People from various countries came in the 1950s to Germany, specifically targeted for recruitment to cover the shortage of labour. In 1961 the German-Turkish recruitment agreement was signed that then enabled many people to come to Germany from Turkey.
One company in Unna that employed Turkish guest workers was the steel construction company Dröge & Koch (1857–1984). Yusuf Koç remembers that around 30 Turkish employees found work there in the 1960s. When they arrived at the station, the boss himself fetched Yusuf Koç’s father and colleagues who had found employment with the company.
Many guest workers and their families returned to their home countries at the beginning of the 1980s, and companies and work authorities often supported this return with financial inducements.
Transport of carriages on the company site of Dröge & Koch at the end of the 1950s.
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