Annemarie Steidl

Migration and Refugee 'Crisis' in an Historical Context. Patterns of Migration to Vienna from the 19th Century to the Present

In an article, published in the Austrian newspaper ‘Kronen Zeitung’ in August 2015, the journalist Peter Gnam described the forced migration of refugees coming mainly from Syria as ‘Flüchtlings-Tsunami’ (Tsunami of refugees). Terms such as waves of refugees or new tribal migrations (neue Völkerwanderung) are common in current public debates on the intensification of refugee migrations due to the war in Syria.
These metaphors create images of an excess of immigrants, either as refugees or labor migrants, and suggest a destructive power of refugee movements. Especially the term Tsunami is connected with dangerous forces of nature and has a very negative connotation.
My paper will give an overview of various migration patterns for the case of Vienna from the 19th century to the present. A historic view on immigration will show us that the current refugee movement can neither be described as a crisis nor was it the largest in-migration to the city.
Urban agglomerations such as Vienna have always been a magnet for mobile people, either from within the country or from areas further away.
Since current debates on migration can only be understood with proper knowledge of past migrations, my paper will contribute to an explanation of the often conjured ‘migration crisis’.