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LIVING IN GERMANY

Living in Germany: A Fischbrötchen incident and are German immigration offices fit for purpose?

In this weeks' roundup we talk about the problems with Germany's immigration offices, the French President trying Fischbrötchen, a hobby horse ride and superstitions.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Brigitte Macron and Scholz' wife Britta Ernst eat Fischbrötchen in Hamburg.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Brigitte Macron and Scholz' wife Britta Ernst eat Fischbrötchen in Hamburg. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/Reuters/Pool | Fabian Bimmer

Living in Germany is our weekly look at some of the news and talking points in Germany that you might not have heard about. Members can receive it directly to their inbox on Saturday.

Can Germany modernise its immigration offices?

Germany’s skilled worker immigration law has been approved and will be brought into law in phases, starting next month. But as immigration lawyer Sven Hasse told the Local’s Germany in Focus podcast this week, a lot of work has to be carried out to get the Ausländerbehörden up to scratch. People using the offices across Germany report major delays in services, with many having to queue for hours or even overnight to get appointments. Experts say it’s down to staff shortages in the offices and a lack of digitalisation. “Bureaucracy is the biggest issue,” said Hasse. “We have to say that we see a lot of dysfunctional immigration authorities in Germany, you have a lot of waiting times for visa appointments and unanswered emails in inboxes. So depending on the authority, some say we have 30,000 unanswered emails, and you can’t get in contact with them. And the reason is – they have a shortage of skilled workers. And that is the biggest problem. I don’t see that the change in law changes this problem.”

Hasse recommended that effort be put into “strengthening the capacity of the authorities” so they are able to cope with the number of applicants, which will only get larger after the laws change. “This is the biggest issue and this is the biggest problem skilled workers face and there is not really a remedy,” said Hasse. “So I think the legal situation is not so bad. But the authorities are not very well equipped to handle the applications.”

Tweet of the week

We’ve been loving the memes coming out of French President Emmanuel Macron’s trip to Hamburg to meet with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The winces on their faces as they chowed down on Hamburg’s speciality Fischbrötchen (fish roll) said it all.

This tweet reads: ‘How a few Hamburg Fischbrötchen endangered the Franco-German friendship’

Where is this?

Traffic lights

Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Friso Gentsch

If you live in Osnabrück you may have spotted a pedestrian traffic light with an image of a person on a hobby horse. The move is in tribute to the city’s annual hobby horse ride to mark the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648. Every year since 1953, primary school pupils gather on or around October 25th – the day when peace was declared – and ride their hobby horses to the Rathaus. 

Did you know?

Friday the 13th just passed so it feels like a good time to discuss some German superstitions. One that you might need if you’re heading to meet friends out this weekend is that whenever you arrive at a pub or bar, you should always knock twice on the table. Why? To show your friends that you aren’t the devil! According to legend, the Stammtisch, the regular’s table in the tavern, was traditionally made of oak which the devil was unable to touch as the tree was holy. Knocking on the table proved you weren’t the devil in disguise.

If you’re in need of some luck yourself then why not take a tip from the Germans and  purchase a pig (anything shaped like one will do). A Glücksschwein or ‘lucky pig’ is said to be a sign of prosperity and wealth. At new year you’ll often find them in marzipan form. Touching a chimney sweep (Schornsteinfeger) is also considered lucky in Germany as their services have historically meant people could cook food again after having blocked chimneys and also reduced the risk of the house burning down. If you get ash from a chimney sweep in your face, it’s considered lucky.

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INSIDE GERMANY

Inside Germany: Becoming German, European election vote and the Scottish ‘Mannschaft’

From what we can expect from voters at the European elections to what citizenship means to foreign residents and the Scottish take on the German word 'Mannschaft', here are a few things we're talking about this week.

Inside Germany: Becoming German, European election vote and the Scottish 'Mannschaft'

Inside Germany is our weekly look at some of the news, talking points and gossip in Germany that you might not have heard about. It’s published each Saturday and members can receive it directly to their inbox by going to their newsletter preferences or adding their email to the sign-up box in this article.

