After the collapse of the USSR, ethnic Germans began to leave en masse from the former republics of this once powerful state to their historical homeland. Since the 90s of the last century, almost 1.5 million people have moved to Germany. Of course, all of them were looking for a better life, not imagining that many difficulties await them in their historical homeland.
How do Russian Germans live in Germany? And why do some of them today come back to the countries of the former USSR?
Germans in Russia
For the first time, representatives of this people appeared on the territory of our state as early as the 9th century. At the end of the 12th century German cities and doctors, warriors, artisans and merchants lived in many cities of Russia.
A significant part of the representatives of this people moved to the Moscow state at the time when the great princes Vasily III and Ivan III ruled in it, that is, in the 15-16 centuries. The proportion of Germans among the inhabitants of Russian cities under Ivan the Terrible especially increased. In many of them, entire neighborhoods appeared in which representatives of the German disapora lived.
In the 18th century many foreign artists, diplomats, military and scientists were invited to Russia. Among them were Germans. The descendants of these people often settled in Russia. In most cases, they used their native language as their main language, preserving their national identity and belonging to the Catholic and Lutheran churches.
In the 18th century Catherine II with her manifesto invited German peasants to the free lands of the Volga region, as well as the Northern Black Sea region. Their descendants continued to live in these places for more than one and a half centuries. At the same time, they retained the German language, faith (Catholic or Lutheran), the main features of the national mentality.
In the 1920s, there was an increase in the German diaspora. In the USSR, the Communists moved from Germany, choosing for their place of residence the only socialist country in the world.
But still, most of the Russian Germans are descendants of those peasant colonists who left Germany as early as the 18th century. After the outbreak of World War II, representatives of this people in the USSR began to be considered spies. Many of them were deported to Central Asia and Siberia. After the victory over fascism, they settled throughout the USSR. In the Soviet passport in the column "nationality" these people had the word "German".
The first wave of mass emigration of this part of the population began in 1987. It was a time when Gorbachev simplified the rules for leaving the USSR. But nevertheless, the peak of the move came in 1994. Then, 214 thousand people left the former Soviet republics in Germany. Each of them was given German citizenship. These people returned to their homeland after two hundred years of residence of their ancestors in a foreign country.
How many Russian Germans are in Germany? According to federal institutions of Germany, today this number is in the range from 800 to 820 thousand people.
Russians or Germans?
Emigration is a rather complicated process. This is especially true of the spiritual (moral) plan. A person has to abandon everything that he is used to well enough and plunge into another world, which is still a stranger to him. In this new society for him, he is trying by all means to become his own. Nevertheless, it is difficult for emigrants to avoid numerous problems. This is also evidenced by the reviews of Russian Germans in Germany. Immigrants with ethnic roots in this country, having arrived here, realized that they also have a second homeland - Russia.
Moreover, out of the hundreds of thousands of Germans who arrived in Germany, it became clear to many that, despite their nationality, they were also Russians. That is why they continue to communicate closely with each other. The diaspora of Russian Germans in Germany today can be found in any major city. These are Hamburg and Dusseldorf, Berlin and Stuttgart. Here, the Russian infrastructure is relatively well developed and equipped, including shops, enterprises providing consumer services, etc. And Baden-Württemberg is one of the regions of Germany that emigrants from Russia have chosen the most.
The last two decades have become a period when a large number of “Russian” insurance services, travel agencies, the media, etc. appeared in the Federal Republic of Germany. Today, it is hardly possible to surprise anyone with Russian-speaking lawyers or doctors. The sector of immigrants from the CIS countries has become one of the integral parts of German business. This allowed us to create a large number of jobs that allowed our compatriots to find jobs.
"One among strangers, a stranger among his own"
How do Russian Germans live in Germany? Psychologists note that such immigrants certainly have a feeling that emphasizes their dual cultural difference. Russian Germans in Germany seem to be trying to sit on two chairs at the same time. After all, they consider themselves to be both German and Russian culture. Scientists call this feeling "double alienation." After all, these people cannot live in Russia, although it accepts them, but at the same time they realize that they could not become their own among the Germans.
It is worth noting that many immigrants are not particularly upset about this. They continue to celebrate Russian holidays, but at the same time try to assimilate with a new society for them. Moreover, according to the indigenous inhabitants of the country, the Russian Germans in Germany are doing quite well.
Socialization of immigrants
Many Russian Germans in Germany have dual citizenship, as they are considered repatriates. Those emigrants who came to Germany in the last two decades, most strongly feel the crisis of ethnic identification. On the one hand, these people are no longer Russian, but they have not yet become Germans. According to sociological studies conducted by experts of the Federal Republic of Germany, most of the representatives of these emigrant circles were not able to integrate into a new society for them. They did not adapt in society, preferring to exist in closed structures, that is, in their own world.
Based on the polls, many of the Russian Germans who emigrated to Germany in the post-Soviet period believe that they were deeply mistaken in their expectations about the attitude of the host country towards them. At a time when future emigrants lived in the USSR, they were called "fascists." The disastrous consequences of the Great Patriotic War contributed to this. Negative coloring was given to this nationality as a whole. The life of Russian Germans in Germany did not become a paradise. In Germany, they turned into "Rusakov". Sometimes they are even called "Putin’s secret agents." In this regard, migrants have to constantly engage in the adjustment of their self-identification.
