I’ll be there in a few weeks actually.

There is the issue of racism but the underworld is how little many of the Germans I’ve met know about the Turkish German culture. There is more of a divide here than there is in the US certainly and in some places, bars, and clubs you might not be allowed in based on your nationality or ethnicity. That may happen in the US but wouldn’t be tolerated legally.

I’m getting some more articles about this topic ready as I travel around Germany and I’m glad it’s brought up an interesting discussion.

The longer I stay here the more I see how various groups do and don’t integrate (or want to). Some are very much a part of the German culture while many try to remain separate, I think there is inevitable overlap of the cultures. With each generation it changes too, thinking back on the Italian, Irish, and other US immigrants who were rather quite separate during the early 1900s and now part of the larger American culture while adding to it in their unique way.

On the topic of how well an immigrant population integrates into a country’s society, I think it all depends on how much the immigrant population wants to be assimilated. That’s my observation from watching immigrants to the U.S. Some embrace the country and rapidly adjust while other cultures want to remain separate. Those that tend to isolate themselves in their own traditions and customs have a much harder time.

Most people outside of Germany (who aren’t Turkish or German) I’ve spoken to had no idea there were so many Turks in Germany.