Even the German right wing is making much more out of immigration than it actually is.
There’s some brown people on the street now, big deal.

It’s fine in Germany. Streets are safe, crime is at an all-time low. There’s more barber shops here now.
The only problem is the rise of our MAGA-equivalents.

It’s terrible. The other day I saw someone throw some non-recyclable waste into the recycling bin! Can you believe it? The country is really going to hell in a handbasket.

I migrated to Germany eight years ago. I’m curious if your grandpa would take issue with me as well or if it’s only those with a different skin color…

Haven’t had any issues with migrants here myself, it’s just politics. Same as where I’m from (Netherlands), politicians only talk and some parties need someone to blame. Economic analyses of migration I see are generally positive because it grows the economy and we need the extra hands at current birth rates. Many do (care/construction/ag) jobs that locals don’t want to do at that pay level, keeping things more affordable, bringing in tax money; in the skilled sector also bringing international relations and often expertise… the main challenge currently is building enough housing but that would have been problematic regardless due to demographic shifts and the government selling the houses they financed and then discovering that the new shareholders mostly go for short-term profits and not large forward-thinking investments

I wish we had more immigration to compensate for our aging population.

The only real problems we have are right wing extremism and climate change denial.

I don’t know about problems with immigrants specifically (except the police claims more crimes from immigrants but denies a check of their own crimes)

However I notice the hate against foreigners is increasing. The hate goes against people that look like they don’t belong to Germany.

Mostly non European people.

In reality we have so much immigrantion we don’t have a “pure German” population anymore and everyone who claims otherwise is an idiot and often a nazi.

In big cities you often don’t have issues with being an immigrant since you aren’t the only one. In the rural areas the people might be more sceptical or racist.

Right now its night, but not dark.

Full moon,clear sky and snow makes everything shiny this night

I think the other Germans here will agree that Berlin isn’t ”Germany” - meaning it’s not the typical German city, it’s very international and modern (someone else can chime in and add to this) Since you mentioned Munich, I would recommend going there first perhaps, since it’s more ”German” than Berlin…

I’d say it’s a good place to live for me. It’s safe and has a high standard of living. There are many nice cities, villages and natural areas to see but it’s also a great hub for travel to other European countries, thanks to its central location. I live in a medium-sized village near the blackforest and it’s a nice, calm place with lots of nature around.

Do come visit, I’m sure you’ll have a great time! I’d say go for Munich over Berlin, as you’ll see more of the traditional German (well, Bavarian) culture while still being a large modern city.

Germany has its problems though. Our infrastructure, while still good, is starting to crumble, our industry has trouble keeping up and our politicians are ineffective. Like in many places, the far-right is on the rise and with it anti-migration rhetoric like you’ve heard from your grandpa. For what it’s worth, I haven’t had any issues with migrants. Migration comes with challenges, sure, but it’s also something that enriches us, as well as something that Germany needs, due to our otherwise aging and shrinking population.

Northrhine Westphalia here: I am no expert. My opinion I) Our birthtate is too low. We need people paying into the Rentenkasse (retirement funds) to carry us. II) Skilled immigrants aside we also need immigrants to do jobs most Germans don’t like III) New immigrants commit more crimes; while this is definitely true (relatively 3 times as much for certain crimes), I have yet to see a detailed enough statistic. The issue is that there are gangs traveling from country to country worsening the numbers for all regular immigrants. IV) Immigrants definitely make living more diverse. Especially citys that have more long term immigrants are more diverse. At least in the citys I have been, I didn’t notice the UK problem of separate cultures. They felt integrated.

Conclusion: Immigrants are not an issue. However, detailed statistics are necessary to evaluate immigrant crimes. I suspect that locking down on criminal gangs is important. Anyway, as an average German citizen you have no issues with crimes whatsoever as they are quite rare.

What do you like to do?

I like bouldering, visiting castles, museums and such.

What do you have in your town?

Can’t tell you what exactly but the largest museum of it’s kind.

Berlin or Munich?

Neither. If you visit big citys, you are not visiting another country, but another shade of grey. Of those two, I would pick Munich however.

Oh god, this answer has gotten longer than expected.

How is it? All in all, it’s good here. I’m confident that it would be difficult to find a significantly better country to live in. But it’s not perfect either and many people fear that it will go downhill from here.

Many parts of industry and research are struggling while a lot of money is pumped into the military. Our infrastructure is mostly still good, but, for example, we’re having trouble keeping up with a lot of old bridges nearing the end of their lifespan. The population is getting pretty old as well and healthcare costs are increasing. They are shutting down our local hospital to save costs and shifting the patients to a big new clinic, which is currently being constructed in the next bigger town. Rents and house prices in the big cities are enormous. In the countryside, internet and public transportation is lacking. Many people are dissatisfied with politics, which led to huge gains for the far-right AfD party, especially in the former GDR. They blame immigrants and the EU and the green party. What has always been an issue is bureaucracy. Complex, unflexible regulations and matching civil servants grind many things to a halt. Part of the problem is a refusal to adjust to new, digital processes.

