Gastarbeiter

Gastarbeiter (plural, "Gastarbeiter") (German pronun­cia­tion: [ˈɡastˌʔaɐ̯baɪtɐ]) is German for "guest worker" (literal translation). It refers to foreign or migrant workers, particularly those who had moved to West Germany (BRD) mainly in the 1950s, 60s and early 70s, seeking work as part of a formal guest worker programme (Gastarbeiterprogramm). Similarly, the Netherlands and Belgium had a parallel scheme called the gastarbeider programme. Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland had similar programmes called arbetskraftsinvandring (workforce-immigration).

East Germany (DDR) had a similar programme and referred to the workers as "Vertragsarbeiter".

These programmes mainly came about as a result of the severe labour shortage in continental Northern Europe following World War II and political pressure from southern European countries, Turkey and the USA.

During the Nazi era the term Gastarbeiter was created, but Fremdarbeiter (German for foreign worker) was largely used. This term had negative connotations and thus Gastarbeiter was used after the war.

During the 1950s and 1960s, West Germany signed bilateral recruitment agreements with Italy on 22 November 1955, Spain on 29 March 1960, Greece on 30 March 1960, Turkey on 30 October 1961, Morocco on 21 June 1963, Portugal on 17 March 1964, Tunisia on 18 October 1965, and Yugoslavia on 12 October 1968. These agreements allowed the recruitment of Gastarbeiter to work in the industrial sector for jobs that required few qualifications.

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