Life in Germany can be challenging sometimes. Whether it’s the stress of finding an apartment, trying to progress in your chosen career or navigating the world of online dating, foreigners face many of the same difficulties Germans do – but they may also face more disadvantages.
Recently, a now-deleted post on social media outlet Reddit claimed to have “cracked the code” for finding a job in Germany. The author of the post had gone from receiving a response on around 1 in 40 applications to receiving a response to around 1 in 4 – all after changing their name to a German-sounding one.
As dramatic as this may sound, it is far from the only story of name-based discrimination in Germany.
Foreigners regularly complain of being passed over for apartments, regardless of their financial status, because their status as an “outsider” is obvious from their name. From dating apps to the doctors’ surgery, can a foreign name sometimes act as an albatross around your neck, making it harder to succeed in the Bundesrepublik?
When The Local surveyed readers on the issue, the answer appeared to be “yes”. Around three quarters (76 percent) of respondents said that their name had affected their life in Germany, with 12 percent saying it hadn’t and a further 12 percent saying they didn’t know.
Of those affected, around 90 percent said it had either impacted their lives moderately or to an extreme degree, with 30 percent saying that it had had a profound impact on their lives.
Finding an apartment and looking for a job emerged as the areas where people felt most discriminated against, with 64 and 60 percent citing these issues respectively. Career progression (44 percent), online dating (40 percent) and applying for loans (20 percent) came next, with eight percent also mentioning discrimination in a medical setting, such as a clinic or GP’s office.
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Adithya Srinivasan, a 29-year-old software developer living in Berlin, charted his experience of house-hunting in a blog on his website. Having applied for 36 apartments and been ghosted on each of his applications, he decided to use the name of his then-partner instead, who had a German-sounding name.
Immediately, he started getting responses, either to say that the apartment had been taken or to invite the couple to viewings.
Ultimately, after just 11 applications using the new name, the pair were offered a place to live.
‘Implied’ discrimination
Though a case like Adithya’s may feel clear-cut, the problem faced by many foreigners who experience this kind of discrimination is that it is often more implied than explicit.
This can lead foreigners to wonder if they’re building things up in their heads, or whether they really are being treated differently.
Berlin resident Tarik, 30, said he felt like he received more rejections on dating apps due his foreign-sounding name – but that he had no way to prove it.
Shah, 34, said he had received abuse on dating apps, struggled to find an apartment and had also had difficulties in his job search.
“People just don’t invite you unless they have an alternative,” he said.
A similar problem was faced by, Mr. Heriberto, a 53-year-old US citizen of Hispanic descent who has been struggling to find a job in Germany.
“It doesn’t matter that I have two university degrees and one is a Bachelor of Science; I have sent over 300 CVs in the course of one year and no-one will offer me a job,” he said, adding: “I firmly believe it is because of my foreign-sounding name.”
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The Baden-Württemberg resident also said he faced xenophobia on the street on a regular basis.
“I have been told several times to get out of Germany, even though I am married to a German and have three children,” he said. “It is utterly disgusting how poorly I have been treated here.”
Summing up the issue, one respondent who also lives in Baden-Württemberg said that xenophobia in Germany could be difficult to prove but was clearly felt by those who experienced it.
“Germany has a long way to go compared to the English-speaking West when it comes to ingrained, systemic xenophobia,” they said. “This is often implied rather than clearly demonstrated, making it difficult to prove, but clearly experienced and felt by anyone who is ‘different’.”
‘People won’t go on a date with you’
Just like Adithya in his house search, many foreigners are tempted to test the waters with a real – or imagined – German name to see if they receive a better response.
One respondent who preferred to remain anonymous said that they had done this while both flat hunting and looking for a job.
“Recruiters have rejected my CV but called me for an interview when I changed my name to an imaginary German name on the exact same CV,” they revealed. “Landlords have refused my application outright, but accepted when a German friend applied.”
When job offers had been given, they added, they had sometimes have to contend with salary offers that were up to €30,000 lower than anticipated.
“The hiring team implied that I was not German enough despite being highly qualified and with more than 12 years of experience,” they said.
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This feeling of being held back and underestimated was echoed by 39-year-old Vipul, a Munich resident who has lived in Germany for more than 16 years.
“I can say with complete authority that one’s name is everything in Germany,” he explained. “You can’t really progress in your career beyond a certain point, no matter your credentials, and no matter how brilliant you might be.”
Beyond the struggle to build a career, Vipul said he had experienced everyday racism in places that are meant to be caring environments, like doctors’ surgeries and hospitals, as well as in numerous other contexts.
“In this so-called super-diverse country, people won’t even go out on a date with you if you are a foreign man with a ‘strange’ name,” he said. “And of course, the worst kind of xenophobia, or discrimination occurs when you want to find a place to live. It’s one’s worst nightmare!”
Coming from the ‘right’ country
US-citizen Helen, who lives in Bonn, encapsulated the feeling of many readers: “In every aspect of life, having a foreign name is a disadvantage in Germany.”
However, some pointed out that there were also degrees to the discrimination foreigners faced – particularly when it comes to your country of origin.
“I have been treated with scepticism on numerous occasions given that I have a visibly non-German name,” said one reader who lives in North Rhine-Westphalia. “I do come from what Germans consider to be one of the ‘right countries’ but this has not necessarily made things easier.”
Nevertheless, this sense of the ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ countries – of the cultural insiders and outsiders – appears to cut to the heart of why, seemingly, a name is everything in Germany.
That was the view of 36-year-old Andrés, who said he had noticed a distinct difference between the treatment of Europeans and non-Europeans in Germany, and particularly those from the Global South.
“Sadly, it seems to depend not on the name itself sounding foreign, but to where specifically the name might be from,” he explained. “My Spanish name has made no difference at all, but I’ve seen people with Middle Eastern names have a different experience.”
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By a stroke of luck, Freiburg resident Sonny was given his nickname as a youngster, having grown up in a country where only Islamic or native names are allowed in official documents.
As a non-Muslim, he identified more with the nickname than his official name – which has proved to be an advantage in Germany.
“Every time I use the nickname, it is much easier to get the initial talk going for people to get to now me as a person first and then I don’t care if they get a surprise seeing my name in official documents,” he explained.
“If I use my official name to begin with, I don’t even receive a response!”
For Sonny, the answer to the dilemma is clear: “My ‘life priority’ is to get a new identity after citizenship,” he said.
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