Living in Germany: 'Opportunity card', tributes to the Queen and Oktoberfest returns

Germany’s ‘opportunity card’ aims to attract more workers 

It’s no secret that Germany is worried about its shortage of skilled workers, with a recent report saying 87 percent of companies are struggling with this issue right now. This week Labour Minister Hubertus Heil unveiled more details about a plan which the government hopes will attract talent from abroad. The idea is to introduce a points-based immigration system to smooth out the process of people coming to Germany to work. It’s based on a Chancenkarte (opportunity card), which is similar to other points-based systems such as the American Green Card. It will offer non-EU nationals the chance to come to Germany to look for work even if they don’t have a job offer. But they will have to fulfil certain criteria such as having a university degree or professional qualification and language skills. 

It’s all part of Germany’s plans to modernise immigration and naturalisation laws. It involves allowing non-EU nationals to retain their original citizenship when they apply to become German. And in future, naturalisation should be possible after five years instead of eight years, and as little as three years in cases where people have integrated well. The law is scheduled to be presented this autumn so The Local will be watching closely and reporting on all the ins and outs. 

Tweet of the week

As animal lovers, we think it’s very important to know how to make dog noises in a foreign language. So this tweet was absolutely fascinating! Our team wasn't aware that “wau wau” was used often in Germany (perhaps to signal the “bow wow”?). When we asked a German friend, we discovered “wuf wuf” is also common. These are kind of life skills that just have to be known! 

https://twitter.com/SarahPilchick/status/1563152655483932676?s=20&t=DrEg8RbpVOfW8Rk89GoiWA

 

Tributes to the Queen

Photo: Kurt Rohwedder

Germany has been paying tribute to Queen Elizabeth II after her death at the age of 96. We looked through the archives to see photos of the Queen during her many visits to Germany over the years. This photo of the Queen with husband Prince Philip was taken in Berlin during her first state visit to Germany in May 1965.

Did you know?

Munich’s famous Oktoberfest is returning after a two-year pandemic pause. The Wiesn (more on that later) will run from Saturday September 17th until October 3rd. It is set to attract millions of people. Here are a few facts about the origins of Oktoberfest to get you in the mood. The first Oktoberfest took place in 1810. At that time, the festivities began on October 17th, but the Wiesn was moved to September in 1872 due to weather conditions. Nowadays it always starts on the Saturday after September 15th. The festival started as a celebration of Crown Prince Ludwig, later to become King Ludwig I, who married Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen. The citizens of Munich were invited to attend the festivities held on the fields in front of the city gates to celebrate the happy royal event. The fields were named Theresienwiese (“Theresa's fields”) in honour of the Crown Princess, although locals have since abbreviated the name simply to the Wiesn.

And how many people attend nowadays? A lot! In 1985, a record was set at the Theresienwiese: over seven million people visited Oktoberfest that year. The average for many years has been just over six million visitors. At the last Wiesn in 2019, 6.3 million people came to drink beer and munch hearty food, with many of them wearing traditional Bavarian costumes.

Thanks for reading,

The Local Germany team

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