‘Harmful Tramps’: Police Professionalization and Gypsies in Germany, 1700–1945

Abstract

During the last decade the historiography on Gypsies in Germany has reached a stage of maturity. Several studies have been published which give important insights into the way German authorities have dealt with people they categorized as Zigeuner. Despite this coming of age, there are three aspects which still demand further elaboration and deeper consideration. First of all, while some also cover the preceding Empire and Weimar era, most studies concentrate on the Nazi period (1933–45). For a full understanding of the antiGypsy policy of German authorities in the twentieth century, a much longer timespan should be covered. In particular, the decades preceding German unification, about which the information we have is only very scarce,² should be analysed much more thoroughly.