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The man who is has cleaved Germany in two isn't sleeping well at night. Thilo Sarrazin normally needs five to six hours of sleep, but these days he's getting only two or three. He describes his frame of mind as that of someone whose adrenalin levels are constantly elevated and who has trouble finding peace of mind.
It's a Friday afternoon and Sarrazin, the German central bank board member whose controversial book about integration and Muslim immigration in Germany has dominated the headlines for the last 10 days, is back home in Berlin. On the previous evening in Frankfurt, Sarrazin met with his attorney to discuss his challenge against the Bundesbank, which is currently seeking to oust him.
He also made a brief appearance in his office, but his secretary tells anyone who asks that he isn't in. All the calls, letters and e-mails Sarrazin has been receiving at the Bundesbank are simply too much to process. "It's 99 percent support and letters of congratulation," he says proudly.
Following two recent appearances on German talk shows, Sarrazin has decided to keep a lower profile for awhile. He still communicates with friends and acquaintances -- and had a technician come by to fix a problem with his Internet at home -- but aside from that he has imposed a "media blackout" on himself.
Many people would like to speak to him and offer their support. He claims that he has yet to have a negative encounter as a result of his book. He was even greeted with smiles and nods in the elevator at the Bundesbank as he was on his way to discuss the crisis with his fellow board members on the 13th floor. "Naturally, I hoped that my book would attract attention. But the intensity surprised me," he says.
Bordering on Revulsion
Rarely has a man influenced the German public discourse as much as Sarrazin has done with his book "Deutschland schafft sich ab" ("Germany Does Itself In"). In just two weeks, Germany has been hit by three waves of debate stemming from the tome.
Criticism bordering on revulsion dominated the first wave of the reaction. Politicians and opinion leaders condemned Sarrazin almost unanimously.
But then it slowly became apparent that many citizens agreed with Sarrazin. The publisher announced that, due to high demand, it was going to increase the book's initial printing to 250,000 copies. Furthermore, Internet forums and political events made it clear that Sarrazin -- a member of the center-left Social Democrats, which has initiated proceedings to throw him out of the party -- had broad public support. Many are saying he is right; or, even if he does make a mistake here and there, he isn't being treated fairly.
The following e-mail, for example, was received at Social Democratic Party (SPD) headquarters: "Sometimes I'm frustrated and even furious about the fact that, in today's Germany, it's no longer possible to speak your mind and call a spade a spade! This is the sort of thing I'm used to seeing in totalitarian countries." Suddenly Sarrazin seemed like a popular hero.
The third wave arrived in the middle of last week. Politicians have begun demanding that the political elite cease ignoring the fact that many in Germany support Sarrazin. Peter Hauk, head of the Christian Democratic Union's parliamentary group in the southern state of Baden-Württemberg, says: "Even if I don't share some of his views, he does address issues that our citizens are concerned about."
Out of Control
The procedure to dismiss Sarrazin from the Bundesbank board is taking place in parallel with the public debate. The Bundesbank has officially requested that German President Christian Wulff remove Sarrazin from his position. Wulff will hardly be able to deny the request, even if it turns Sarrazin into a martyr for some. Indeed, the case is making it clear that German political leaders will have their hands full this autumn reconciling Germans with integration.
To be sure, the subject of immigration should be up for discussion, but the current debate has gotten out of control. From the very beginning, Sarrazin's choice of language has been unfortunate. He described problems with integration, which are indeed deplorable, but he introduced an element of biological determinism. He reflected on the inheritability of intelligence and speculated over a "specific gene" that "all Jews share."
This placed him squarely in the disgusting realm of race theory -- and has called forth uncomfortable memories of the Nazi scourge. Sarrazin, too, sensed that he had gone too far and apologized for his statement about the Jewish gene. But he almost certainly has enjoyed the provocative nature of his statements, as have, no doubt, some of his supporters.
