ABSTRACT
2011 marked the 50th anniversary of migration from Turkey to Germany. Turkish ‘guest workers’, initially perceived as temporary and transitory, were expected to return to their places of origin at the termination of their employment. 1 Turkish migrants, however, continue to live and work in Germany. As the first generation gave way to second and third generations, people with Turkish migrant background exceeded three million individuals. The ways in which people with a migrant background make sense of their places of origin and their current lives in Germany are entangled in complicated webs of memories and sentiments. After 50 years of Turkish presence in Germany, migration experience is manifested in dual processes of multifocal constructions of place(s) old and new through memories presented in migration museum and exhibitions. Our study aims to shed light on the broader dynamics and vicissitudes of how this sense of place is exhibited, constructed and narrated in museum and exhibitions in Germany. We carried out archival and documentary research and conducted interviews in Cologne and Berlin in 2010 as part of a larger project on migration museums. 2 Drawing on this research, this chapter investigates the representations of identity, memory and place constructed by institutions that collect and display artefacts and archival material related to Turkish migration to Germany.
