Germans in India

Last updated
Germans in India
Total population
10,000-12,000
Regions with significant populations
Chennai  · Kolkata  · New Delhi  · Hyderabad  · Bangalore  · Visakhapatnam
Languages
German  · English
Religion
Christianity  · Sikhism  · Hinduism  · Judaism  · Islam  · Zoroastrianism  · Buddhism  · Bahá'í  · Jainism  · Irreligion  · Atheism
Related ethnic groups
German people

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.

Contents

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. In a 2007 news report, according to an executive of Locatech GmbH, an IT company, 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] [ undue weight? ]

Chennai has a significant German community of around 8,000 people and they have integrated well with the local population.[ citation needed ] 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.[ citation needed ]

Notable people

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Printing in Tamil language</span>

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Translation of the Bible into Malayalam began in 1806. Church historians say Kayamkulam Philipose Ramban, a scholar from Kayamkulam, translated the Bible from Syriac into Malayalam in 1811 to help the faithful get a better understanding of the scripture. The Manjummal translation is the first Catholic version of the Bible in Malayalam. This is the direct translation from Latin. The four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles were translated by the inmates of the Manjummal Ashram, Fr. Aloysius, Fr. Michael and Fr. Polycarp. The Pancha Granthy came out from Mannanam under the leadership of Nidhirikkal Mani Kathanar in 1924. The Catholic New Testament was published in full in 1940. and has influenced development of the modern language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bible translations into Tamil</span>

The history of Bible translations into the Tamil language commences with the arrival of Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg at Tranquebar in 1706.Johann Philipp Fabricius, a German, revised Ziegenbalg's and others work to produce the standard Tamil version. Seventy years after Fabricius, at the invitation of Peter Percival a Saiva scholar, Arumuka Navalar, produced a "tentative" translation, which is known as the "Navalar version," and was largely rejected by Tamil Protestants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Jerusalem Church, Tranquebar</span> Church in Tamil Nadu, India

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tranquebar Mission</span>

The Tranquebar Mission was established in 1706 by two German missionaries from Halle namely, Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg and Heinrich Plütschau. Ziegenbalg and Plütschau responded to the appeal of King Frederick IV of Denmark to establish a mission for the natives, living in the Danish East India Company colony of Tranquebar. The mission was responsible for the printing and publication of the Bible in the Tamil language. In 2006, the 300 years anniversary of the mission was celebrated by the Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church (TELC), with many international delegates in attendance. A monument to acknowledge 300 years of the mission was raised by the TELC on this occasion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zion Church, Tharangambadi</span> Church in Mayiladuthurai district, India

Zion Church is one of the oldest churches in Tharangambadi (Tranquebar), a Danish settlement in Nagapattinam district in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is in the premises of Fort Dansborg, built in the land ceded by Thanjavur king Ragunatha Nayak in an agreement with Danish Admiral Ove Gjedde in 1620 and acted as the base for Danish settlement in the region during the early 17th century. The Church was built in 1701 A.D by Rev. Bartholomaus Ziegenbalg and has records from the 18th and 19th centuries. He is believed to be the first Protestant missionary in India and the Church is believed to be the first Protestant Church in India.

Heinrich Plütschau was along with Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg, the first German Lutheran priest to arrive in India.

References

  1. Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon Archived 2011-05-25 at the Wayback Machine bautz.de, retrieved April 4, 2020 (German)
  2. "V. NAGEL 'MISSIONARY TO 'God's OWN COUNTRY' FROM GERMANY........ - Holypal Christian Social Network". Archived from the original on 2011-07-12. Retrieved 2011-04-13.
  3. "Germans say India safer bet than China". The Financial Express. 2007-03-24. Archived from the original on 2019-05-04. Retrieved 2019-05-04.
  4. Padmanabhan, Geeta. "The German connection". www.hinduonnet.com. Archived from the original on 2005-05-08. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  5. "German President visits Daimler plant, IIT-Madras". The Hindu. 2018-03-26. ISSN   0971-751X. Archived from the original on 2018-03-25. Retrieved 2019-05-04.