ABSTRACT
The large Vietnamese diaspora in Germany differs from that in other countries as it includes the ‘boat people’ in West Germany, contract workers who came to the socialist German Democratic Republic (GDR) and refugees and migrants after 1990. The chapter points out the importance of their different experiences and their lasting distance within the Vietnamese diaspora. However, due to economic problems and racism after German unification, members of the second generation have moved closer to each other. Since the 2000s, people with a Vietnamese background have shown similar social, economic and cultural characteristics as in other countries, such as high educational achievement, a certain segregation and public visibility due to hard work, self-employment and positive stereotypes.
