German American Deutschamerikaner
Notable German Americans: Henry J. Heinz · Adolf Cluss Dwight D. Eisenhower · Chester W. Nimitz
Total population
German 50,764,352 Americans 17.1% of the US population (2006) [1] Henry J. Heinz (photo pre-1920) This image is in the public domain in the United States and possibly other jurisdictions. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 414 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (1128 × 1632 pixel, file size: 233 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Adolf Cluss, 1900 William Shacklette Collection, Smithsonian Institution Castle Collection Source: http://www. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Picture of Chester Nimitz from http://www. ... Henry J. Heinz Henry John Heinz (October 11, 1844–May 14, 1919) was a United States businessman. ... Adolf Cluss was an architect who designed a number of buildings in Washington, D.C. from the 1860s to the 1890s, These include the Arts and Industries Building, Eastern Market, and the Franklin school, and Sumner schools downtown. ... Dwight David Eisenhower (October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American General and politician, who served as the thirty-fourth President of the United States (1953–1961). ... Fleet Admiral Chester William Nimitz GCB (February 24, 1885 – February 20, 1966) was the Commander in Chief of Pacific Forces for the United States and Allied forces during World War II. He was the United States leading authority on submarines, as well as Chief of the Navys Bureau of... Image File history File links Flag_of_Germany. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ...
Regions with significant populations
throughout the United States
Language(s)
American English, German
Religion(s)
Christian (Protestant & Lutheran; Roman Catholic), Jewish, Amish
Related ethnic groups
Germans, German diaspora, Austrian-Americans

German Americans (German Deutschamerikaner) are citizens of the United States of ethnic German ancestry and currently form the largest ancestry group in the United States, accounting for 17% of the U.S. population.^[2] The first significant numbers arrived in the 1680s in New York and Pennsylvania. Some eight million German immigrants entered the United States since then. Immigration continued in substantial numbers during the 19th century; the largest number of arrivals came 1840–1900. Germans form the largest group of immigrants coming to the U.S., outnumbering even the Irish and English.^[3] Some arrived seeking religious or political freedom, others for economic opportunities greater than those in Europe, and others simply for the chance to start afresh in the New World. California and Pennsylvania have the largest populations of German origin, with over six million German Americans residing in the two states alone.^[4] Over 50 million people in the United States identify German as their ancestry^[1]. In the 1990 U.S. census, 58 million Americans claimed to be solely or partially of German descent.^[5] In Pennsylvania, English and German were co-official languages until around the time of World War I. For other uses, see American English (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Christian (disambiguation). ... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... The Lutheran movement is a group of denominations of Protestant Christianity by the original definition. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... ... This article is about Old Order Amish, but also refers to other Amish sects. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Austrian-Americans are citizens of the United States who are of Austrian ancestry. ... Ethnic Germans – often simply called Germans – are those who are considered, by themselves or others, to be ethnically German but do not live within the present-day Federal Republic of Germany, nor necessarily hold its citizenship. ... Most common ancestries in the United States (as of 2000) The United States is a diverse country racially. ... Immigration is the act of moving to or settling in another country or region, temporarily or permanently. ... English Americans (occasionally known as Anglo-Americans) are citizens of the United States whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in England. ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... Frontispiece of Peter Martyr dAnghieras De orbe novo (On the New World). Carte dAmérique, Guillaume Delisle, 1722. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ... The Twenty-first United States Census, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 248,709,873, an increase of 9. ... An official language is a language that is given a special legal status in the countries, states, and other territories. ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ...

Americans of German descent live in nearly every American county, they have been in the US for 400 years, from the East Coast, where the first German settlers arrived in the 1600s, to the West Coast and in all the states in between. German Americans and those Germans who settled in the United States have been influential in most every field, from science, to architecture, to entertainment to commercial industry. Some, like Brooklyn Bridge engineers John Augustus Roebling or architect Walter Gropius left behind visible landmarks. Some people of German birth like Albert Einstein and Wernher von Braun, set intellectual landmarks. Others are prominent celebrities like Clark Gable, Edward Arnold (actor), Jane Froman, Gus Kahn, Fritz Kuhn (Nazi), Eddie Albert, Paris Hilton, Doris Day, Nick Nolte, Leonardo DiCaprio, Christopher Walken, Bruce Willis, Sandra Bullock, Jodie Foster, Jon Voight and Kirsten Dunst. Categories: Stub | 1806 births | 1869 deaths | Engineers ... Walter Adolph Georg Gropius (May 18, 1883 – July 5, 1969) was a German architect and founder of Bauhaus. ... “Einstein” redirects here. ... For other uses of von Braun, see von Braun (disambiguation). ... William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901 – November 16, 1960) was an Academy Award-winning American film actor. ... Arnold in City That Never Sleeps Edward Arnold (February 18, 1890 - April 26, 1956) was an American character actor. ... Jane Froman (American actress and singer) was born on November 10, 1907, in University City, Missouri, USA, the daughter of Anna T Barcafer and Elmer Ellsworth Froman. ... Gustav Gerson Kahn (November 6, 1886 - October 8, 1941) was a famous Jewish-German-American musician, songwriter and lyricist. ... Fritz Kuhn (May 15, 1896–December 14, 1951) was the leader of the German-American Bund, prior to World War II. He was a naturalized citizen of the United States and a loyal supporter of the German government led by Adolf Hitler. ... Eddie Albert, born Edward Albert Heimberger, (April 22, 1906 â€“ May 26, 2005) was a popular Oscar and Emmy Award-nominated American stage, film, character actor, gardener and humanitarian activist, perhaps best known for playing Bing Edwards in the Brother Rat films, or for his role in the 1960s television comedy... Paris Whitney Hilton (born February 17, 1981) is an American celebrity and socialite. ... Doris Mary Ann von Kappelhoff (born April 3, 1924)[1] is an American singer, actress, and animal welfare advocate known as Doris Day. ... Nicholas King Nolte (born February 8, 1941) is a Oscar-nominated American actor, model, and producer. ... Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio (born November 11, 1974[1]) is a three-time Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe Award-winning American actor who garnered world wide fame for his role as Jack Dawson in Titanic. ... Christopher Walken (born March 31, 1943) is an Academy Award-winning American film and theatre actor. ... Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955 in Idar-Oberstein, Germany) is an American actor and singer. ... Sandra Annette Bullock (born July 26, 1964) is a German-American film actress. ... Alicia Christian Foster (born November 19, 1962), better known as Jodie Foster, is a two-time Academy Award-winning American actress, director, and producer. ... John Vincent Voight (born December 29, 1938) is an Academy Award-winning American actor. ... Kirsten[1] Caroline Dunst (born April 30, 1982) is an American actress, known for her roles in Interview with the Vampire (for which she received a Golden Globe nomination), The Virgin Suicides, Marie Antoinette, and Bring It On, as well as for her portrayal of Mary Jane Watson in the...

