In 2006 about 155 000 Germans left their country - more than ever before apart from the postwar wave of emigration in the 1950s. However, many recent German emigrants return to their home country. Although the question of why this rise has occurred is now arousing much attention from the general...

Much of the current German debate about the integration of immigrants overlooks the fact that Germany is not solely a country of immigration, but also - and to a substantial degree - a country of emigration. One of the largest groups of emigrants is made up of Germans themselves. The percentage...