It would seem, in short, that Germany has been cleaved in two, between those horrified by Sarrazin's choice of words and those who support such a forthright assessment of integration. That, in fact, is the first of three big questions the book has raised: In what country are we living? After the 2006 World Cup, it seemed that Germany had become cheerful and cosmopolitan. But the popular approval of Sarrazin leads us to question whether there isn't an underlying xenophobia after all. "There are many Sarrazins," says Aylin Selçuk, a university student and co-founder of a group called "Deukische Generation" (or "German-Turkish Generation").
The second question the debate raises concerns the current state of affairs. Is Sarrazin right when he claims that the integration of Turks and Arabs has largely been a failure?
New Copies on Wednesday
The third question has to do with the relationship between the political and journalistic class with the rest of the country. Do citizens feel abandoned on the question of integration? Or, asked another way, does Germany have a fertile breeding ground for the kind of populist right-wing party that is already par for the course in many European countries?
Sarrazin's theories meet with widespread approval in large segments of the German population. His book quickly sold out and is currently difficult to obtain. "We hope to have new copies on Wednesday," says Wilfried Weber, 69, manager of the Felix Jud bookstore in Hamburg. "There are diehards who show up every day, hoping that I might just have a copy left."
There is a weekly market in Hamburg's Eppendorf neighborhood. The customers arrive in large SUVs and push their babies around in expensive strollers. Rainer Schaefer, 67, and his wife Barbara are regulars. When asked how he feels about Sarrazin's theories, Schaefer promptly replies: "I agree with him completely. He was just went too far on the genetic issue. Nevertheless, we shouldn't stifle the man. Rather, we should address the problems of integration instead." In general, says Schaefer, "those who come to this country ought to like us and be willing to integrate." Then, his wife Barbara chimes in: "But if we're honest, we too have sometimes said that it was getting to be a bit much with the foreigners."
Sarrazin even has some supporters among immigrants in Germany. On the third floor of the Emil Krause Gymnasium in Hamburg, German teacher Manfred Jäger is asking the class to quiet down. His students are between 17 and 19 and hope to graduate this year. Most of them support Sarrazin and his ideas. "He's right about many of the things he says," says Depak, who is from Afghanistan, noting that many immigrants are criminals and take advantage of the social welfare system.
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 Next Part 1: Why Sarrazin's Integration Demagoguery Has Many Followers Part 2: Could Sarrazin Be Right? Part 3: Unproven Assertions and Bogus Correlations Part 4: The Genetic Argument Part 5: Growing Political Concern Part 6: Examining Sarrazin's Track Record Article... Print E-Mail Feedback Social Networks FORUM Discuss this issue with other readers! Visit Forums... Share your opinion! Keep track of the news
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All news from SPIEGEL International Twitter | RSS All news from Germany section RSS© SPIEGEL ONLINE 2010 All Rights Reserved Reproduction only allowed with the permission of SPIEGELnet GmbH
FROM THE MAGAZINEFind out how you can reprint this DER SPIEGEL article in your publication.
