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The New Germany and Migration in Europe
individual [foreigner] of linguistic, cultural and ethnic attachments’
(p. 146).
Since 1 January 2000, the majority of children born to immigrants
in Germany have acquired the right to a German passport at birth.
�or the first time in modern history, therefore, the children of foreigners
are growing up as Germans, with all the rights and responsibilities
this involves. Marshall neglects to point out that German citizenship
regulations thus largely match those in countries with a
‘republican’ concept of nation, and in some respects, even go beyond
them. In contrast to the USA, for example, no ‘civics test’ examining
historical and political knowledge is required in Germany; nor does
cultural assimilation have to be demonstrated, as in �rance. The
increasing number of Turkish Muslims and Vietnamese Buddhists
with guaranteed access to German citizenship shows that the conservation
of ethno-cultural homogeneity, which never existed anyway,
is no longer among the goals of German naturalization policy. Thus
the implementation of the ius soli is one of several indications of how
the �ederal Republic’s policy is adapting to the practice of other
Western democracies.
Most children acquire dual citizenship at birth, as the new law
does not require them to renounce the citizenship of their parents.
Only at the age of 18 do they have to choose between a German and
a foreign passport. The CDU/CSU collected millions of signatures on
a petition opposing the general acceptance of dual citizenship, which
the red-green coalition had initially planned. The broad public support
for this campaign eventually forced Schröder’s government to
withdraw their plans.
Barbara Marshall has written a knowledgeable book about
German immigration policy. Anyone who wants information about
political developments from the reception of refugees from war
zones to the discussion of the new immigration law can rely on her
precise account. However, it makes for dry reading. The author could
be criticized for sticking too closely to a description of what happened.
One could have wished that she had had more courage to
explore interpretations of the wealth of material she presents.
BERNHARD SANTEL is Wissenschaftlicher Referent at the Landeszentrum
für Zuwanderung Nordrhein-Westfalen. He is the author of
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