Greeks in Germany

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The place where the Griechenhaus stood, a court of Greek merchants in Leipzig
The place where the Griechenhaus stood, a court of Greek merchants in Leipzig
The Greek Salvator church in Munich
The Greek Salvator church in Munich

The Greeks in Germany form a significant community, numbering some 350,000 people.

Contents

[edit] History

The first Greeks came during the time of the Roman Empire to Central Europe.

Significant immigration from Greece to Germany started around 1700, when the Ottoman Empire opened its borders. The first community was found in Leipzig at this time.

The second wave of immigration was when Otto of Wittelbach became King of Greece as Otto of Greece. Many Greeks came as students to Bavaria.

The Greek population of today came mostly after World War II. West Germany needed employees for their expanding industry. In East Germany, Greek communists came as political refugees until 1973.

Many Greeks were relocated to German Democratic Republic during the Greek Civil War.

[edit] Statistics

Year 1967 1970 1973 1976 1979 1982 1985
Persons 200.961 342.891 407.614 353.733 296.803 300.824 280.614
Year 1988 1991 1994 1997 2000 2001 2003
Persons 274.973 336.893 355.583 363.202 365.438 362.708 354.600

[edit] Notable Greek-Germans

[edit] Further reading

  • Troebst, Stefan (September 2004). "Evacuation to a cold country: child refugees from the Greek Civil War in the German Democratic Republic, 1949-1989". Nationalities Papers 32 (3): 675–691.