DER SPIEGELGraphic: Muslims in Germany
A BRIEF HISTORY OF INTEGRATION IN GERMANY 1949 -- The Constitution The German constitution comes into force. Cognizant of Germany's Nazi past, the "Basic Law" provides for far-reaching asylum rights that include constitutionally guaranteed individual rights to sue for asylum. 1960 -- Recruiting Abroad Some 280,000 workers from abroad are already employed in Germany. But more are needed. Recruitment agreements are signed in 1960 with both Greece and Spain. 1961 -- The Berlin Wall The construction of the Berlin Wall puts an immediate stop to the flood of people flowing into West Germany from East Germany, meaning that new sources of labor must be found. Germany signs a recruitment agreement with Turkey. 1964 -- One Million Guest Workers Armando Rodrigues from Portugal becomes the 1 millionth guest worker in Germany. He is given a moped as a welcoming gift. 1966 -- East German Recruitment East Germany too needs to recruit workers from abroad to help with reconstruction. Between 1966 and 1989, some 500,000 people are brought in, mostly from Vietnam, Poland, Mozambique and other countries. 1971 -- Residency Made Easy The West German government eases rules for residency permit applications. The change makes it easier for immigrants to stay in the country and leads to many of them bringing their families to Germany. 1973 -- The Oil Crisis Due to the oil crisis and the concurrent economic slowdown, Germany ceases recruiting new guest workers from abroad. The German labor market is saturated with 2.6 million guest workers. 1983 -- Going Home? The government of Chancellor Helmut Kohl passes a law that provides financial assistance to those guest workers who want to return to their home countries. But the law does not result in the wave of returns the government had hoped for. 1990 -- Fall of the Iron Curtain With the fall of the Berlin Wall and the disintegration of communism in Eastern Germany, tens of thousands of ethnic Germans from the former Soviet bloc stream into newly reunified Germany and dominate immigration for a time. 1993 -- Xenophobic Attacks Five people with Turkish backgrounds die in Solingen, Germany following an arson attack on the house they were living in. It was one of several xenophobic attacks in the early 1990s, including ones in Hoyerswerda, Rostock-Lichtenhagen and Mölln. 1999 -- Petition against Dual Citizenship During the runup to a state election in Hesse, conservative politician Roland Koch -- who would go on to win the vote and become state governor -- caused controversy with a petition campaign against allowing immigrants in Germany to hold dual citizenship. The campaign was criticized for being xenophobic. 2000 -- Launch of Green Card Program Then-Chancellor Gerhard Schröder announced a "green card" program, which was aimed at recruiting 20,000 IT specialists from outside the European Union. The move sparked a new debate on immigration. 2001 -- 9/11 Attacks After the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the issue of security came to dominate the immigration debate. Immigrants were increasingly presented as being a risk rather than an opportunity for Germany. 2005 -- New Immigration Law The so-called Immigration Law came into effect. It laid down new rules for immigration and included measures to promote integration within German society, such as the right to attend an "integration course." 2006 -- First Islamic Conference Then-Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble held the first Islamic Conference. It led to the founding of a new umbrella group representing Muslims, the Coordination Council of Muslims in Germany. Previously, Muslims living in Germany had not had a unified lobby group to represent their interests. 2006 -- Citizenship Tests The states of Baden-Württemberg and Hesse introduced so-called "citizenship tests." Foreigners living in those states who wanted to become German citizens were obliged to correctly answer a series of questions about Germany. 2010 -- Diverse World Cup Team Eleven of 23 players on Germany's national football team at the World Cup in South Africa came from immigrant families, including Mesut Özil, Marko Marin and Miroslav Klose. The diverse team was hailed as a symbol of multiculturalism in German society. Thilo Sarrazin's Urge to Provoke A Jewish gene, foul-smelling civil servants and immigrants producing little girls in headscarves: German Bundesbank board member Thilo Sarrazin has never been afraid to provoke. SPIEGEL ONLINE has assembled some of his most outrageous statements.Begin quote gallery: Click on the arrow
RELATED SPIEGEL ONLINE LINKS Photo Gallery: Sarrazin's Book Divides GermanyHe also made a brief appearance in his office, but his secretary tells anyone who asks that he isn't in. All the calls, letters and e-mails Sarrazin has been receiving at the Bundesbank are simply too much to process. "It's 99 percent support and letters of congratulation," he says proudly.
Following two recent appearances on German talk shows, Sarrazin has decided to keep a lower profile for awhile. He still communicates with friends and acquaintances -- and had a technician come by to fix a problem with his Internet at home -- but aside from that he has imposed a "media blackout" on himself.
Many people would like to speak to him and offer their support. He claims that he has yet to have a negative encounter as a result of his book. He was even greeted with smiles and nods in the elevator at the Bundesbank as he was on his way to discuss the crisis with his fellow board members on the 13th floor. "Naturally, I hoped that my book would attract attention. But the intensity surprised me," he says.
