German Immigrants in Edinburgh and Leith, 1862–1914

This study is the first to provide an introductory overview of the history of German immigrants in Edinburgh and Leith between 1862 and 1914, documenting the origins, social organisation and professional activities of German immigrants based on sources that have not yet been fully analysed. The focus is on the foundation and development of the German Evangelical Church in Edinburgh and Leith, which served as a cultural centre for the Germans living in Edinburgh and the surrounding area, as well as the German Seamen's Mission on the Firth of Forth, which was affiliated to the church. Secondly, the German immigrants themselves, whose exemplary biographies provide an insight into the lives and professions they pursued in Edinburgh and Leith. The study shows that it was not only economic motives that led to migration, but above all family motives in the form of chain migration. With the outbreak of the First World War, the German community in Edinburgh and Leith disintegrated and only began to reform at the end of the Second World War.