Survey Shows Migrants in Munich Better Integrated

Munich. Every third inhabitant in Munich has a migration background and many are very well integrated. A survey gives evidence that immigrants in Munich are often members of high society.

It has long been thought that integration of foreigners in Germany has not been successful before the controversial banker Thilo Sarrazin spoke up. A nationwide survey from the Sinus-Institut in Heidelberg relating to the migrant environment, gives the impression that integration in Munich causes a great deal less problems than in other german cities.

The conclusion is remarkable because every third citizen of Munich has a migration background. About 170,000 are Germans, more than 310,000 are foreigners. But compared with other german cities, these people belong to a higher standard of society and are educated accordingly. The result is that the migrants are financially more independant and there are less language barriers, says Ronald Bauch from the statistics agency of the city. "There are less problems due to that."

The numbers of the survey, whose client was also the city of Munich, speak for themselves. According to the survey, 19.6 percent of the interviewees are part of the "multicultural performer milieu" which means that they are part of a circle of young and flexible migrants who pursue sucess at work and an "intensive life".

Among the compared cities, this is the peak value. Heidelberg and Regensburg follow after Munich with 18.5 percent and 17.2 percent accordingly. In Berlin this milieu is only 11.3 percent, the nationwide average is 13 percent.

The third strongest migrant group with 15.3 percent in Munich are part of the "intellectual-cosmopolitan" milieu, which means it is part of an educational stratum with cosmoplitan and tolerant views. Munich is again on top at the city comparison.

In contrast, milieus of "religiously rooted" and "traditional worker milieu" are relatively weak among Munich's migrants. With only 5,5 and 8,6 percent, Munich is last on the listing. In Augsburg the worker milieu amid migrants is 16 percent, almost double as much as in Munich.

CSU town councillor Marian Offman values the results as being very important. "They show that an immense part of Munichs migrants are not part of the problematic milieus". The CSU politician requests that the results be discussed at the town council meeting. It also remains to be seen what percentage children between the ages 5 to 12 make up for each milieu. "We have to discuss the issue openly", says Offman. The thesis of Sarrazin should not play any part in it.