Bordering on Revulsion
Rarely has a man influenced the German public discourse as much as Sarrazin has done with his book "Deutschland schafft sich ab" ("Germany Does Itself In"). In just two weeks, Germany has been hit by three waves of debate stemming from the tome.
Criticism bordering on revulsion dominated the first wave of the reaction. Politicians and opinion leaders condemned Sarrazin almost unanimously.
But then it slowly became apparent that many citizens agreed with Sarrazin. The publisher announced that, due to high demand, it was going to increase the book's initial printing to 250,000 copies. Furthermore, Internet forums and political events made it clear that Sarrazin -- a member of the center-left Social Democrats, which has initiated proceedings to throw him out of the party -- had broad public support. Many are saying he is right; or, even if he does make a mistake here and there, he isn't being treated fairly.
The following e-mail, for example, was received at Social Democratic Party (SPD) headquarters: "Sometimes I'm frustrated and even furious about the fact that, in today's Germany, it's no longer possible to speak your mind and call a spade a spade! This is the sort of thing I'm used to seeing in totalitarian countries." Suddenly Sarrazin seemed like a popular hero.
The third wave arrived in the middle of last week. Politicians have begun demanding that the political elite cease ignoring the fact that many in Germany support Sarrazin. Peter Hauk, head of the Christian Democratic Union's parliamentary group in the southern state of Baden-Württemberg, says: "Even if I don't share some of his views, he does address issues that our citizens are concerned about."
Out of Control
The procedure to dismiss Sarrazin from the Bundesbank board is taking place in parallel with the public debate. The Bundesbank has officially requested that German President Christian Wulff remove Sarrazin from his position. Wulff will hardly be able to deny the request, even if it turns Sarrazin into a martyr for some. Indeed, the case is making it clear that German political leaders will have their hands full this autumn reconciling Germans with integration.
To be sure, the subject of immigration should be up for discussion, but the current debate has gotten out of control. From the very beginning, Sarrazin's choice of language has been unfortunate. He described problems with integration, which are indeed deplorable, but he introduced an element of biological determinism. He reflected on the inheritability of intelligence and speculated over a "specific gene" that "all Jews share."
This placed him squarely in the disgusting realm of race theory -- and has called forth uncomfortable memories of the Nazi scourge. Sarrazin, too, sensed that he had gone too far and apologized for his statement about the Jewish gene. But he almost certainly has enjoyed the provocative nature of his statements, as have, no doubt, some of his supporters.
It would seem, in short, that Germany has been cleaved in two, between those horrified by Sarrazin's choice of words and those who support such a forthright assessment of integration. That, in fact, is the first of three big questions the book has raised: In what country are we living? After the 2006 World Cup, it seemed that Germany had become cheerful and cosmopolitan. But the popular approval of Sarrazin leads us to question whether there isn't an underlying xenophobia after all. "There are many Sarrazins," says Aylin Selçuk, a university student and co-founder of a group called "Deukische Generation" (or "German-Turkish Generation").
The second question the debate raises concerns the current state of affairs. Is Sarrazin right when he claims that the integration of Turks and Arabs has largely been a failure?
New Copies on Wednesday
The third question has to do with the relationship between the political and journalistic class with the rest of the country. Do citizens feel abandoned on the question of integration? Or, asked another way, does Germany have a fertile breeding ground for the kind of populist right-wing party that is already par for the course in many European countries?
Sarrazin's theories meet with widespread approval in large segments of the German population. His book quickly sold out and is currently difficult to obtain. "We hope to have new copies on Wednesday," says Wilfried Weber, 69, manager of the Felix Jud bookstore in Hamburg. "There are diehards who show up every day, hoping that I might just have a copy left."
