Anti-foreigner riots in Germany?

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frackledJJ

Well, first of all:

I haven't heard anything about recent riots, so I would like to ask you for a link to what you read, to see where the article was from and how recent it is. There was an incident about a year ago where a house burned where Turkish people lived in. Foul play was suspected, however, police and the fire-fighters could find no real evidence for it. Most likely cause was malfunction of the heating system, which was responsibility of the landlord who, ironically in this case, was also of Turkish descend and related to some of the people living in said house.

Second question: Since I don't know what you read, I can't tell you explicitly what police is doing about it, but note that anti-foreigner crimes are taken very seriously in Germany, and police are always investigating and "doing something against it". Also if such a background is suspected, those cases get very much covered by German media, which is why I am puzzled that you read something that I haven't heard about/ has not been covered by the media lately.

3.: However your descend, right now you don't have a German passport, I guess. So you might be German at heart, but that does nothing to help you get a visa or a work permit. You are a foreign citizen from an allied state, which allows you to stay in the country for some time without having to get a visa, but it will not allow you to work here. Contact the nearest German embassy for information on how to get a work permit and permanent visa for Germany.

4: "Don't mess with me... I know how to use a gun." Well, good for you. In Germany, though, you are not aloud to own a gun if you are not either a member of a (sport) shooting club or a licensed hunter. You will not be able to buy a gun or own a gun legally. And even if you are a licensed hunter (you have to renew your license every couple of years, which costs you a good bit of money, not to mention getting licensed, which comes with theoretical and practical tests and so on and so forth), you will also have to observe restrictions in keeping your gun (special lockable gun-lockers, and your guns have to be kept in there at all times if you are not actively using them hunting or going to the shooting range) and in transporting your gun, so loose the attitude, or you are going to be in bigger trouble than you'd like to be in. If I were you, I also would not directly inquire about gun laws at the embassy. They tend to get the wrong ideas with people asking questions about that.

All in all: It is nice that you want to try to move to Germany, but if you can, please try to spend a semester here before you make your final decision. Trust me, actually living in a country is different than being there on vacation, however long that vacation has been.
Also, recession is coming down on Germany, too, and with a foreign degree and all the other bureaucratic stuff, getting a job might prove to be a little more difficult than you may anticipate. However, I don't know how long it will take you still until you graduate, and no one can really predict the future, so get informed and make sure your information stays up to date. Maybe trying for a job in an international company who will send you out to Germany or another European country might also be an option (for starters)?

Good luck!

The anti-foreigner stance is not any more common or serious than in other Western countries. And most of the anti-foreigner feelings that you notice are towards the larger minority groups, like the Turks for example.

I very much doubt that you will be called, or treated as, a Nazi unless you give people good reason to.

Alex S

I understand your fear but it's not necessary.

Violence towards foreigners is a major issue in Germany and the
media handles it accordingly. Even minor issues make it to the
front page with a near 100% certainty.

Riots are extremely rare. Most incidents are 3rd degree assaults,
arson and damage to property. Victims are in the vast majority of
cases local Turks and international refugees. Racial motivated crime
is a number in German crime statistics. But that's primarily because
there's nothing really ever happening there.

I lived in both places among others and from personal experience I
can say (with some sarcasm):

It's nearly safer for a Jew to live among German Neonazis than to
be a general citizen of Washington DC.

Germany is one of the safest places on Earth.

Orla C

First of all, in Germany you are ALWAYS going to be considered American, regardless of your ancestry - ancestry doesn't actually count in the same way anymore. This is a fact. However, your determination to learn the language properly (which would be a huge achievement, it's a difficult language to learn well) will be seen as positive.

I am Irish and have lived in Germany for a few months at a time, and didn't experience anything negative from Germans.

Don't think for a moment that the same gun laws as in the US apply in Europe. You will not be permitted to own a gun in the same manner.

Alwin E

I'll try to put my answers in a way that may seem ironic; so please, please see it under that point of view:

1) Is it true about the riots? Would they do that to me?

Sure. They'll take out their baseball bats and beat you up. Nobody in Germany plays baseball, but some rioteers have those bats, and they reserved them just for you to give you a beating. German border police have something like that, too; it's called a "Schlagstock". We couldn't afford to equip the police with tasers, so they're on to an old-fashioned beating, you know? (Doesn't kill that many peoply, I've heard.)

2) Aren't police doing anything about it?

No, they stand aside watching. There's a coin slot on every policeman where you have to insert a 2 euro coin first to make him move for 30 seconds. Bad luck if you run out of coins. No chance trying to kick his butts: Either he'll fall over, or you (see the thing with the "Schlagstock").

3) I'm learning German and want to be fluent.

You'll never be. And nobody can. Main reason is, that there is no "German". There are hundreds of dialects. It's like everywhere in the world. There is no "English" or "American" either. Learn standard German ("Hochdeutsch") and the local dialect once you're here. Perfectionism stands in the way of learning languages. Always, everywhere.

4) I know how to use a gun

I trust that you can, but German police will not give you the chance of proving your ability. You'll be jailed sooner than you think, but, well, spending a night in jail is not THAT uncomfortable. I once had to, when I just had left the army and they found me senselessly drunk. Remember the word "AusnÃ¼chterungszelle", a wonderful German word that means "sobering cell", and I was treated very friendly and served a coffee by a friendly police officer. What I didn't know at that time is that they would send me a bill higher than for a room at a luxury hotel.

And now that's darn serious: In Germany, you're in no way allowed to carry a gun or a knife larger than a Swiss Army Knife with you in public, and police, in the bigger cities, mean that darn serious. Don't underestimate their peaceful appearance. They're well-trained and have you down in a second, and, yes, they carry guns.

Ich liebe den Sommer!!!

WHY EVERYBODY think this about Germany? Im German and I never be a nazi and most of the other germans.and we like blacks the same we like whites.

Fenris General of trolls

I haven't heard about that for a long time.

Dislexia Wulf

Germany is a peacefulplace. But like in all other countries in this world you can have trouble with ignorant people. I don't know if you asked already a fellow Latino or Black countryman if he feels treated nice by us fellow whit ones.

@ Johnny - saying we have the best universities in the world ? How come we have to pay foreigners to teach at our universities. If we are so smart why are we hit so much by the credit crunch and by saying we have the richest people in the world in our country - why we even can't afford a working healthcare system like for example Germany has. If we are rich - why we have to attack other countries by saying they got chemical weapons and as soon as we are in we gotta say: Sorry guys we killed thousands and it was all a big mistake. If you are so against Nazis how you can tolerate Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. Is this what you are standing for ? The Imperialism of our nation is simply sick and human rights ? Well if it is fair for you that if you are not white and rich get a different treatment...
@Johnny get over your 12 000 000 - talk about our history. What we did to the native Americans, how about slavery, why we are the only nation that used the a-bomb and can you tell me why Jews were kicked out of every country..so let the Germans and go to Israel and fight for your holy land. But unfortunately you do not have the balls for it. Like most of us Americans.....

ShlomoNYC

As long as u stay in western Germany u are safe ... Hamburg, Cologne, Munich, Freiburg, Duesseldorf are fun places ... avoid Berlin and East Germany.

Johnny the Zionist

I totally agree with Johnny Rockets here. My friend Henry Liebenroth always travels without his golden teeth to Germany since he was beaten up by an elderly person in the underground of Hamburg just because of a little money issue.

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