Knowledge of the language
The wave of mass emigration from the CIS countries to Germany led to the emergence of a special subculture among Russian Germans. Some immigrants began to use a special sublanguage. A similar sociolinguistic phenomenon falls out of the description of any jargon, dialect, slang, or pidgin. At the same time, he perfectly illustrates concepts such as language simplification and interference.
What caused this linguistic phenomenon? This phenomenon can be explained by the fact that the last wave of immigrants continued to use the Russian language at a time when all professional and domestic spheres were functioning in German. Most of all, this phenomenon occurs in oral speech, as well as in personal letters or in correspondence by e-mail. Such a sublanguage is sometimes used by filmmakers when creating their own films telling about the migrants of the last wave. Sometimes this phenomenon is also allowed in the press, but only in those interviews that relate to informal topics.
Immediately after moving to Germany, Russian Germans had to take language courses. Their duration was a year, and this time was equated with work. But it’s interesting that even having studied the “book” German, it is still impossible for immigrants to communicate normally with German residents. The fact is that in this country no one speaks a standard language. Spoken jargon among the Germans is sometimes very far in its vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation from the classics. You can usually hear a standard language only from university professors or in German news. Russian Germans, as well as other emigrants, incidentally, have a hard time doing this. The problem of insufficient knowledge of the language leads to the fact that it is difficult for emigrants to find a job, taking a worthy place.
Job
Employment is one of the main problems that emigrants have to face. And even in the case when the migrant in Russia was a sought-after and highly qualified specialist, in the FRG he would have to prove it, starting all from scratch. Confirmation of a diploma is also not a guarantee of a device in a specialty. It is all about the high competition that exists in the country's labor market. And if the employer has such a situation when he needs to make a choice between an emigrant and a German, he will take, of course, the second.
At first, the emigrant, as a rule, had to work as a waiter, cashier, seller, and sometimes even a cleaner. Of course, the salary of a migrant will be much lower than that of a German who was born and raised in Germany.
Judging by the reviews of Russian Germans, it is best to live in Germany for those who left Russia more than ten years ago, who know how and love to work, as well as those who have not seen anything good in their previous lives, and there is nothing to compare him with. Immigrants who held leading posts in their second homeland are often regretting their move. Climbing the corporate ladder in Germany to its highest rung will most likely fail.
The attitude of Germans in Germany towards Russian immigrants is such that the latter occupy only the fourth position of a kind of “caste” hierarchy. In the first place there are West Germans. Then follow the eastern ones. Third place was given to the Turks, who rebuilt the country after the war. And only after them Russian Germans follow. For the indigenous people of Germany, they remain strangers. This is also confirmed by the fact that the population of the Federal Republic of Germany calls such people nothing other than “Russish.”
Adapting to a new lifestyle
Migrants also have a hard time because of their mentality. Indeed, in their spirit they are more Russian than Germans. Over the decades of their life in the USSR, and after its collapse - in the post-Soviet space, emigrants got used to other values and attitudes. A similar fact is especially clearly reflected in the proverb “What is good for the Russian, then the German is death”. Our former compatriots possess the peculiarities of social behavior that was acceptable in the country they left, but completely foreign to the West. For example, in Russia it is believed that someone who knows how to give a bribe, as well as build a house or buy a car, is lucky, denying himself almost everything. Also, according to the majority of Russians, a person who does not trust loans is wisely acting.
Native Germans think otherwise. In Germany, it is not customary to thank a person who has come to work on time. It is unlikely that they will also praise the one who distributed the garbage by packing it in separate containers. Otherwise, the garbage man simply will not pick him up. Because of this, you will have to pay for additional waste disposal. If the owner tries to throw the package on the side of the road or into a ravine, then a fine is imposed for such actions in Germany. After all, the Germans are distinguished by a special attitude to order and cleanliness.
Russian Germans, like other emigrants, have to decide whether they will accept those orders that operate in the country or will shut themselves up in their world without any hope of assimilation.
Pensions and benefits
How does Russian Germans live in Germany? Judging by the responses of the immigrants, the first wave of emigrants already initially received quite good benefits. However, somewhat later, the local population changed their attitude towards the Russian Germans. The fact is that some of them decided that they had come home, and they were all allowed. Fighting and noisy partying of immigrants did not appeal to the indigenous inhabitants. But the authorities did not even try to find the answer to the question: “Who is to blame?” The people of Germany at first mistakenly thought that the Germans had returned to the country. The immigrants turned out to be Russian. The decision of the authorities was unequivocal: the one who returned to Germany from the CIS countries should live the same way as all Russian emigrants.
Nevertheless, a special scale consisting of paragraphs has been developed for immigrants in the country. Upon reaching the required level, the emigrant has the right to receive all that is required of the indigenous person.
Another positive factor is that the length of service that a migrant had in Russia is taken into account when calculating a pension. Widows receive additional payments. The state accrues 70% of the pension of the deceased spouse for their pension.
Goodbye, Germany!
According to the migration service and the police, annually up to 9 thousand Russian Germans return from Germany to Russia. Most of them travel purposefully. They choose Siberia as their place of residence, namely Halbstadt in Altai and Azovo in the Omsk Region, where autonomous regions were recreated for them. Currently, more than 100 thousand people live here in two dozen villages.
There is an opinion that Russian Germans are not returning from Germany because of patriotic feelings. One of them attracts freedom. They agree to live without water and gas, but to know, for example, that a neighbor will not inform you because the grass on the lawn has already exceeded the prescribed level. Other Russian Germans come for big money. As a rule, these are people for whom friends and relatives have prepared the necessary places. Upon arrival, these Russian Germans join the ready-made business.
