Finding Forever in the Emirates: How German Families Put Down Roots in the UAE

German families proud to call the UAE home have told of their joy at helping to strengthen cultural connections, as President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed prepares to begin a state visit to Germany on Wednesday.

Katja Guzmann is one of the thousands of Germans who live and work in the Emirates. She moved to Abu Dhabi with her husband and three children in 2018, planning to stay for three to five years. Eight years on, she and her family remain happily entrenched in UAE life and have bought a house.

“We decided that we will stay for a while longer,” Ms Guzmann said. “When I think of home, this is now home.”

The Guzmanns' journey to the UAE began with a job offer. Ms Guzmann’s husband worked for Linde, a German industrial gases and engineering company, which wanted to send him to the Emirates for three years. The company paid for the family to visit in 2017 so they could decide whether they could imagine living in the UAE.

“I had heard about Dubai – everybody hears about Dubai,” Ms Guzmann said. “लेकिन I didn’t hear much about the UAE before.”

The couple had three children, aged 14, 13 and six, and knew the move would mean changing almost every part of their lives. Yet they were ready for an adventure. They enrolled their children at the German International School Abu Dhabi.

Safety also became one of the reasons Abu Dhabi felt like home. Her husband once left his wallet at a restaurant in Dubai Marina. At 3am, the restaurant called to say it had been found. “That would never happen in Germany,” she said.

For her daughter Lara, now 14, that sense of safety has shaped her childhood. Her brothers, Niklas, 22, and Julian, 21, now study in Vienna but return to Abu Dhabi during their holidays.

For Dorina Hacker, head of administration at the German International School in Abu Dhabi, a move intended to last two or three years has become a 15-year chapter. She arrived in 2011 with her husband and their two-year-old daughter, Josefine, after he accepted a position with Abu Dhabi health company Seha.

Kerstin Schwappach, the school's deputy head, represents a newer generation of Germans making the same move. She arrived alone about a year ago after visiting the UAE three times on holiday, choosing the country first and then looking for work.

The German-speaking women’s group in Abu Dhabi has helped new arrivals find the same sense of community. Established about 30 years ago by historian Dr Frauke Heard-Bey and other German residents, the group now has about 250 women on its distribution list, welcoming anyone who speaks German.

For the Guzmann family and many Germans in the UAE, Abu Dhabi is no longer an overseas assignment or a temporary adventure. “This is now home,” they said.