There is a weekly market in Hamburg's Eppendorf neighborhood. The customers arrive in large SUVs and push their babies around in expensive strollers. Rainer Schaefer, 67, and his wife Barbara are regulars. When asked how he feels about Sarrazin's theories, Schaefer promptly replies: "I agree with him completely. He was just went too far on the genetic issue. Nevertheless, we shouldn't stifle the man. Rather, we should address the problems of integration instead." In general, says Schaefer, "those who come to this country ought to like us and be willing to integrate." Then, his wife Barbara chimes in: "But if we're honest, we too have sometimes said that it was getting to be a bit much with the foreigners."
Sarrazin even has some supporters among immigrants in Germany. On the third floor of the Emil Krause Gymnasium in Hamburg, German teacher Manfred Jäger is asking the class to quiet down. His students are between 17 and 19 and hope to graduate this year. Most of them support Sarrazin and his ideas. "He's right about many of the things he says," says Depak, who is from Afghanistan, noting that many immigrants are criminals and take advantage of the social welfare system.
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 Next Part 1: Why Sarrazin's Integration Demagoguery Has Many Followers Part 2: Could Sarrazin Be Right? Part 3: Unproven Assertions and Bogus Correlations Part 4: The Genetic Argument Part 5: Growing Political Concern Part 6: Examining Sarrazin's Track Record Article... Print E-Mail Feedback Social Networks FORUM Discuss this issue with other readers! Visit Forums... Share your opinion! Keep track of the news
Stay informed with our free news services:
All news from SPIEGEL International Twitter | RSS All news from Germany section RSS© SPIEGEL ONLINE 2010 All Rights Reserved Reproduction only allowed with the permission of SPIEGELnet GmbH
FROM THE MAGAZINEFind out how you can reprint this DER SPIEGEL article in your publication.
DER SPIEGELGraphic: Muslims in Germany
A BRIEF HISTORY OF INTEGRATION IN GERMANY 1949 -- The Constitution The German constitution comes into force. Cognizant of Germany's Nazi past, the "Basic Law" provides for far-reaching asylum rights that include constitutionally guaranteed individual rights to sue for asylum. 1960 -- Recruiting Abroad Some 280,000 workers from abroad are already employed in Germany. But more are needed. Recruitment agreements are signed in 1960 with both Greece and Spain. 1961 -- The Berlin Wall The construction of the Berlin Wall puts an immediate stop to the flood of people flowing into West Germany from East Germany, meaning that new sources of labor must be found. Germany signs a recruitment agreement with Turkey. 1964 -- One Million Guest Workers Armando Rodrigues from Portugal becomes the 1 millionth guest worker in Germany. He is given a moped as a welcoming gift. 1966 -- East German Recruitment East Germany too needs to recruit workers from abroad to help with reconstruction. Between 1966 and 1989, some 500,000 people are brought in, mostly from Vietnam, Poland, Mozambique and other countries. 1971 -- Residency Made Easy The West German government eases rules for residency permit applications. The change makes it easier for immigrants to stay in the country and leads to many of them bringing their families to Germany. 1973 -- The Oil Crisis Due to the oil crisis and the concurrent economic slowdown, Germany ceases recruiting new guest workers from abroad. The German labor market is saturated with 2.6 million guest workers. 1983 -- Going Home? The government of Chancellor Helmut Kohl passes a law that provides financial assistance to those guest workers who want to return to their home countries. But the law does not result in the wave of returns the government had hoped for. 1990 -- Fall of the Iron Curtain With the fall of the Berlin Wall and the disintegration of communism in Eastern Germany, tens of thousands of ethnic Germans from the former Soviet bloc stream into newly reunified Germany and dominate immigration for a time. 1993 -- Xenophobic Attacks Five people with Turkish backgrounds die in Solingen, Germany following an arson attack on the house they were living in. It was one of several xenophobic attacks in the early 1990s, including ones in Hoyerswerda, Rostock-Lichtenhagen and Mölln. 