Exploring Germanness: Evolution and Identity

Amid the 2015 migrant crisis, when millions of refugees were seeking safety in Europe, Germany’s then Chancellor, Angela Merkel, took an extraordinary step to take in more than a million asylum seekers, mostly from the Middle East. She famously declared, “Wir Schaffen Das” - We can do it. Now, almost 10 years on, many from this generation of refugees are living settled lives in Germany and a recent liberalisation in German citizenship law means they are now eligible for citizenship, giving them a vote in where Germany goes from here. But it is a fraught time to become German. The AfD, a far right party harshly opposed to immigration of all kinds, is rising in popularity, especially in the former East. Damien McGuinness meets former refugees now on a path to citizenship, and finds out what this piece of paper means to them.