[4] The initial larger Portuguese community in Germany emerged during the 16th century in the Hanseatic city of Hamburg, when Sephardic Jews sought refuge here from the Inquisition.

In the final three years of World War II, some Portuguese individuals were deported to German concentration camps, mainly from occupied France.

[9][10][11]n the post-war period, Hundreds of thousands of Portuguese settled as guest workers in other European countries, especially in Western Europe.

Following a recruitment agreement between the Federal Republic of Germany and Portugal, tens of thousands of Portuguese guest workers arrived since 17 March 1964.

The Portuguese Armando Rodrigues de Sá was officially welcomed in 1964 as the millionth "guest worker" in Germany and was given a certificate of honor and a two-seater Zündapp Sport Combinette – Mokick.

After the Carnation Revolution in 1974 and Portugal's EU accession in 1986, the country experienced significant economic growth and a decline in emigration.In Germany, the demand for foreign labor was extremely high during the "Golden Years" (Wirtschaftswunder) of the 1960s.

Foreign workers who were legally recruited and residing in the country individually received a reimbursement of 10,500 Deutsche Marks – approximately the amount they had contributed to the German social security system (retirement fund).

[32][39][40][41] The Portuguese community in Germany retains strong ties with its homeland and, between 2000 and 2021, it has sent approximately 4.5 billion euros (€) to Portugal in remittances.

[47] Nowadays, Portuguese is not only a heritage language for migrants coming from countries such as Portugal or Brazil, but it is also studied by German people with interest towards Lusophone culture.