Throughout the year, German Americans get together often for ethnic celebrations, the largest being the German American Steuben Parade in New York City, which is held every third Saturday in September. In 2007, for the 50th Anniversary, the Parade is led by former US Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, another German American. A group in Bavarian Tracht marches in the 2006 Steuben Parade. ... Henry Alfred Kissinger (born Heinz Alfred Kissinger on May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, and 1973 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. ...

History

17th Century

The first seeds of this country were planted at Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in what is today the United States of America. The first English settlers arrived at Jamestown in 1607; the first German, in 1608. Germans were present in the American colonies from the very beginning of settlement. The Germans who came to Jamestown in 1608 and subsequently in 1620 were the forerunners of the largest nationality to immigrate to the United States since its founding in 1776. At Jamestown Settlement, replicas of Christopher Newports 3 ships are docked in the harbour. ... This article is about the English as an ethnic group and nation. ...

The first Germans to reach the Jamestown Colony came aboard the English vessel Mary and Margaret captained by Christopher Newport. They left England around July 1608 and arrived in Virginia around 1 October -- 12 years before the Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts. They consisted of up to five unnamed glassmakers and three carpenters or house builders -- Adam, Franz and Samuel. They came in a group of about 70 new settlers, including several Polish makers of pitch and tar, soap ashes and potashes. Jamestown at that time consisted of nothing but a small wooden fort on a peninsula of the James, a river, which flows into Chesapeake Bay near modern Norfolk, VA. At Jamestown Settlement, replicas of Christopher Newports 3 ships are docked in the harbour. ...

Among the settlers was a Swiss German mineral prospector called William Volday by the English; his original name was probably Wilhelm Waldi. He accompanied Captain Newport on a search for precious metals shortly after their arrival. This was done by order of the organizers of the Colony, the Virginia Company of London, a stock company. The colonists believed that they had found a vein of silver beyond the falls of the James River, but they were forced to return when their supplies ran low. Swiss German (Schweizerdeutsch, Schwyzerdütsch, Schwiizertüütsch, Schwizertitsch) is any of the Alemannic dialects spoken in Switzerland. ...

The Germans and the Poles faced precarious conditions at James Fort, which had been built on the north bank of the James River by June 1607. More than half of the original 105 settlers were already dead by the first autumn.^[6] A map of Jamess Fort in Kinsale harbour Picture of blockhouse, part of the Jamess Fort complex at Castlepark, Kinsale; taken from Scilly side of Kinsale Harbour, looking southwards, in 2002 Jamess Fort (Irish: Dún Rí Shéamuis)is located on Castlepark peninsula in Kinsale harbour...

The first German settlement was Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania founded on October 6, 1683.^[7] Germantown was originally the Borough of Germantown, a town in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, and is today a neighborhood in the Northwest Philadelphia section of the city of Philadelphia, about six miles northwest from the center of the city. ... is the 279th day of the year (280th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events June 6 - The Ashmolean Museum opens as the worlds first university museum. ...

18th Century

John Jacob Astor, detail of an oil painting by Gilbert Stuart, 1794. Originally Johann Jakob Astor was the first of the Astor family dynasty and the first millionaire in the United States, making his fortune in the fur trade and New York City real estate.

Large numbers of Germans migrated from the 1680s to 1760s. They migrated to America for a variety of reasons.^[7] The two causes for the migration were push factors: worsening opportunities for farm ownership in central Europe, persecution of some religious groups, and military conscription; and pull factors, with better economic conditions in the U.S. (especially the opportunity for farmers to own land). Image File history File linksMetadata John_Jacob_Astor. ... Image File history File linksMetadata John_Jacob_Astor. ... Self portrait, 1778 Gilbert Charles Stuart (né Stewart) (December 3, 1755 - July 9, 1828) was an American painter. ... The Astor family, founded by the German immigrant John Jacob Astor and his wife Sarah Todd, became the wealthiest family in the United States during the 19th century. ...

