“In This Context, I Asked Myself How German, How German Are We?”

Abstract This article investigates identities and belonging in post-reunification Germany, focusing on the role of migrant advocates and migrant organizations in Dresden. It explores how these actors articulated support for migrants or for claimed human rights while also grappling with their own shifting roles within a newly unified Germany. It draws on media reports, archival material, and interviews, mainly within a time frame from 1989 to the mid-1990s. Findings reveal how advocates tried to evoke or foster empathy for refugees and migrants by hinting at East Germans’ own experiences of being immobilized. This case study sheds light on the challenges of defining the place of migration in (new) German identities as well as on alternatives to prevailing concepts such as Heimat or “the nation.”