German State Appoints First Minister of Turkish Origin
Aygül Özkan, a member of the conservative Christian Democratic Union party, was recently appointed the minister of social affairs. Özkan was born in Hamburg and is the daughter of Turkish guest workers who arrived in Germany in the 1960s. Özkan does not want to be seen as a “token immigrant” in the world of politics, […]
Court Rules that East Germans are not an Ethnic Group
This Der Spiegel article follows up on the Stuttgart labor court case charging a West German company with discriminating against a woman born in the former GDR. The court ruled that East Germans are not an ethnic group, a conclusion that many journalists seem to support. (See the excepted reaction articles.) However, as the writer […]
Court to Decide if East Germans are Ethnic Group
This week in Stuttgart a labor court will decide on the issue of East German ethnic identity after a East German born woman filed a anti-discrimination lawsuit against a West German window manufacturer for rejecting her application on the basis of her origin. The returned resume had the words “Ossi” and a minus sign written […]
Gender Gap in Germany
This article highlights the growing wage gap between women and men in Germany. According to this article women on average earn about 23% less than their male colleagues. This number is 5% higher than EU’s average, and somewhat higher than that of last year. This article suggests that many believe that reducing the gender pay […]
Germany’s Record Debt In 2010
Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble was approved for the borrowing of 80.2 billion Euros ($109 billion) for 2010, making it the highest borrowing figure in record. The government blames this accumulating debt on the global downfall of the economy. However, there are plans to reduce the budget deficit and a bill known as the “debt brake” […]
WWII Compensation: Ghetto Laborers Still Waiting for German Pensions
Germany passed a Ghetto Pension Law in 2002 that would give a small amount of money to Jews who held steady jobs in concentration camps, in order to “close a gap in the country’s Nazi-era compensation.” However, over 90 percent of applicants are being denied, and each day more and more Holocaust survivors are dying […]
Böhmer calls for Germany to recognize foreign credentials
Integration commissioner Maria Böhmer has called for a concentrated effort to provide the 1.9 million foreigners in Germany who receive welfare with better career prospects. Aside from suggesting that immigrants need to be more willing to integrate she recognizes that many qualified immigrants are not able to work in their professional fields because their degrees […]
Bewerber-Diskriminierung
This was an interesting article in the online addition of Der Spiegel where students sent fictitious resumes to German companies under a Turkish and a German alias. The study proved that discrimination existed in the job market regardless of qualification, though it was also counteracted by things like recommendations. Read the full article here.
Did German Officers violate the terms of their service?
This article addresses the issue of Germany’s federal police officers not complying with the laws in Iran. These men allegedly had affairs with an Iranian woman. This is not only embarrassing for Germany, but life threatening for the woman, and very important for the way German-Iranian relations might develop. There is also a claim that […]
Gentrification in Hamburg – Can Ikea Save a Run-Down Neighborhood?
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,673016,00.html This article illustrates the views of those for and against the construction of an Ikea complex to replace the dying Grosse Bergstrasse shopping center in Hamburg’s Altona district. Those in favor of the multicultural company believe that the revenue and jobs provided by Ikea would breathe new life into the neighborhood. Those against the […]