Large sections of Pennsylvania and upstate New York attracted Germans. Most were Lutheran or German Reformed; many belonged to small religious sects such as the Moravians and Mennonites. German Jews started coming after 1840. German Catholics started coming after the war of 1812. The Moravian Seal, as rendered by North Carolina artist Marie Nifong. ... The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations based on the teachings and tradition of Menno Simons. ... ...

In 1709 Protestant Germans from the Pfalz or Palatine region of Germany built rafts and traveled down the Rhine to Rotterdam. They lived in shanty town shacks with reed roofs in winter. The Dutch took up a collection to help them subsist until they could travel by ship to London. In London the Palatine families lived in tent cities in the parks until Protestant Queen Anne Stuart could help them get to her colonies in America. Four American Indian Kings were also visiting London at that time. The Mohawk king offered to share land in the Mohawk valley of New York. The trip was long and difficult to survive due to the poor quality of food and water aboard ship and the infectious disease Typhus, or Palatine fever. Many immigrants, particularly children, died before reaching America.

There is a statue of Queen Anne in front of St. Paul's Cathedral in London. St. Paul's Cathedral celebrates the 300th anniversary of its completion in 1710 in 2010. In 2009-2010 we celebrate the 300th anniversary of the Palatines' journey to America.

The Palatine migration to the Hudson River Valley in New York turned out to be the largest single immigration to America in the colonial period. By 1711, for example, seven villages had been established in New York on the Robert Livingston manor. By 1750, the Germans occupied a strip some 12 miles long along the left bank of the Mohawk River. The soil was excellent; some 500 houses had been built, mostly of stone; and the region prospered in spite of Indian raids. Herkimer was the best-known of the German settlements in a region long known as the "German Flats." The most famous figure was editor John Peter Zenger, who led the fight for freedom of the press in America. Later John Jacob Astor, a German immigrant from Baden, became the richest man in America from his fur trading and real estate investments in New York. Around 1709, the Rhineland-Palatinate region between what is now known as Germany and France was highly contested by each side. ... Image of the Hudson River taken by NASA. View of the Hudson River in 1880s showing Jersey City View of the Hudson River from Battery Park, New York The Goldman Sachs Tower looms above the skyline of downtown Jersey City, New Jersey, overlooking the Hudson River. ... State nickname: Empire State Other U.S. States Capital Albany Largest city New York Governor George Pataki Official languages None Area 141,205 km² (27th)  - Land 122,409 km²  - Water 18,795 km² (13. ... John Peter Zenger (October 26, 1697 – July 28, 1746) was a German-born American printer, publisher, editor and journalist in New York City. ... John Jacob Astor, detail of an oil painting by Gilbert Stuart, 1794 John Jacob (originally either Johann Jakob or Johann Jacob) Astor (July 17, 1763 - March 29, 1848) was the first of the Astor family dynasty and the first millionaire in the United States, the creator of the first Trust... Baden is a historical state in the southwest of Germany, on the right bank of the Rhine. ...

The tide of German immigration to Pennsylvania swelled between 1725 and 1775, with many immigrants arriving as redemptioners. By 1775, Germans constituted about one-third of the population of Pennsylvania. The German farmers were renowned for the highly productive animal husbandry and agricultural practices. Politically, they were inactive until 1740, when they joined a Quaker-led coalition that took control of the legislature, which generally supported the American Revolution. The Germans, comprising Lutherans, Reformed, Mennonites, Amish, and other sects, developed a rich religious life with a strong musical culture. These Germans came to be known as the Pennsylvania Dutch. There were few German Catholics in Pennsylvania before the 1810s.^[8] A redemptioner is an immigrant, generally from the 18th or 19th century, that gained passage to America by selling himself as an indentured servant. ... The Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers, or Friends, is a religious community founded in England in the 17th century. ... John Trumbulls Declaration of Independence, showing the five-man committee in charge of drafting the Declaration in 1776 as it presents its work to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia The American Revolution refers to the period during the last half of the 18th century in which the Thirteen... Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestant Christianity that identifies with the teachings of the sixteenth-century German reformer Martin Luther. ... -1... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Relation to other religions Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas Luther · Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      The... This article is about Old Order Amish, but also refers to other Amish sects. ... The Pennsylvania Dutch (perhaps more strictly Pennsylvania Deitsch or Pennsylvanian German) are the descendants of German immigrants who came to Pennsylvania prior to 1800. ...

Many Hessian POWs from the American Revolutionary War settled in America. The Continental Congress lacked the money to send many of the German prisoners back to Europe. The term Hessian refers to the inhabitants of the German state of Hesse. ... This article is about military actions only. ... The Continental Congress was the first national government of the United States. ...

A large German colony in Virginia called Germanna was located near Culpeper and was founded by two waves of colonists in 1714 and 1717. Large settlements were formed in North Carolina, especially near Salem, North Carolina. There were also many German settlers around the Dutch(Deutch) Fork area of South Carolina. This article is about the U.S. state. ... Introduction Germanna refers to a German colony in Virginia, settled in two waves, first in 1714 and then in 1717. ... Culpeper is an incorporated town in Culpeper County, Virginia, United States. ... Salem is a census-designated place located in Burke County, North Carolina. ... Official language(s) English Capital Columbia Largest city Columbia Largest metro area Columbia Area  Ranked 40th  - Total 34,726 sq mi (82,965 km²)  - Width 200 miles (320 km)  - Length 260 miles (420 km)  - % water 6  - Latitude 32° 2′ N to 35° 13′ N  - Longitude 78° 32′ W to 83...

