Living together in Germany
Zusammenleben in Deutschland
You will understand how state and religion are separate, Jewish life, getting involved in society, everyday rules and the history of migration in Germany.
Religion and the state
In Germany, the state (Staat) and religious communities (Religionsgemeinschaften) are separate. Religious communities do not form the state, and the state does not depend on them. The state also does not decide what people believe.
Germany also follows the principle of religious tolerance (Toleranz). Tolerance means accepting that other people hold beliefs different from your own. Every person chooses what to believe, or may follow no religion at all.
Jewish life in Germany
Jewish people have lived on the territory of today's Germany for a very long time. The first Jewish community (jüdische Gemeinde) here existed about 1,700 years ago. Jewish life is therefore a very old part of German history.
Today, the largest Jewish communities in Germany are in Berlin and Munich. The Jewish house of prayer is called a synagogue (Synagoge). Churches and mosques are houses of prayer of other religions.
In Germany there are about 40 Jewish sports clubs called Makkabi. All people can become members, regardless of nationality or religion.
Antisemitism and Israel
Antisemitism (antisemitisch) is hatred of, or discrimination against, Jewish people simply because they are Jewish. A clear example is denying the Holocaust (Holocaust leugnen). The Holocaust was the systematic murder of six million Jewish people under the Nazi dictatorship.
Visiting a Jewish festival or playing football with Jewish people is not antisemitic. Criticising the policy of the Israeli government is not antisemitic either. In Germany, people may discuss and criticise Israel's policy openly.
What is forbidden is a public call for the destruction of Israel (Aufruf zur Vernichtung Israels). Hanging an Israeli flag on your own property is allowed.
Getting involved and volunteering
Many people in Germany work on a voluntary basis (ehrenamtlich) in their free time. They work of their own free will and without pay, usually in clubs and associations, for example in a sports club (Verein).
People can also influence decisions where they live. For example, if a bus line you take to work every day is to be abolished, you can join a citizens' initiative (Bürgerinitiative) to keep it, or start one yourself.
Paying taxes does not give you a right to a particular bus line. Writing to an unrelated office does not help either.
Everyday rules
In Germany, the legal night rest (gesetzliche Nachtruhe) begins at 10 p.m. From then on, people should avoid noise so that neighbours can rest.
Most rented buildings have a set of house rules (Hausordnung). They state the rules that all residents of the building must follow. They are not a list of tenants or the address of an office.
Having a mother tongue other than German does not stop you from getting a driving licence. You do not have to live in Germany for a set number of years. You may be able to take the theory test (Theorie-Prüfung) in your mother tongue, because there are more than ten languages to choose from.
Migration to Germany
Many people who came from other countries live in Germany. Among all migrants who came to Germany, most came from Turkey (Türkei).
In the 1950s and 1960s, the Federal Republic of Germany recruited foreign workers. They were called guest workers (Gastarbeiter). The first of them came from Italy (Italien).
In the GDR (DDR), migrants came mainly from Vietnam, Poland and Mozambique.