born to Gastarbeiter were not automatically granted citizenship; instead they were granted the "Aufenthaltsberechtigung" ("right to reside") and might choose to apply for German citizenship later in their lives. German citizenship was granted to persons who had lived in Germany for at least fifteen years and fulfilled a number of other preconditions (they must work for their living, they should not have a criminal record and other preconditions).
Nowadays the Jus Sanguinis has been modified. Children of foreigners born on German soil now will be automatically granted the German citizenship if the parent has been in Germany for at least eight years as a legal immigrant. As a rule those children have the additional citizenship of the home country of their parents. Those between 18 and 23 years of age must choose to keep either German citizenship or the other citizenship.
The governments of the German States have begun campaigns to persuade immigrants to acquire German citizenship, which has become much easier now that people must have lived only 8 years in Germany rather than 15.
Those who have German citizenship have a number of advantages. For example only those holding German citizenship may vote in certain elections. Also there are some jobs that may only be performed by those holding German citizenship. As a rule these are jobs which require a high identification with the government. Only those holding German citizenship will be allowed to be a schoolteacher, a policeman or a soldier. Most jobs however do not require the person to hold German citizenship. Those who do not hold German citizenship, but the Aufenthaltsberechtigung ("right to reside") will be granted most rights every citizen has. They may attend schools, receive medical insurance, be paid children's benefits, receive welfare and housing assistance.
In many cases the Gastarbeiter integrated neatly into the German society. Dietrich Tränhardt did some scientific work on the integration of the Spanish Gastarbeiter. While many Spanish that came to Germany were illiterate peasants, their offspring were successful when it came to academic achievement (see: Academic achievement among different groups in Germany
Academic achievement among different groups in Germany
Differences in academic achievement among different ethnic groups in Germany is a topic that has drawn the interest of the German academic and scientific communities....
) and did well on the job market. Spanish were also very likely to marry Germans, which can be counted as a sign of assimilation. According to a study in 2000, 81.2% of all Spanish or partly Spanish children in Germany were from a inter-racial Spanish-German family.Thränhardt, Dietrich (4 December 2006). "Spanische Einwanderer schaffen Bildungskapital: Selbsthilfe-Netzwerke und Integrationserfolg in Europa" (in German). Universität Münster.
There were some and still are some tensions in German society, because Muslim immigrants feel they have been religiously discriminated against. For example while the Christian churches are allowed to collect Church tax
Church tax
A church tax is a tax imposed on members of some religious congregations in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Sweden, some parts of Switzerland and several other countries.- Germany :About 70% of church revenues come from church tax...
in Germany, Muslims cannot do so because they are not as yet organised in a corporative association (which is sometimes criticised as forcing Christian organisation-style on non-Christians). While German universities educated Jewish, catholic and Protestant clerics and religious teachers in the past none of the German universities offered education for Muslim teachers and clerics. However nowadays such university courses exist.
Also Muslims were often not pleased with the fact that the Christian cross is a common item to be found in German classrooms, and used to be more so. The fact that most schools offer Catholic and Protestant religious education and ethics but no Islamic religious education has also been criticised (especially because religious education is compulsory, replaceable by ethics). Students are allowed to wear a normal headscarf in school, however recently a Muslim student has sued a Gymnasium headmaster, because she was not allowed to wear a Khimar in school.
German Democratic Republic
After the division of Germany into East and West in 1949, East Germany faced an acute labour shortage, mainly because of East Germans fleeing into the western zones occupied by the Allies; the building of the Berlin Wall (1961) exacerbated the labour shortage, and in 1963 the GDR (German Democratic Republic) signed its first guest-worker contract with Poland. In contrast to the guest-workers in West Germany, the guest-workers that arrived in East Germany came mainly from socialist and communist countries allied with the Soviets and the SED used its guest-worker program to build international solidarity among fellow communist governments.The guest workers in East Germany came mainly from the Eastern Bloc, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
, Angola
People's Republic of Angola
The People's Republic of Angola was a self-declared socialist state that was established in 1975 after it was granted independence from Portugal, akin to the situation in Mozambique. The newly-founded nation enjoyed friendly relations with the Soviet Union, Cuba, and the People's Republic of...
, Mozambique
People's Republic of Mozambique
The People's Republic of Mozambique , was a self-declared socialist state that lasted from June 25, 1975 through December 1, 1990, becoming the present day Republic of Mozambique.After gaining independence from Portugal in 1975, the People's Republic of Mozambique was established shortly...
and Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
. But their opportunities were controlled by the Stasi
Stasi
The Ministry for State Security The Ministry for State Security The Ministry for State Security (German: Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (MfS), commonly known as the Stasi (abbreviation , literally State Security), was the official state security service of East Germany. The MfS was headquartered...