Between 1742 and 1753, roughly 1,000 Germans settled in Broad Bay, Massachusetts (now Waldoboro, Maine). Many of the colonists fled to Boston, Nova Scotia, and North Carolina after their houses were burned and their neighbors killed or carried into captivity by Native Americans. The Germans who remained found it difficult to survive on farming and eventually turned to the shipping and fishing industries. Waldoboro is a town located in Lincoln County, Maine. ... Nickname: City on the Hill, Beantown, The Hub (of the Universe)1, Athens of America, The Cradle of Revolution, Puritan City, Americas Walking City Location in Massachusetts, USA Counties Suffolk County Mayor Thomas M. Menino(D) Area    - City 232. ... Motto: Munit Haec et Altera Vincit (Latin: One defends and the other conquers) Capital Halifax Largest city Halifax Regional Municipality Official languages English (de facto) Government Lieutenant-Governor Mayann E. Francis Premier Rodney MacDonald (PC) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament House seats 11 Senate seats 10 Confederation July 1, 1867... Official language(s) English Capital Raleigh Largest city Charlotte Largest metro area Charlotte metro area Area  Ranked 28th  - Total 53,865 sq mi (139,509 km²)  - Width 150 miles (240 km)  - Length 560[1] miles (900 km)  - % water 9. ...

In the 1790 U.S. census, the first taken by the new country, Germans are estimated to have constituted nearly 9% of the white population in the United States.

19th Century

German population density in the United States, 1872.

Heavy German immigration to the United States occurred between 1848 and World War I, during which time nearly six million Germans immigrated to the United States. From 1840 to 1880 Germans were the largest group of immigrants. Following the revolutions in German states in 1848, a wave of political refugees fled to America, and became known as Forty-Eighters. They included professionals, journalists and politicians. Prominent names included Carl Schurz and Henry Villard.^[9] Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (948x1155, 196 KB) [edit] Summary From The Statistics of the Population of the United States, Compiled from the Original Returns of the Ninth Census, 1872. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (948x1155, 196 KB) [edit] Summary From The Statistics of the Population of the United States, Compiled from the Original Returns of the Ninth Census, 1872. ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ... // Preliminaries Germany at the time of the Revolutions of 1848 was a collection of over 30 states loosely bound together in the German Confederation after the Congress of Vienna in 1815. ... The Forty-Eighters were Germans who traveled to the United States and Australia after the Revolutions of 1848. ... Carl Schurz (March 2, 1829 – May 14, 1906) was a German revolutionary, American statesman and reformer, and Union Army general in the American Civil War. ... Henry Villard (April 10, 1835 – 1900), was an American journalist and financier of German origin. ...

The cities of Chicago, Detroit, and New York were favored destinations. By 1900, the cities of Cleveland, Milwaukee, Hoboken and Cincinnati were all over 40% German. Dubuque and Davenport Iowa had even larger proportions. The Over-the-Rhine neighborhood in Cincinnati was one of the largest German Catholic-American cultural centers. Milwaukee, Wisconsin witnessed the rapid expansion of its German ancestry population in the mid 1800s many of whom entered city politics in great numbers where they became a vanguard among that city's Social Democratic Party (Socialists), and engaged in many industrial pursuits, most prominently beer brewing under the Pabst, Schlitz, Miller, and Blatz family brands. German Americans in Milwaukee also established schools and teacher training seminaries (Töchter-Institut)to prepare students and teachers in proper German language training. By the late 19th century, Milwaukee was also home to Germania Publishing Company a publisher of books, magazines, and newspapers in German.Cite: "Deutsch-Athen Revisited..." In many other cities, such as Fort Wayne, Indiana, Richmond, Virginia, German Americans were at least 30% of the population. Nickname: Motto: Urbs in Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location in the Chicago metro area and Illinois Coordinates: , Country State Counties Cook, DuPage Settled 1770s Incorporated March 4, 1837 Government  - Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Area  - City 234. ... Motto: Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus (We Hope For Better Things; It Shall Rise From the Ashes - this motto was adopted after the disastrous 1805 fire that devastated the city) Nickname: The Motor City and Motown Location in Wayne County, Michigan Founded Incorporated July 24, 1701 1815  County Wayne County Mayor... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... Cleveland redirects here. ... For other places with the same name, see Milwaukee (disambiguation). ... Map of New Jersey highlighting Hoboken Image of Hoboken taken by NASA (red line shows where Hoboken is). ... Cincinnati redirects here. ... Dubuque may refer to: Dubuque, Iowa Dubuque County, Iowa This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Davenport could refer to: A place in: England: Davenport, Greater Manchester United States of America: Davenport, California Davenport, Florida Davenport, Iowa Davenport, New York Davenport, Washington Davenport, Nebraska a state electoral district in South Australia Electoral district of Cheltenham a federal electoral district in Canada: Davenport (electoral district) People: See... Over the Rhine (or OTR, as they are sometimes referred to) are an Ohio-based musical band. ... Not to be confused with Roman Catholicism in Germany The German Catholics (Deutschkatholiken) were a schismatic sect formed in December 1844 by German dissidents from the Roman Catholic Church, under the leadership of Johannes von Ronge. ... Nickname: Motto: Ke Ki On Ga Location in the state of Indiana, USA Coordinates: , Country State County Allen Founded October 22, 1794 Incorporated February 22, 1840 Government  - Mayor Graham Richard (D)  - City Clerk Sandra Kennedy (D)  - City Council John N. Crawford (R) Samuel J. Talarico, Jr (R) John Shoaff (D... Nickname: Motto: Sic dic Itur Ad Astra (Thus do we reach the stars) Location in the Commonwealth of Virginia Coordinates: , Country State County Independent City Government  - Mayor L. Douglas Wilder (I) Area  - City 62. ...

