Timelines

Migration is a natural part of living systems, and human history is no exception. Yet it remains one of the most debated public issues of our time.

Both people and borders move. Who is allowed to move, and who is granted rights, lies at the heart of how nations define belonging. In Germany and the United States alike, these debates have been deeply intertwined with evolving ideas of race and ethnicity.

These timelines trace how citizenship and belonging have been constructed, challenged, and redefined through laws, social movements, global events, and cultural works — and how those histories continue to shape the present.

1893

1938

Gründung des Central-Vereins deutscher Staatsbürger jüdischen Glaubens

With the founding of the German Empire in 1871, Jews were granted full civil rights for the first time, but increasing anti-Semitism led to the founding of the “Central Association” in 1893, which fought for equality until 1938.

Amid the German Empire, Jews faced a complex dilemma, balancing the prospect of emancipation with the specter of surging anti-Semitism. After centuries of enduring discrimination and determined advocacy, they gained equal rights formerly exclusive to the Christian majority. Simultaneously, a racially charged anti-Semitism, beyond religious bounds, surfaced, driven by stereotypical characterizations and inflammatory propaganda. Responding to these challenges, the "Central-Verein deutscher Staatsbürger jüdischen Glaubens" formed in 1893. Thousands joined, resolute in their pursuit of civil rights, equality, and harmonizing "German identity" and "Jewish identity." During the Weimar Republic and National Socialism, the association served as a key advocate for Jews until it was banned in 1938.

©Jüdisches Museum Berlin/Jewish Museum Berlin

Herbert Sonnenfeld, Margarete Edelheim und Heinz Berggrün in der Redaktion der C.V.- Zeitung, Emser Straße 42, Berlin, 1936

Germany

Sources

Thomas Gräfe. Antisemitismus in Deutschland 1815-1918 – Rezensionen – Forschungsüberblick – Bibliographie. Auflage 2. Auflage. Books on Demand, 2013.
Hans Ulrich Wehler. Deutsche Gesellschaftsgeschichte – Wehler, Hans-Ulrich: Deutsche Gesellschaftsgeschichte. “Bd. 4.” Vom Beginn des Ersten Weltkriegs bis zur Gründung der beiden deutschen Staaten 1949. München: C.H. Beck, 2003.
Massimo Ferrari Zumbini. Die Wurzeln des Bösen: Gründerjahre des Antisemitismus: von der Bismarckzeit zu Hitler. Frankfurt am Main: Vittorio Klostermann Verlag, 2003.
Olaf Breschke. Katholizismus und Antisemitismus im deutschen Kaiserreich. Auflage 1. Auflage. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1997.
Regina Schleicher. Antisemitismus in der Karikatur: Zur Bildpublizistik in der französischen Dritten Republik und im deutschen Kaiserreich (1871-1914). Auflage 1. Auflage. Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 2009.
Johannes Leicht. Antisemitismus (Kaiserreich). LeMO – Lebendiges Museum Online. Berlin: Deutsches Historisches Museum, August 15, 2006. Aufgerufen am: July 7, 2015.

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1880

Labor Migration in the German Empire

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