The House of Russian-Speaking Immigrants in Germany: People and Things

Abstract

This article is based on observations, surveys, and narratives of Russian-speaking immigrants in German cities, which relate to the home and its material filling, and raises the following research questions: do the living room environments of Russian-speaking residents of Germany differ from German traditions? If so, why? What things are special for people? How is the choice of decorative objects related to the biographies of their owners? I consider the concepts of Homeland and Home as a place where the everyday life is lived and emotional attachments are experienced, as a space for demonstrating identity and taste through things. The home is considered also as a space where people and their things coexist. The owners of houses show their subjectivity, striving to make their home different from the place where they came from, to implement the style of European interiors in their homes. However, they often reproduce stereotypes and fragments from previous homes in which they lived before the move.