About half went to cities, the other half went to farms in the Midwest; by the mid-20th century they were the predominant rural element in much of the Midwest as they were more likely than others to remain on farms. Texas attracted many Germans, such as Paul Machemehl, as did cities in the border states such as Baltimore, Louisville and St. Louis. Few Germans went to the Deep South. German Americans were the largest group of immigrants during the 19th century, outnumbering both English and Irish immigrants, making German Americans the largest ethnic group in the United States today.^[3] The Midwest is a common name for a region of the United States of America. ... Paul Machemehl (June 22, 1845 – January 22, 1932), a German-Texan of the Forty-Eighters, was a prominent leader among the German Texans in the Central Texas community of Bellville, (Austin County). ... For other uses, see Deep South (disambiguation). ...

The immigrants were as diverse as their countries of orgin, except that very few aristocrats or upper middle class businessmen arrived.^{[citation needed]} For example, consider Texas, with about 20,000 German Texans in the 1850s (from Handbook of Texas Online): German Texans are an ethnic category belonging to residents of the state of Texas who acknowledge German ancestry and self-identify with the term. ...

The Germans who settled Texas were diverse in many ways. They included peasant farmers and intellectuals; Protestants, Catholics, Jews, and atheists; Prussians, Saxons, Hessians, and Alsatians; abolitionists and slaveholders; farmers and townsfolk; frugal, honest folk and ax murderers. They differed in dialect, customs, and physical features. A majority had been farmers in Germany, and most arrived seeking economic opportunities. A few dissident intellectuals fleeing the 1848 revolutions sought political freedom, but few, save perhaps the Wends, went for religious freedom.

The German settlements in Texas reflected their diversity. Even in the confined area of the Hill Country, each valley offered a different kind of German. The Llano valley had stern, teetotaling German Methodists, who renounced dancing and fraternal organizations; the Pedernales valley had fun-loving, hardworking Lutherans and Catholics who enjoyed drinking and dancing; and the Guadalupe valley had atheist Germans descended from intellectual political refugees. The scattered German ethnic islands were also diverse. These small enclaves included Lindsay in Cooke County, largely Westphalian Catholic; Waka in Ochiltree County, Midwestern Mennonite; Hurnville in Clay County, Russian German Baptist; and Lockett in Wilbarger County, Wendish Lutheran.

Thousands of German Americans volunteered to fight for the Union in the American Civil War (1861-1865). Many Germans had a strong revulsion against slavery. This was reflected in an incident on January 1, 1861, when the mostly German crowd made such a disturbance at a slave sale at the St. Louis courthouse that the sale couldn't go above $8.00. This was the last slave auction in St. Louis. Many Germans could see the parallel between the slavery and serfdom in the old fatherland.^[10] The Germans were among the largest immigrant groups to participate in the Civil War, roughly 516,000 (23.4% of all Union soldiers) were German Americans; about 216,000 were born in Germany. Thirty-six thousand of these native-born Germans enlisted from New York. Behind the Empire State came Missouri with 30,000 and Ohio with 20,000. ^[11] A popular Union commander among Germans, Major General Franz Sigel was the highest ranking German American officer in the Union Army with many Germans claiming to enlist to "fight mit Sigel." For other uses, see Prussia (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Saxon (disambiguation). ... In mathematics, the Hessian matrix of a function of several real variables is the (symmetric) matrix of all second partial derivatives. ... Alsatian can refer to: A person from Alsace, France Alsatian language German Shepherd Dog This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ... Germany at the time of the Revolutions of 1848 had been a collection of 38 states loosely bound together in the German Confederation. ... The Sorbs are a Slavic minority indigenous to the region known as Lusatia in the current German states of Saxony and Brandenburg (in former GDR territory). ... The Methodist movement is a group of denominations of Protestant Christianity. ... The Lutheran movement is a group of denominations of Protestant Christianity by the original definition. ... Westphalia (in German, Westfalen) is a (historic) region in Germany, centred on the cities of Dortmund, Münster, Bielefeld, and Osnabrück and now included in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia (and the (south-)west of Lower Saxony). ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Relation to other religions Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas Luther · Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      The... The German minority in Russia and the Soviet Union was created from several sources and in several waves. ... Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total... Slave redirects here. ... The Gateway Arch, shown here behind the Old Courthouse, is the most recognizable part of the St. ... Serf redirects here. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ... Franz Sigel Franz Sigel (November 18, 1824 – August 21, 1902) was a German military officer and immigrant to the United States who was a teacher, newspaperman, politician, and served as a Union general in the American Civil War. ... The 21st Michigan Infantry, a company of Shermans veterans. ...

