Surge in number of Brits seeking to reclaim German citizenship after Brexit

The number of Brits seeking to reclaim their German citizenship has leaped following the Brexit vote, it has been revealed.

A German government response to opposition politicians published today says 1,667 people applied to Germany’s embassy in London last year to reclaim the citizenship they or their ancestors were stripped of by the Nazis.

The government’s reply to the liberal Free Democratic Party query notes that the embassy recorded 684 such requests the previous year, most of them following the Brexit referendum in June 2016.

Tens of thousands of Germans, many of them Jewish, fled to Britain after the Nazis took power in 1933.

The figures, which do not include Britons without previous ties to Germany applying for citizenship, were first reported by Germany’s Funke media group.

Liberal Democrat MP Tom Brake, a champion of the anti-Brexit campaign group Best for Britain, said: “It says something about the unforeseen consequences of Brexit that it has prompted Brits stripped of their German nationality by the Nazis to reapply for German citizenship.

“Brexit is turning into a national disaster, so the sooner people are given a final say on the deal and the chance to exit from Brexit the better.”