Romanians in Germany are one of the sizable communities of the Romanian diaspora in Western Europe. According to German statistics, in 2022, the number of Romanian citizens in Germany was 883,670. The number of people with Romanian ancestry in 2022 (defined as all persons who migrated to the present area of the Federal Republic of Germany after 1949, plus all foreign nationals born in Germany and all persons born in Germany as German nationals with at least one parent who migrated to Germany or was born in Germany as a foreign national) was 1,096,000.
History
Emigration to Germany from Romania was common throughout the 20th century, and continued steadily way into the early 21st century. Large numbers of ethnic Germans of Romania (most notably Transylvanian Saxons and Banat Swabians) left the country prior, during, and after the events that ultimately led to World War II.
In the times of the communist regime in Romania, albeit the borders were officially closed by authorities, significant numbers of Romanian-Germans were allowed to emigrate to West Germany, particularly in the later years of the Ceaușescu era. This formed part of a series of ethnic migrations (including Jews to Israel and Hungarians to Hungary), which were tolerated under the then socialist rulership. During the 1980s, more than half of the people who left Romania went to Germany.
After the Romanian Revolution which took place in December of 1989, there has been a mass migration of Transylvania Saxons to Germany, approximately half a million of them immigrated to Germany.
Emigration of ethnic Romanians to Germany become quite common in the 21st century, particularly after the entry of Romania in the European Union in 2007. The Romanian diaspora in Germany has a strong presence. If descent is actually taken into account as the main criterion of immigration, then the total number of individuals living in Germany who stem from Romania (both Romanian-German and Romanian) may amount to as much as 2,000,000 residents, therefore putting the Romanian diaspora living in this country the largest of all Romanian ones living within the European Union.
Distribution
According to German statistics from 2016, the number of Romanian citizens in Germany on 31 December 2015 was 452,718, which was up from 94,326 in 2008. By 2022, the number had increased to 883,670 Romanian citizens.
The distribution of Romanian citizens by German states is as follows (as of 2022):
Bayern 209,865
Baden-Württemberg 178,240
Nordrhein-Westfalen 164,220
Hessen 82,010
Niedersachsen 74,805
Rheinland-Pfalz 48,975
Berlin 27,990
Schleswig-Holstein 20,210
Sachsen 15,120
Thüringen 13,475
Sachsen-Anhalt 10,740
Saarland 9,870
Hamburg 9,790
Brandenburg 8,730
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern 5,570
Bremen 4,060
Notable people
Art
, painter
Adrian Ghenie, painter
Petre Hârtopeanu (1913–2001), painter
Diet Sayler, painter and sculptor
George Ștefănescu (1914–2007), painter
Entertainment
Ingrid Bisu, actress
Mircea Crișan (1924–2013), actor, comedian
Maria Drăguș, actress
Marc Dumitru, actor and musician
Alexandra Maria Lara, actress
, film producer
Florian Munteanu, actor, best known for his role as Viktor Drago in the drama film Creed II Călin Netzer, film director , dancer and current judge for the reality television show Deutschland sucht den Superstar Lupu Pick (1886–1931) film director, producer and screenwriter (Romanian mother) , actress , actress , actor Johanna Wokalek, actress
Music
, hip hop producer, member of the production duo Soulbrotha
, producer and rapper (Romanian mother) , rapper, best known for his association with Kool Savas Sergiu Celibidache (1912–1996), conductor and composer Roger Cicero (1970–2016), jazz and pop musician Michael Cretu, music producer, songwriter and founder of Enigma Damae, singer, former vocalist of trance group Fragma (Romanian mother) , hip hop producer , singer and composer (Romanian mother) Peter Herbolzheimer (1935–2010), jazz trombonist and composer Nicolae Herlea (1927–2014), baritone , jazz saxophonist Ramona Nerra, singer and songwriter Miss Platnum, singer and songwriter Michael Radulescu, composer , cellist , singer and songwriter