A Missouri man had once written the Confederate authorities that all they had to do to get rid of the Saint Louis Unionists was destroy the local breweries and seize all the beer: "... By this means the Dutch [Germans] will all die in a week and the Yankees will then run from this State.

- M. Jeff Thompson of Missouri

A late manifestation of this identification of Germans with the Unionist-Abolitionist cause came in the 1870s, when the so-called "Mason County War" broke out in Mason County, Texas - where "Germans" were identified as Unionists while "Americans" were predominantly pro-Confederate. The conflict claimed some dozen lives before petering out. Now it is remembered chiefly due to the participation on the anti-German side of the famous outlaw Johnny Ringo. (see Johnny Ringo#Mason County War.) Motto Deo Vindice (Latin: Under God, Our Vindicator) Anthem (none official) God Save the South (unofficial) The Bonnie Blue Flag (unofficial) Dixie (unofficial) Capital Montgomery, Alabama (until May 29, 1861) Richmond, Virginia (May 29, 1861–April 2, 1865) Danville, Virginia (from April 3, 1865) Language(s) English (de facto) Religion... Mason County is a county located in the state of Texas. ... The only known photograph of John Peters Ringo. ... The only known photograph of John Peters Ringo. ...

Assimilation and World War I Anti-German Sentiment

After two or three generations, German Americans adopted mainstream American customs -- some of which they heavily influenced -- and switched their language to English. As one scholar concludes, "The overwhelming evidence ... indicates that the German-American school was a bilingual one much (perhaps a whole generation or more) earlier than 1917, and that the majority of the pupils may have been English-dominant bilinguals from the early 1880s on." [1] By 1914 the older members were attending German language church services while the younger members were attending English services (in Lutheran, Evangelical and Catholic churches). In German parochial schools the children spoke English among themselves, though some of their classes were in German. In 1917–18, nearly all German language instruction ended, as did most German language church services.

During World War I, German Americans, especially those born abroad, were sometimes accused of being too sympathetic to the German Empire. Theodore Roosevelt denounced "hyphenated Americanism" and insisted that dual loyalties were impossible in wartime. A small minority came out for Germany, including H. L. Mencken, who believed the German democratic system was superior to American democracy. Likewise Harvard psychology professor Hugo Munsterberg dropped his efforts to mediate between America and Germany and threw his efforts behind the German cause. See his obituary. For German colonial territories, see German Colonial Empire. ... Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. ... Hyphenated Americans are Americans who are referred to with a first word indicating an origin or ancestry in a foreign country and a second term (separated from the first with a hyphen) being American (e. ... H. L. (Henry Louis) Mencken (September 12, 1880, Baltimore – January 29, 1956, Baltimore), was a journalist, essayist, magazine editor, satirist, acerbic critic of American life and culture, and a student of the American English. ... Hugo Münsterberg (1863 - 1916) was a U.S. (German-born, in Danzig) psychologist. ...

Several thousand vocal opponents of the war were imprisoned.[2] Thousands were forced to buy war bonds to show their loyalty. The Red Cross barred individuals with German last names from joining in fear of sabotage. One man was hanged in Illinois, apparently for no other reason than that he appeared to be of German descent. The killers were found innocent of the crime and the hanging was called an act of patriotism by a jury. A Minnesota minister was tarred and feathered when he was overheard praying in German with a dying woman. [3] Some Germans during this time "Americanized" their names (e.g. Schmidt to Smith, Müller to Miller, Rickenbacher to Rickenbacker, Eisenhauer to Eisenhower) and limited their use of the German language in public places. Similarly, foods with German names such as sauerkraut and bratwurst were renamed "liberty cabbage" and "liberty sausage". In Chicago Frederick Stock temporarily stepped down as conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra until he finalized his naturalization papers. Berlioz replaced Wagner on programs. In Cincinnati, reaction to anti-German sentiment during World War I, caused the Public Library of Cincinnati to withdraw all German books from its shelves. [4] German-named streets were renamed [5] (Including in Indianapolis, Indiana a street named Germania Avenue that was renamed Pershing Ave. - a World War I general of German descent). Nebraska banned instruction in any language except English but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the ban illegal in 1923 (Meyer v. Nebraska), by which time the nativist mood had largely subsided. In Iowa, the Babel Proclamation made speaking foreign languages in public illegal. Eddie Rickenbacker (October 8, 1890 – July 27, 1973) was best known as a World War I fighter ace and Medal of Honor recipient. ... Dwight David Ike Eisenhower (October 14, 1890–March 28, 1969), American soldier and politician, was the 34th President of the United States (1953–1961) and supreme commander of the Allied forces in Europe during World War II, with the rank of General of the Army. ... German (called Deutsch in German; in German the term germanisch is equivalent to English Germanic), is a member of the western group of Germanic languages and is one of the worlds major languages. ... Frederick Stock (1872 - 1942) was a U.S. (German-born) conductor and composer. ... The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, based in Chicago, Illinois, is one of the leading orchestras in the world. ... Anti-German sentiment should not be confused with Anti-Germans (communist current), also called Anti-German. ... Cincinnati, Ohio viewed from the SW, across the Ohio River from Kentucky. ... Indianapolis redirects here. ... The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C. The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C., (large image) The Supreme Court of the United States, located in Washington, D.C., is the highest court (see supreme court) in the United States; that is, it has ultimate judicial authority within the United States... Holding The Court held that a 1919 Nebraska law prohibiting the teaching of modern foreign languages to grade school children unconstitutionally violated the Due Process clause of the 14th Amendment. ... The term Nativism is used in both politics and psychology in two fundamentally different ways. ... The Babel Proclamation is the nickname given to the proclamation that Iowa Governor William L. Harding issued in 1918 forbidding the use of foreign languages in public. ...

