ABSTRACT
In a seminal article on the changing nature of German diasporas in the modern period, Dirk Hoerder remarks that ‘the stylization of Auslandsdeutsche in Wilhelmine Germany, in the Weimar Republic, and in Nazi Germany, proved destructive to both diasporic and enclave communities’.1 Hoerder alludes to a process which had started in the first half of the nineteenth century and gained momentum in the nationalistic atmosphere of late Imperial Germany. In public discourse, Germans living outside the borders of the Reich were ascribed persisting bonds with their country of origin, unifying cultural markers, and superior qualities vis-à-vis respective host societies. The terminological shift is a telling indicator. The reference term Auswanderer (emigrants) was increasingly replaced by the neologism Auslandsdeutsche, which can loosely be translated as ‘Germans living abroad’. The notion of a multitude of Reich-oriented Little Germanies scattered across the globe tied in with Wilhelmine ideas of global expansion. In economic terms, they could act as promoters or customers of German industry and trade. In cultural terms, they could disseminate a supposedly superior Germanic culture and elevate the ‘inferior’ cultures of their host societies. In political terms, they could be used to legitimize territorial claims, especially in East Central Europe.2