What can we expect as Germany goes to the polls for Europe?

On Sunday, EU citizens living in Germany will cast their vote to elect a new European parliament. 

A lot has changed since the last elections were held back in 2019 – the UK has since left the EU (meaning no Brits in Europe can vote unless they have an EU citizenship), we’ve experienced a worldwide pandemic and war has broken out in Europe. 

The big story of 2019 from Germany was the Green surge. 

Although the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU) received the largest share of votes (28.7 percent), the Greens won more than 20 percent of the vote in Germany, increasing by about 10 percent from 2014.

Support for the conservatives and the Social Democrats (SPD) dropped considerably. 

So what can we expect from voters in Germany this time? 

According to recent polls, the conservatives are likely to secure a victory on the German side of things. The CDU and CSU will scoop up around 30 percent of the vote, according to surveys.

poster urging people to vote

A giant poster announcing the upcoming European elections, on the facade of the European Parliament building in Strasbourg, eastern France. Photo: FREDERICK FLORIN / AFP

Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s centre-left SPD, on the other hand, is only polling between 14 and 16 percent. 

The poll figures for the Greens have fluctuated. The INSA institute reported in April that the Greens could receive 11.5 percent of the vote. But recent polls show the party receiving between 13 and 15 percent – a significant drop from 2019. 

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has also lost support. While pollsters INSA predicted the party would take 22 percent of the vote back in February, recent polls put them on 14 to 17 percent.

Meanwhile, the Free Democrats (FDP), currently in government with the SPD and Greens, have been hovering between just three and five percent in polls since the beginning of the year.

Aside from these well-known parties, there are also a number of smaller ones.

If you’re eligible to vote, who will you be choosing? Good luck at the ballot box and make sure to check The Local’s coverage as the results come in. 

READ ALSO:

Germany in Focus podcast

After devastating floods in Germany that have claimed lives and cause huge destruction, we talk about how communities are coping and the areas most at risk of flooding on this week’s podcast. We also get into predictions for the European parliamentary elections and answer a reader question on how much you need to earn to qualify for German citizenship, 

With the UEFA Euro 2024 tournament coming up on June 14th, we share some interesting facts about the stadiums involved and talk about the importance of football culture in Germany with guest Kit Holden. 

What does German citizenship mean to foreign residents in Germany?

With the new citizenship law coming into force later this month, we asked The Local readers to share their feelings about citizenship and the process in a questionnaire. More than 100 people filled out our survey in just a few days and were delighted to hear about the different experiences. 

In the first of our articles, we looked at what securing a German passport means to residents. 

Of 121 readers who took our survey, 81 percent intend to apply for citizenship, while 12 percent are still unsure. 

About six percent said they will not apply, and a few respondents had already naturalised. 

A German citizenship certificate and passport.

A German citizenship certificate and passport. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Fernando Gutierrez-Juarez

For many people, a huge benefit of citizenship is about gaining freedom of movement. 

“Free movement with the world’s strongest passport is the main goal here,” Khandakar Rahman from Bangladesh, told us. 

Others mentioned that they would feel more integrated – and have course receive full rights to voting. 

Kristian from Norway said the would “finally be an EU citizen, to be able to vote, and also to actually be German”.

READ MORE: What would German citizenship mean to foreign residents?

The Scottish ‘Mannschaft’ set to take on Germany 

As Germany is about to take on Scotland in the opener for UEFA Euro 2024, ad executives for the Scottish soft drink Irn Bru have outdone themselves. 

They’ve launched an advert playing around with the nickname for Germany’s national football – ‘Die Mannschaft’ 

READ MORE: German word of the day – Mannschaft 

I was keen to know what Germans felt about this advert featuring a guy in a kilt talking about how Scotland’s ‘Mannschaft’ may even reach the semis. 

While many Germans thought it was funny, a few pointed out that the advert technically doesn’t use the word correctly. 

One thing for sure is that the Scottish love it. 

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