Sarah Thomsen Vierra

Turkish Germans in the Federal Republic of Germany Immigration, Space, and Belonging, 1961–1990

Publications of the German Historical Institute. Cambridge University Press, 2018

Available Online

As the largest national group of guest workers in Germany, the Turks became a visible presence in local neighborhoods and schools and had diverse social, cultural, and religious needs. Focusing on West Berlin, explores the history of Turkish immigrants and their children from the early days of their participation in the post-war guest worker program to the formation of multi-generational communities. Based on her Fritz Stern Prize-winning dissertation, the book uses both German and Turkish sources to help uncover how the first and second generations created spaces of belonging for themselves within and alongside West German society, while also highlighting the factors that influenced that process, from individual agency and community dynamics to larger institutional factors such as educational policy and city renovation projects.