The Creation of Illegal Migration in Germany in the 19th and 20th centuries

The research project seeks to describe and explain the causes, consequences and the nature of illegal migration in Germany in the 19th and 20th centuries. The aim of the project is to systematically analyse migratory illegality and rights of residence over a period of time spanning several differing epochs. It puts the questions of the steering, regulation and control of migration, which is currently much discussed by politics and society, into the historical context of the establishment of statehood in Germany. The basic assumption is that regimes of illegal migration are characterised by the interrelation of migration movements and their state administration: ‚Illegal migration‘ crystallises at the time-specific ideological and political principles of migration and sedentariness and those authorities and tools as administering migration.