Germans in India

There is a small community of Germans in India consisting largely of expatriate professionals from Germany and their families as well as international students at Indian universities.

Germans in India
Total population
10,000-12,000
Regions with significant populations
Chennai · Kolkata · New Delhi
Languages
German · English · Indian languages
Religion
Christianity · Hinduism · Judaism · Islam
Related ethnic groups
German people

History

Early immigration

The first Germans to arrive in India were missionaries. Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg, sent by Frederick IV of Denmark, came to eastern India for the propagation of the Gospel in the early 1700s. He along with Heinrich Plütschau became the first Protestant missionaries to India when they arrived at Tranquebar on July 9, 1706.[1] In the late 1800s V. Nagel came to the Malabar Coast. He learned the Malayalam language and wrote several hymns.[2] Hermann Gundert (1814-1893) also worked as a missionary scholar in Malayalam-speaking areas, where he translated the Bible into Malayalam. He also prepared a grammar of Malayalam and a bilingual dictionary and established two periodicals in Malayalam.

Modern Era

In recent years, many German expatriates have either permanently moved or established long-term residence in India. Today, German expatriates have a strong presence in India, mainly in the mining and heavy engineering sector. The availability of skill and the importance of intellectual property rights is well established in India at all levels – statutory, administrative and judicial. Therefore, doing business in India in comparison to China is considered a safe bet by some Germans in small and medium scale industries which intend to go global.[3]

Chennai has a significant German community of around 8,000 people and they have integrated well with the local population. They mainly work in the banking, information technology, automobile, leather trading, education and food production industries. IIT Madras, a leading engineering and research institution located in Chennai, was established in 1959 with German assistance.[4][5] Some higher educational institutions in the city have significant numbers of German students and teachers.

Notable people
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See also

References
  1. Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon bautz.de, retrieved April 4, 2020 (German)
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-12. Retrieved 2011-04-13.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Germans say India safer bet than China". The Financial Express. 2007-03-24. Retrieved 2019-05-04.
  4. The German connection
  5. "German President visits Daimler plant, IIT-Madras". The Hindu. 2018-03-26. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2019-05-04.
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