World War II

114,000 Germans moved to the United States between 1931 and 1940, many of whom were anti-Nazis fleeing government oppression. [6] About 25,000 people became paying members of the pro-Nazi German American Bund during the years before the war. [7] German Americans who had been born overseas were the subject of some suspicion and discrimination during the war, although prejudice and sheer numbers meant they suffered as a group generally less than Japanese Americans. The Alien Registration Act of 1940 required 300,000 German-born U.S. resident aliens to register with the federal government and restricted their travel and property ownership rights. [8] [9] Under the still active Alien Enemy Act of 1798, the United States government interned nearly 11,000 German Americans between 1940 and 1948.[10] Some of these were United States citizens; some were the parents of active military men[11]. Civil rights violations occurred[12]. 500 were arrested without warrant. Others were held without charge for months or interrogated without benefit of legal counsel[13]. Convictions were not eligible for appeal. An unknown number of "voluntary internees" joined their spouses and parents in the camps and were not permitted to leave. [14] [15] [16] The German-American Bund was an American Nazi organization established in the 1930s. ... Serving from 1999 to 2003, Army General Eric Shinseki of Hawaii became the first Asian American military chief of staff. ... The Alien Registration Act or Smith Act () of 1940 is a United States federal statute that made it a criminal offense for anyone to It also required all non-citizen adult residents to register with the government; within four months, 4,741,971 aliens had registered under the Acts... ======== many recent edits that had nothing to do with article. ...

President Franklin D. Roosevelt however kept his promise to German Americans that they would not be hounded as in 1917–18. Roosevelt made a deliberate effort to name prominent German Americans to top war jobs, including General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Admiral Chester Nimitz, General Carl Spaatz, and even Republican Wendell Willkie. German Americans who had fluent German language skills were an important asset to wartime intelligence, serving as translators and even as spies for the United States. [17] The war evoked strong patriotic sentiments among German Americans, few of whom had any contacts with distant relatives in the old country. FDR redirects here. ... Dwight David Eisenhower (October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American General and politician, who served as the thirty-fourth President of the United States (1953–1961). ... Chester William Nimitz (February 24, 1885 – February 20, 1966) was the Commander in Chief of Pacific Forces for the United States and Allied forces during World War II. He was the United States leading authority on submarines, as well as Chief of the Navys Bureau of Navigation in 1939. ... Carl Tooey Spaatz (June 28, 1891 – July 14, 1974) was an American general in World War II. Carl Andrew Spatz (Spaatz added the second a in 1937 at the request of his wife and daughters to clarify the pronunciation of the name) was born on June 28, 1891, in Boyertown... Wendell L. Willkie Wendell Lewis Willkie (February 18, 1892 – October 8, 1944) was a lawyer in the United States and the Republican nominee for the 1940 presidential election. ...

From the 1970s onwards, time had largely abated the anti-German sentiment produced by World War II.[18] Today, recent German Americans that immigrated after World War II share the same features as any other Western European immigrant group in the U.S. Mostly professionals, academics, and spouses, they reflect the changing nature of Europe as a preferred destination for immigrants rather than a source of migrating peoples. Although their numbers are far fewer than previous generations of German American immigrants, their personal and cultural ties to Germany and Europe are once again just as strong. [19]

German Americans today

According to the 2005 American Community Survey^[12], 50 million Americans have German ancestry. German Americans represent 17% of the total U.S. population and 26% of the non-Hispanic white population. Only 1.5 million Americans speak German. This article does not cite its references or sources. ...

Of the four major U.S. regions, German was the most-reported ancestry in the Midwest, second in the West, and third in both the Northeast and the South. German was the top reported ancestry in 23 states, and it was one of the top five reported ancestries in every state except Maine and Rhode Island. The Midwest is a common name for a region of the United States of America. ... This article deals with the western United States. ... The U.S. Northeast is a region of the United States of America defined by the US Census Bureau. ... The U.S. Southern states or The South, known during the American Civil War era as Dixie, is a distinctive region of the United States with its own unique historical perspective, customs, musical styles, and cuisine. ... Official language(s) None (English and French de facto) Capital Augusta Largest city Portland Area  Ranked 39th  - Total 33,414 sq mi (86,542 km²)  - Width 210 miles (338 km)  - Length 320 miles (515 km)  - % water 13. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ...

Religious affiliations

1850 census map shows Lutheran population. Nearly all were German since few Scandinavians had arrived yet.

