This small (local) history of racism is the first book ever to specifically examine the development of racism from a German perspective. It explores the emergence of skin color-oriented racism as well as antisemitism, anti-Islamism, anti-Slavism, anti-Romani sentiment, and eugenic thinking. It was only during the course of European colonialism that forms of devaluation emerged, which were linked to specific skin colors. These ultimately culminated in the race theory developed during the Enlightenment, in which German thinkers played a significant role. After World War II, racist thinking was discredited by anti-colonial movements, civil rights struggles, and eventually through networks formed in the context of globalization, yet the development of antisemitism, which is referred to as xenophobia, persisted.