On the positive side: Food is relatively cheap. Some prices have been coming down again since Covid; butter is down to 99ct/250g, pasta to 49ct/500g. Medical or educational debt is unheard of. The mother of the family next door, a Brasilian woman married to a German, just had brain surgery before christmas. l suppose the additional cost for her family was around 70€ (10€ for every day in the hospital). I studied Aerspace Engineering, about 200€ per semester. I have never witnessed any violent crime, nor has any close friend or family member for as long as I have been alive and as far as I know. Same goes for theft. The worst thing I can think of is a class mate back in school who told me he was attacked with a glass bottle and robbed at night at the train station. I’m sure I live in a bubble, but the people I have contact with are honest and have what they need. I recently lost a 50€ bill at one of the social clubs in which I’m active. Instead of pocketing it, someone picked it up and put it on a counter. Then someone else took it and went through the rooms to find the rightful owner. And while the price of the “Deutschland Ticket” is steadily increasing, it is something I really enjoy. It exists since Covid and allows you to use all (non high speed rail) public transportation in the entire country, for now 63€ per month.

Immigration: For a long time, immigration to Germany was not only tolerated, but actively promoted in Greece or Turkey. In the last decade people fled from Northern Africa to Germany, and in the last few years I noticed a lot of Ukrainians for obvious reasons. This of course changes society. No matter what you think of that, our aging population is a problem, and young migrants are a potential solution. Of course there are also criminal people among them, but I don’t know the statistics for migrant/long-time-German crime, and I don’t notice crime here anyway. If you want to experience crime for yourself, go to Frankfurt central station.

Regarding my town: I live in a small town of about 30000 in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It’s not that exciting here, but we have a bunch of schools, an outdoor and indoor swimming pool, at least 5 supermarkets plus a few drug stores, all kinds of doctors, a library, churches and mosques, a skate park and soccer fields, a lot of social clubs and a beautiful old town center. The old town was built around a small mountain. At the top lie the ruins of the old castle, and in the summer after sunset, it becomes an outdoor movie theater. That’s part of some bigger festivities each summer. The newest addition to the town is a funny tower built on a mountain of trash, our former landfill. Great for watching the sunset or sunrise, although nightly visits are not officially allowed. We have a stretch of no-speedlimit Autobahn starting here and a train station. The Autobahn takes you to the next bigger city in about 20 minutes, there you can find more fun stuff like night clubs, a normal cinema, an Ikea and a lasertag arena. 40 minutes of train ride brings you to the state capital for even more shopping and night clubs, or to the international Stuttgart airport.

What do I do? I dance at our sports club, I go shooting once or twice a week at our sport shooting club, I like learning languages. We also have what we call a youth research center. I teach electronic circuit design to a group of pupils, others teach software development or mechanical design. I also work on a robotics project together with some university students, and we can use the workshop and tools for our own projects as well. Doesn’t cost anything to the students, everything sponsored by local companies, foundations and the government. This youth research center is btw sandwiched between housing for migrants and asylum seekers. I’m there twice a week, and I haven’t seen or heard about any problem during the last ten+ years. The only thing noticable is lots of playing kids and really good smelling food being cooked.

Migration is an artificial problem, put on the political agenda by xenophobic little people, who have themselves seen very little of the world.

The problem is not immigrats but how poorly immigration into Germany society is handled by politics. Immigrants are not allowed to work and housed in tents, that where designed for temporary use for years. How do you expect people to integrate when you deprived them from all possiblities, put roadblocks in their way and try to separate them from your national society. Its really bad in some parts of Germany. In general though immigration brought lots of cool culture, food etc. to Germans. I dislike immigrats bringing religios extremes or how so often talked about, their machist views. But then again, that would not be a problem with proper integration.

The real problem isnt immigration, its how its handled. People arent being integrated into society and the “Germans vs immigrants” propaganda is gaining popularity by that. Most immigrants in recent times are refugees. Sure, it would be “better” if they could stay where they came from, but thats not possible and taking care of them for the time being is the least we could do.

It’s not THAT bad I think but I’m really just fed up with some aspects of our government. I think it’s just a matter of time until our right-wing party gets into power, they already are in some states (mostly in eastern Germany), and as soon as that happens… oh boy

I’m an American with some outdated experience from about 25 years ago.

I loved Germany and would love to return. I’ve even thought about migrating there, though I know this would not be simple.

I was there for about 3 weeks. My last name is very Italian, but apparently the family i was starting with hoped it was Spanish and expressed this with shock when I corrected them.

During my time there I witnessed quite a bit of racism directed at Italians and Turks. As it was explained to me, post WWII Germany encouraged migrants from Italy and Turkey to rebuild the workforce. What I witnessed was that Italians and Turks were looked down on and often held to lower jobs.

It’s been 25 years. I hope things have changed.