1999 -- Petition against Dual Citizenship During the runup to a state election in Hesse, conservative politician Roland Koch -- who would go on to win the vote and become state governor -- caused controversy with a petition campaign against allowing immigrants in Germany to hold dual citizenship. The campaign was criticized for being xenophobic. 2000 -- Launch of Green Card Program Then-Chancellor Gerhard Schröder announced a "green card" program, which was aimed at recruiting 20,000 IT specialists from outside the European Union. The move sparked a new debate on immigration. 2001 -- 9/11 Attacks After the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the issue of security came to dominate the immigration debate. Immigrants were increasingly presented as being a risk rather than an opportunity for Germany. 2005 -- New Immigration Law The so-called Immigration Law came into effect. It laid down new rules for immigration and included measures to promote integration within German society, such as the right to attend an "integration course." 2006 -- First Islamic Conference Then-Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble held the first Islamic Conference. It led to the founding of a new umbrella group representing Muslims, the Coordination Council of Muslims in Germany. Previously, Muslims living in Germany had not had a unified lobby group to represent their interests. 2006 -- Citizenship Tests The states of Baden-Württemberg and Hesse introduced so-called "citizenship tests." Foreigners living in those states who wanted to become German citizens were obliged to correctly answer a series of questions about Germany. 2010 -- Diverse World Cup Team Eleven of 23 players on Germany's national football team at the World Cup in South Africa came from immigrant families, including Mesut Özil, Marko Marin and Miroslav Klose. The diverse team was hailed as a symbol of multiculturalism in German society. Thilo Sarrazin's Urge to Provoke A Jewish gene, foul-smelling civil servants and immigrants producing little girls in headscarves: German Bundesbank board member Thilo Sarrazin has never been afraid to provoke. SPIEGEL ONLINE has assembled some of his most outrageous statements.Begin quote gallery: Click on the arrow
RELATED SPIEGEL ONLINE LINKS Photo Gallery: Sarrazin's Book Divides Germany The Sarrazin Debate: Searching for Germany's Right-Wing Populists (09/03/2010) The World From Berlin: Will Sarrazin Become a 'Free Speech Martyr'? (09/03/2010) Merkel Speaks Out against Sarrazin: 'When Turks Have Problems, I Am Their Chancellor, Too' (09/03/2010) Sarrazin To Go?: Bundesbank Looks to Remove Controversial Board Member (09/02/2010) The Sarrazin Debate: Germany Is Becoming Islamophobic (08/31/2010) 'Injurious, Defamatory and Polemical': New Book Plunges Germany into Immigration Debate (08/25/2010) EUROPEAN PARTNERS PresseuropBerlin, the new Tel Aviv (Süddeutsche Zeitung, Munich)
Nuclear energy wins a reprieve (Der Tagesspiegel, Berlin)
There is a weekly market in Hamburg's Eppendorf neighborhood. The customers arrive in large SUVs and push their babies around in expensive strollers. Rainer Schaefer, 67, and his wife Barbara are regulars. When asked how he feels about Sarrazin's theories, Schaefer promptly replies: "I agree with him completely. He was just went too far on the genetic issue. Nevertheless, we shouldn't stifle the man. Rather, we should address the problems of integration instead." In general, says Schaefer, "those who come to this country ought to like us and be willing to integrate." Then, his wife Barbara chimes in: "But if we're honest, we too have sometimes said that it was getting to be a bit much with the foreigners."
Sarrazin even has some supporters among immigrants in Germany. On the third floor of the Emil Krause Gymnasium in Hamburg, German teacher Manfred Jäger is asking the class to quiet down. His students are between 17 and 19 and hope to graduate this year. Most of them support Sarrazin and his ideas. "He's right about many of the things he says," says Depak, who is from Afghanistan, noting that many immigrants are criminals and take advantage of the social welfare system.
Stay informed with our free news services:
© SPIEGEL ONLINE 2010 All Rights Reserved Reproduction only allowed with the permission of SPIEGELnet GmbH
Find out how you can reprint this DER SPIEGEL article in your publication.
Graphic: Muslims in Germany
Begin quote gallery: Click on the arrow
Berlin, the new Tel Aviv (Süddeutsche Zeitung, Munich)
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