German immigration to Switzerland
|
|
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (298,000 (2014) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Zurich; metropolitan areas of Zurich, Basel, Bern / German speaking Cantons (some 2/3 to 3/4 of the German migrants); other Cantons (some 1/4 to 1/3) | |
| Languages | |
| German, French, Italian | |
| Religion | |
| Mostly Lutheranism and Roman Catholicism. |
About a quarter of a million German nationals had permanent residence in Switzerland in 2009, rising to some 300 thousand five years later. For the Germans, Switzerland became the most appreciated country to settle in, to find work or to study. The "surge" of immigration during in the first decade of the 21st century, especially the German one, is a result of the EU-15 opening and, for students, of the Bologna Process.
Ever since the emergence of Switzerland and Germany as distinct nations in the Early Modern period – the Swiss became exempt from the jurisdiction of the Imperial Diet in 1499 as a result of the Swabian War, formal recognition of Swiss independence dates to 1648 (Peace of Westphalia) – there has been considerable population movement in both directions, but meaningful population statistics become available only after the Napoleonic era, with the formation of the restored Swiss Confederacy and the German Confederation in 1815.
A number of Germans, and of people living in Germany, fled the militarism of German Empire and, shortly afterwards, the Nazi regime or were expelled by it, in the first decades of the 20th century and sought refuge in Switzerland, among other places.
Because of the unequal size of the two countries, Germany being roughly ten times larger than Switzerland, German residents in Switzerland have a much greater visibility than Swiss residents in Germany: In 2007, about 37,000 Swiss nationals, or about 1 in 180 Swiss citizens, lived in Germany, accounting for just 0.05% of German population. At the same time, about 224,000 German nationals, or 1 in 350 German citizens, lived in Switzerland, accounting for 3% of Swiss population.
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Wikipedia