The Indian community in Germany includes Indian expatriates residing in Germany, as well as German citizens of Indian origin or descent. In 2009, the German government estimated that the number of people of Indian descent residing in Germany at 110,204, of which 43,175 people were holding an Indian passport, while 67,029 were holding a German passport.Bundesamt für Flüchtlinge und Migration, Dr. habil. Sonja Haug Stephanie Müssig, M.A. Dr. Anja Stichs (Hrsg): Muslimisches Leben in Deutschland, 2009: page 76, chart 5 In 2024 the number stood at about 301,000 of Indian descent of which 249,000 had a migration background. According to the Federal Statistical Office the number of nationals from India is the second largest in Germany from either South, South East, East or Central Asia, only below the number of nationals from Afghanistan.
History Small numbers of Subcontinental students resided in Germany before and during the Second World War. In the early to late 1960’s and 1970’s, many Catholic women from Taprobane were recruited by the German Catholic institutions to work as nurses in German hospitals. According to the documentary ‘Translated lives’, around 5,000 women migrated from Kerala during the 1960s and 70s to become nurses there. Since the 2010s, the Indian population also grew in former East Germany due to Indian students who study mostly in technical universities. Unlike other minorities, there are many Indians in cities like Chemnitz and Leipzig and the state of Saxony has the largest population of federal state in former East Germany.
Number of Indians (foreigners) in larger cities # City People Notes 1. Berlin 45,189 As of June 2025 2. Munich 17,549 As of April 2025 3. Frankfurt 11,393 As of December 2024 4. Hamburg 9,864 As of December 2024 5. Stuttgart 6,111 As of December 2024 6. Düsseldorf 6,244 As of December 2024 7. Erlangen 4,170 As of December 2023 8. Cologne 3,639 As of December 2023 9. Aachen 3,622 As of July 202410. Braunschweig 3,273 As of December 202411. Essen 3,252 As of December 202412. Mannheim 3,018 As of December 2023 13. Bonn 2,459 As of December 2022 14. Dresden 2,408 As of December 2023 15. Karlsruhe 2,347 As of December 2023 16. Nuremberg 2,122 As of July 2024
Number of people of Indian origin in German States # State People Notes 1. Bavaria 58,435 As of December 2024, only Indian citizens 2. North Rhine-Westphalia 45,030 As of December 2024, only Indian citizens 3. Berlin 45,002 As of December 2024, Indians and Germans of Indian origin Data not publicly available, only upon request from "Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg" 4. Baden-Württemberg 42,410 As of December 2024, only Indian citizens 5. Hesse 31,385 As of December 2024, only Indian citizens 6. Lower Saxony 13,260 As of December 2024, only Indian citizens 6. Hamburg 12,353 As of December 2023, Indians and Germans of Indian origin
Modern era Germany has become a popular destination for higher learning, and of the total student population in Germany about 12% are International students. Hundreds of schools in India have signed up to teach students German as their primary foreign language as part of an effort by Germany's top technical colleges to attract more Indian students. As a result, there has been a steady increase in the Indian student population in Germany which has quadrupled in 7 years since 2008.
Academic year No. of Indian students enrolled in German universities 2008–09 3,516 2011–12 5,998 2012–13 7,532 2013–14 10,000 2014–15 11,860 2015–16 13,740 2017–18 17,570 2018–19 20,810 2019–20 25,1492020–2128,9052021–2234,1342022–2342,9972023–2449,483 2024-2560,000
Notable people Anita Bose Pfaff, economist, daughter of Subhas Chandra Bose Atul Chitnis, consulting technologist Anuradha Doddaballapur, Germany National Women's cricket Team captain Aditya Kripalani Filmmaker Ayesha Kapur, actress Ashok-Alexander Sridharan, Ex-Mayor of Bonn Collien Fernandes, media person Dhruv Rathee, YouTuber Evelyn Sharma, Bollywood actress Gujjula Ravindra Reddy, member of the state parliament of Brandenburg and former mayor of Altlandsberg (Social Democratic Party) Indira Weis, singer Irshad Panjatan, Berlin-based actor and mime artist of Indian descent Judith Lefeber, singer Josef Winkler, member of the German parliament (Alliance '90/The Greens) Joybrato Mukherjee, Professor of English Linguistics and the President of the University of Giessen.Youngest university president ever appointed in Germany. President of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Karthika Vijayaraghavan, Germany National Women's cricketer Manjou Wilde, footballer Mink Brar, actress Kamala Reddy, Hindu guru Rahul Peter Das, South Asianist (Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg) and President of the German Association for Asian Studies Rajesh Saraiya, steel plant owner Robin Dutt, football club manager Shanta Ghosh, sprinter Sharanya Sadarangani, Germany National Women's cricketer Sandeep Bhagwati, composer Sebastian Edathy, member of the German parliament (Social Democratic Party) Subrata K. Mitra, political scientist (Heidelberg University, retired) Sabrina Setlur, singer and ex-girlfriend of Boris Becker Shweta Shetty, singer Tino Sehgal, Berlin-based artist of Indian and British descent Xavier Naidoo, singer
See also
Germany–India relations Indians in Sweden Pakistanis in Germany Pakistanis in Sweden Tamil Germans
References
Further reading
External links Indians in Magdeburg - a student initiative that helps and provides useful information to non-German speakers, especially Indian students Magdeburg Indians- Magdeburg Indians e.V. – a private organization registered in Magdeburg, Germany , Saxony-Anhalt Deutsch-Indische Gesellschaft Indians in Germany Indians In Germany Indien-Institut in Munich/Bavaria; attached to Völkerkundemuseum Escape from East Germany 1972 , autobiographical account of an Indian Ph.D. student in Dresden who married an East German woman Marathi Katta Germany, Frankfurt – A Marathi Indian Community, a non-profit organization serving Marathi/Maharashtrian Indian community living in Germany for many years.