Ten years ago, this town in central Germany was aging, rapidly depopulating and almost universally white. Today, its population has stabilized, is younger and includes people from 92 countries.
Some longtime residents have welcomed the change, but for many others, it’s happening too fast. In May, conservative Mayor André Knapp was re-elected with more than 82% of the votes after a campaign critical of immigration, which he blamed for a rise in local crime. In September, the Alternative for Germany, or AfD, a far-right party that advocates mass deportations, won its first state election in Thuringia, where Suhl is located.
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Germany has long been one of the world’s most welcoming nations to migrants. Between 2013 and 2023, 6.43 million more people settled in Germany than left, according to Germany’s Federal Statistics Office—the biggest inflow of any country outside the U.S., according to the United Nations.
Polls show immigration is a top issue for voters ahead of a general election in February. The concern is likely to gain urgency after a 50-year old Saudi refugee was detained on suspicion of ramming a car into a Christmas market in Eastern Germany on Dec. 20, killing five and leaving more than 200 wounded.
Some of Germany’s new arrivals are workers from other countries arriving to fill specific jobs, or students coming to study. Germany also is the most popular destination in the EU for refugees, accounting for a third of asylum applications in the bloc. Since the 2015 refugee crisis, when hundreds of thousands streamed into Europe, Germany has received 2.4 million asylum seekers, twice the population of Munich.
Migrants, defined as people living for more than 12 months outside their country of birth, made up 18.8% of the population in Germany in 2021, compared with 15.3% in the U.S. in that year, according to the United Nations.
In Germany, 42% of people under age 15 were either foreign-born or had at least one foreign-born parent—Germany’s definition of a statistical category it calls “people with a migration background”—as were 37% of people ages 15 to 24, according to government data for 2022.
Germany, which has no history of mass immigration and limited experience integrating people from other cultures, is now becoming a case study of the challenges that can emerge when migration outpaces a society’s capacity to adjust.
Most economists agree that the German economy, which has stagnated since 2019, badly needs immigrants. Germany was among the first countries in Europe to see fertility rates collapse in the 1970s. Now, as baby boomers retire, the financial burden of their mounting pension and health insurance costs will be borne by fewer workers.
Although unemployment in Germany has been edging up after two years of recession, many sectors, from engineering to health to hospitality, still complain about a crippling labor shortage. A study this year by the Bertelsmann Foundation, a nonpartisan research organization, found that Germany would need net immigration of between 288,000 and 368,000 every year between now and 2040 just to maintain the size of its workforce.
“Germany as a whole, and eastern Germany in particular, are in a demographic crisis,” said Niklas Wassmann, a center-right member of the parliament in the state of Thuringia. “For every two residents of Thuringia who retire today, only one enters the labor market. We can’t rely on technological innovation alone to maintain our growth. We need to bring people in from outside.”
Yet Germany hasn’t had much success integrating newcomers into its labor market. The unemployment rate for noncitizens last year was 14.7%, compared with 5% for citizens.
In the U.S., migrants seeking asylum typically receive no federal aid, but they are permitted to work once they submit their applications. In Germany, they aren’t generally allowed to work until they are officially deemed refugees, which can take months or even years. But they are entitled to benefits worth as much as hundreds or thousands of euros a month—which cost the federal government €29.7 billion in 2023, according to research company Statista. State governments bear additional costs.
More than 60% of the people in Germany who depend on government benefits for income are foreign-born or are second-generation migrants. Noncitizens, who make up 15% of the population, perpetrated 41% of all crimes in 2023, up from 28.7% in 2014, according to police statistics.
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When the refugees first began arriving in 2015, “there was a lot of compassion” in town, said Karin Hornschuh, an 82-year-old who leads volunteers who organize sports activities and games for the center’s children. These days, she said, support for her efforts has all but disappeared. “Some people say they are being invaded,” she said.
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During the pandemic, break-ins in a nearby neighborhood were traced back to the camp. Last year, the fire department was dispatched to the camp 299 times for emergencies, including two alleged arson attacks by residents.
Police figures show noncitizens are responsible for one-third of crimes in Suhl, two-thirds of shoplifting incidents and more than half of aggravated assaults.
“Just this week, I caught three guys…trying to steal €400 worth of perfume,” said Thomas Wolf, manager of the Müller drugstore. who said he was attacked twice last year by foreign shoplifters. “Last time, it left me with a torn shirt and pants and a visit to the doctor,” he said.
National crime statistics indicate that noncitizens account for a disproportionate share of crime. Among the explanations offered by local police: poverty, joblessness and the young age of migrants. Local police said some migrants need money to repay smugglers or family members who funded their journey.
The influx of migrants has emerged as a big challenge for Germany’s schools.
“Our school has about 35% of non-native speakers,” said Alexander Dorst, director of the Otto Lilienthal Community School in Erfurt, Thuringia’s capital. Younger children who can’t speak German are easier to integrate than older ones, he said. “Politicians often say, ‘Sit them in there and it’ll be fine.’ It’s not…You can’t sit a kid who can’t speak next to one who can and hope he’ll somehow catch up. It’s hell for that kid.”
Students from more than 20 nations, including a large group of Arabic speakers and a sizable Ukrainian contingent, are now split into two groups. Those with poor German initially attend a “German as a second language” class in addition to classes that don’t require fluency, such as math and art.
While German-born children of migrants tend to fare well in school, the performance of those born outside Germany has worsened over time and is below that of foreign-born students in other rich countries, according to a 2024 report by the OECD.
Dorst said his school is trying to foster a sense of belonging, but that integration can work only if foreigners don’t reach a critical mass. With so many newer students, he said, many congregate along national lines, which occasionally leads to clustering in gangs and physical confrontations.
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“Ten years ago, foreigners made up 9.5% of Rieth’s residents,” said Wassmann, the state lawmaker. “Today it’s 32%.” Erfurt is now one of the most segregated cities in Germany, he said.
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