LIVING IN GERMANY

As Germany’s elderly population continues to grow, its under-staffed old age care system is struggling to keep up. Recruiting foreign care workers will be Germany’s “nearest option” to fix understaffing at homes for the elderly, according to Health Minister Jens Spahn. A patients’ advocacy group says standards must not be lowered. Spahn sought to implement a key promise of Chancellor …

The Munich state court ruling marks the end of one of the most important trials in Germany's postwar history. It was also one of the most complex, covering five years — more than 430 trial days — and featuring the testimonies of around 600 witnesses. Nine of the NSU's victims were of immigrant background; the tenth was a police officer.

Following last year’s successful debut of “afrika! Community Award”, application for the sponsorship scheme for Africans in Germany has opened. The Award was introduced in 2017 by MoneyGram, the global money-transfer company, to support the work of socially-engaged organizations in the African community. There are more than 700 African clubs and associations which support projects in Africa or promote integration …

The Dortmund-based AfricanTide Union e.V. has opened its first branch office.  Since 15 June, there is now the opportunity to exchange and develop joint projects in the Gutruf Haus in the immediate vicinity of the Alster in Hamburg. “We are happy to be in Hamburg now. Together with local stakeholders, we want to implement our successfully tested programmes for promoting integration and …

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Former German President Joachim Gauck has called on migrants living in Germany not to form parallel societies. He also warned against a misuse of the term “Heimat”. Migrants living in Germany should be ready to accept the country as it is, along with its values, Joachim Gauck, a former president of Germany, said in comments published last Thursday. “I find …

MoneyGram, a leading provider of international money transfers, knows how difficult it can be for Africans in Germany to settle in their new home country while keeping close ties to family and friends in Africa and supporting them from a distance. Following the slogan “That’s the African Way – discover your way”, MoneyGram contributes to both important aspects. Discover your …

One in four migrants who arrived in Germany to seek refuge from wars and conflicts since 2015 has since found a job. According to figures from the research institute of the Federal Employment Agency, those from Pakistan have been the most successful. “If employment growth continues at this rate, half of the migrants will be employed within five years,” the …

German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with political leaders, including Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, on the 25th anniversary of a neo-Nazi arson attack that killed five members of a Turkish-German family. German leaders gathered in Düsseldorf on Tuesday to honour the victims of the arson attack in the nearby community of Solingen on May 29, 1993, when right-wing extremists set …

An estimated 5,000 supporters of Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party demonstrated in Berlin on Sunday “for the future of Germany” in the party’s largest gathering since it became Germany’s top opposition party. AfD supporters shouting “Merkel must go” were largely outnumbered by rival demonstrations, gathering about 20,000 people, according to police estimates, however. Excerpts of  Jefferson Chase’s report …

Public broadcaster ZDF has ranked every town in Germany based on three categories: work and living, free time and nature, health and security. Of the top five, three are in Bavaria, reports Elizabeth Schumacher. MUNICH The capital of Bavaria was chosen for its sprawling English Garden park, museums, cultural events like Oktoberfest, and proximity to the mountains. It ranked No. …

This year’s Africa Day will be marked for the 8th consecutive time in the western German city of Dortmund with the theme “Global networking & modern economy”. The Day, which commemorates the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (now African Union) in Addis Ababa on 25 May 1963, is marked both in Africa and its Diaspora communities across the …

Germany granted residence permit to some 35,000 Eritrean refugees last year. This entitles them to bring their families over. But not all are successful. Daniel Pelz of Deutsche Welle (DW) reports on the reasons for this. With its population of around five million, Eritrea is one of the main countries of origin of African refugees. Young people especially are among …

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After more than ten years of agitations, new names for streets in Berlin’s African Quarter linked to the brutal German colonial past in Africa have been found. The representatives of the three major parties on the district council of Wedding (Greens, SPD and Left) have agreed to rename Petersallee, Lüderitzstraße and Nachtigalplatz in honour of African liberation fighters. Lüderitzstraße was …

Berliners are calling on the city government to address skyrocketing housing costs as lawmakers dispute recent reports that the German capital has had the biggest price hikes in the world. Elizabeth Schumacher reports. Thousands of people defied the rain in the German capital, Berlin, on Saturday to protest the rising cost of housing amid rampant gentrification. Berlin has the fastest-rising property …

Germany’s Interior Ministry supports the Central Council of Jews, whose chairman said those who disrespect German values should be stripped of their right of abode. It comes as Germany grapples with rising anti-Semitism. The chairman of Germany’s Central Council of Jews, Josef Schuster, told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper that fines and reprimands were not enough when tackling anti-Semitism and …

Immigrants with limited German language competence are among those that face most difficulties finding accomodation or at risk of being thrown out of their apartment. Now, a new site offers information in multiple languages so that people of all backgrounds can know their rights and recourses. Werena Rosenke receives a lot of phone calls. “They’re people who need acute help. …

Joblessness in Germany fell in March to a new record low since reunification in 1990, official data showed Thursday, as good times for Europe’s largest economy continue into the new year. Some 5.3 percent of the workforce was out of a job this month, according to preliminary seasonally-adjusted data from the federal labour agency, in line with analysts’ predictions. That …

Germany recorded a bounce in the birth rate in 2016, official statistics show. The country hit a 43-year high helped along by large numbers of recently-arrived migrants. The latest figures are part of an upward trend for Germany, Europe’s biggest country by population, which has suffered from low birth rates since the 1970s. Some 792,131 children were born in Europe’s …