. Residency was typically limited to only 3 years. The conditions East German Gastarbeiter had to live in single-sex dormitories. In addition, contact between guest-workers and East German citizens was extremely limited; guest-workers were usually restricted to their dormitory or an area of the city which Germans were not allowed to enter. Sexual relations with a German led to deportation. Female Vertragsarbeiter were not allowed to fall pregnant during their stay. If they did they were forced to have an abortion.Karin Weiss: "Die Einbindung ehemaliger vietnamesischer Vertragsarbeiterinnen und Vertragsarbeiter in Strukturen der Selbstorganisation", In: Almut Zwengel: "Die "Gastarbeiter der DDR - politischer Kontext und Lebenswelt". Studien zur DDR Gesellschaft; p. 264
Following the fall of the Berlin Wall and German reunification in 1990, the population of guest-workers still remaining in the former East Germany faced deportation, premature discontinuation of residence and work permits as well as open discrimination in the workplace. Out of the 100,000 guest-workers remaining in East Germany after reunification, about 75% left because of the rising tide of xenophobia in former East German territories.
Also the Vietnamese (in contrast to other Gastarbeiter) were not granted the "right to reside", because of diplomatic reasons. Thus they lived in a "grey zone". Many started selling goods at the roadside. Ten years after the fall of the Berlin wall most Vietnamese were granted the right to reside however and many started opening little shops.
The children of the Vietnamese Gastarbeiter caused what has been called the "Vietnamese miracle". As shown by a study while in the districts of Lichtenberg and Marzahn, Vietnamese account for only 2 percent of the general population, they make up 17 percent of the university preparatory school population of those districts.Von Berg, Stefan; Darnstädt, Thomas; Elger, Katrin; Hammerstein, Konstantin von; Hornig, Frank; Wensierski, Peter: "Politik der Vermeidung". Spiegel. According to the headmaster of the Barnim Gymnasium, a university preoparatory school that has a focus on the natural sciences, 30 percent of the schools freshmen come from Vietnamese families.
Currently
Today, the term Gastarbeiter is no longer accurate, as the former guest worker communities, insofar as they have not returned to their countries of origins, have become permanent residents or citizens, and therefore are in no meaningful sense "guests". However, despite the fact that many of the former "guest workers" have now become German citizens, the term AusländerAusländer
- People with surname Auslander or Ausländer :* Joseph Auslander, Poet* Leora Auslander* Louis Auslander, mathematician* Maurice Auslander, mathematician, who introduced:** Auslander algebra** Auslander–Buchsbaum formula** Auslander–Buchsbaum theorem...
is still colloquially applied to them as well as to their naturalised children and grandchildren. A new word has been used by politicians for several years: Menschen mit Migrationshintergrund (German term for: people with an immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
background). The term was thought to be politically correct because it includes both immigrants and those who, being naturalized, cannot be referred to as immigrants—who are colloquially (and not by necessity xenophobically) called "naturalized immigrants" or "immigrants with a German passport". To emphasize their Germanness, they are also with quite a frequency called fellowcitizens, which may result in calling "our Turkish fellow citizens" also those who are foreigners still, or even such Turks in Turkey who never had any contact to Germany.
Gastarbeiter, as a historical term however, referring to the guest worker programme and situation of the 1960s, is neutral and remains the most correct designation. In literary theory, some German migrant writers (e.g. Rafik Schami
Rafik Schami
Rafik Schami is a Syrian-German author, storyteller and critic.-Biography:Born in Damascus, Syria in 1946, Schami is the son of a baker from an Syriac-Christian family. His schooling and university studies took place in Damascus. From 1965, Schami wrote stories in Arabic...
) use the terminology of "guest" and "host" provocatively.
The term "Gastarbeiter" lives on in Serbian, Croatian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, and Slovene languages, generally meaning "expatriate" (mostly referring to a second generation from the former Yugoslavia or Bulgaria born or living abroad). The South Slavic spelling reflects the local pronunciation of gastarbajter (in Cyrillic: гастарбаjтер or гастарбайтер). In Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
's jargon, it is commonly shortened to gastos (гастос), and in Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
's to gastić.
In modern Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, the transliterated term gastarbeiter (гастарбайтер) is used to denote workers from former Soviet republics coming to Russia (mainly Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
and Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
) in search of work. These workers come primarily from Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, Moldova
Moldova
Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...
, Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
, Tajikistan
Tajikistan
Tajikistan , officially the Republic of Tajikistan , is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east....
and Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
. Also for a guest worker from outside Europe, from China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
, Mozambique
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
and Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
. In contrast to such words as "gastrolle" (гастроль, сoncert tour), "gast professor" (invited to read the course at another university), which came to Russian from German, the word "gastarbeiter" - is not neutral in modern Russian and has a negative connotation.