Berlin Shows the Way

While the number of foreigners taking on citizenship across most of Germany has fallen in the last half decade, in Berlin the number of new citizens started rising again in 2005 due to a citizenship advertising campaign. Unlike other states that are more restrictive, Berlin has adopted a quick, straightforward procedure.

The city is also using the multicultural atmosphere as a selling point to encourage people to apply for German citizenship.

In a bare room of the Technical University in Berlin, 24-year-old Funda Gümüsdag is writing math equations on the blackboard and explaining them to a group of youngsters.

Gümüsdag is a volunteer, giving extra classes twice a week to students with immigrant backgrounds, whilst studying to be a teacher and involving herself in local politics.

She also appears on posters all over Berlin, together with 14 other non-native Germans, trying to convince foreign youngsters of the advantages of taking up German citizenship.

Naturalization in action

Gümüsdag said that getting German nationality has given her the chance to become a part of society and also getting the chance to vote.

"You are saying to that society: 'Hi, I'm here and I want to go and vote,' I want to join a party and I want to be able to put my mark on this society," she said.

Gümüsdag and her family have been German citizens for 10 years, and she said there were obvious advantages -- like not having to worry about visas when traveling and having the opportunity to be involved in political life.

The Gümüdags had to give up their Turkish citizenship, since German law does not allow dual citizenship under normal circumstances.

For many people this is seen as rejecting their original citizenship and is like denying their own roots, but for Gümüsdag it's not a problem -- she happily celebrates Christmas and Ramadan.

Germany: is a 'country of immigration'

People are only slowly becoming aware of the fact that Germany is a country of immigration and that campaigns like the one Funda is involved in are a step in the right direction, according to Günter Piening, Berlin's commissioner for foreigners' affairs.

"The campaign has two aims: Berlin wants to increase the number of young people becoming German citizens, but they also want to encourage a debate on the issue of what it means to be German," Piening said.

Issues of identity are very important for young people, he added.

Piening has apparently made it easier to become a German by fast-tracking applications. In other German states, it takes two years for applicants to be granted citizenship, while in Berlin all applications have to be dealt with in six months.

Information about the requirements for naturalization, such as the minimum age and German language skills, are publicized through radio and newspapers ads or visits to schools. The extra effort Berlin puts into promoting naturalization has allowed it to buck the national trend, some say.

As Germany's politicians try to encourage foreigners to commit themselves to integration, Berlin has shown one way it can be done.