Immigrants from Germany in the early to late 1800s brought many different religions with them. The largest numbers were generally Catholic or Lutheran, although the Lutherans were themselves split several ways. The more conservative groups comprised the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod and the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. Other Lutherans formed a complex checkerboard of synods, most of which in 1988 merged, along with Scandinavian synods, into the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Still other German Protestants were not Lutherans but were descendants of the united "Evangelical Church" in Germany. They created the Reformed denomination (especially in New York and Pennsyslvania), and the Evangelical denomination (strongest in the Midwest). They are now part of the United Church of Christ. Many immigrants joined quite different churches from those in Germany, especially the Methodist church. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (524x685, 95 KB) Summary 1850 US census map of Luthern churches Licensing This image is in the public domain in the United States. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (524x685, 95 KB) Summary 1850 US census map of Luthern churches Licensing This image is in the public domain in the United States. ... The Lutheran movement is a group of denominations of Protestant Christianity by the original definition. ... LCMS redirects here. ... The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) is a North American religious denomination belonging to the Lutheran tradition within Christianity. ... The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a mainline Protestant denomination headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. ... Disambiguation: This article is about the United States denomination known as United Church of Christ. ... The Methodist movement is a group of denominations of Protestant Christianity. ...

Before 1800, communities of Amish, Mennonites, and Hutterite had formed and are still in existence today. Some still speak dialects of German, including Pennsylvania German. This article is about Old Order Amish, but also refers to other Amish sects. ... The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations based on the teachings and tradition of Menno Simons. ... Hutterite women at work Hutterites are a communal branch of Anabaptists who, like the Amish and Mennonites, trace their roots to the Radical Reformation of the 16th century. ... The Pennsylvania Dutch (more correctly Pennsylvania Deutsch or Pennsylvania German, speakers of the Pennsylvania German language) are a people of various religious affiliations, living mostly in central Pennsylvania, with cultural traditions dating back to the German immigrations to America in the 17th and 18th centuries. ...

Some 19th century immigrants, especially the "48ers", were secular, rejecting formal religion.

The Amish, who were originally from Southern Germany and Switzerland, arrived in Pennsylvania during the early 18th century. Amish immigration to the United States reached its peak between the years 1727 and 1770. Religious freedom was the perhaps most pressing cause for Amish immigration to Pennsylvania, which became known as a haven for persecuted religious groups at the time.^[13] The Hutterites are another example of a group of German Americans who continue a lifestyle similar to that of their ancestors. Hutterites, much like the Amish, fled persecution for their religious beliefs and came to the United States in 1870. Today Hutterites mostly reside in Montana, the Dakotas, and Minnesota as well as in the western provinces of Canada. Hutterites continue to speak German, with most being able to speak Standard German in addition to their dialect.^[14] Like the two best-known Anabaptist denominations, the Amish and the Mennonites, the Hutterites had their beginnings in the Radical Reformation of the 16th Century. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ... The Dakotas is a collective term used in the United States to refer to the states of North and South Dakota together. ... Capital Saint Paul Largest city Minneapolis Area  Ranked 12th  - Total 87,014 sq mi (225,365 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 400 miles (645 km)  - % water 8. ...

German American influence

dispersal of German Americans according to the 2000 census

Germans have contributed to a vast number of areas in American culture and technology. Baron von Steuben, a former Prussian officer, led the reorganization of the U.S. Army during the War for Independence and helped make the victory against British troops possible. The Steinway & Sons piano manufacturing firm was founded by immigrant Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg in 1853. German settlers brought the Christmas tree custom to the United States. The Studebakers built large numbers of wagons used during the Western migration; Studebaker, like the Duesenberg brothers, later became an important early automobile manufacturer. Carl Schurz, a refugee from the unsuccessful first German democratic revolution of 1848 (see also German Confederation), served as U.S. Secretary of the Interior. Image File history File links German1346. ... Image File history File links German1346. ... By county. ... 2000 US Census logo The Twenty-Second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13. ... Baron von Steuben Friedrich Wilhelm Augustus Steuben, Baron von Steuben (November 15, 1730-November 28, 1794) was a German army officer who served with George Washington in the American Revolutionary War and is credited with teaching American troops the essentials of military drill and discipline. ... For other uses, see Prussia (disambiguation). ... The Army is the branch of the United States armed forces which has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... This article is about military actions only. ... Steinway & Sons is a piano maker, founded 1853 in New York City, with a second factory established 1880 in the city of Hamburg, Germany. ... Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg (February 17, 1797 - February 7, 1871), piano manufacturer, also Heinrich Engelhardt Steinweg and . ... For other uses, see Christmas tree (disambiguation). ... Studebaker Corporation, or simply Studebaker, was a United States wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana. ... 1931 Duesenberg J Duesenberg was a United States-based luxury automobile company active in various forms from 1913 to 1937, most famous for their extremely high-quality, record-breakingly fast roadsters. ... Carl Schurz (March 2, 1829 – May 14, 1906) was a German revolutionary, American statesman and reformer, and Union Army general in the American Civil War. ... —Alexis de Tocqueville, Recollections The European Revolutions of 1848, in some countries known as the Spring of Nations, were the bloody consequences of a variety of changes that had been taking place in Europe in the first half of the 19th century. ... The German Confederation (German: Deutscher Bund) was the association of Central European states created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to organize the surviving states of the Holy Roman Empire, which had been abolished in 1806. ... The United States Secretary of the Interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior, concerned with such matters as national parks and The Secretary is a member of the Presidents Cabinet. ...

Due to the developments in Germany leading from World War I and World War II, many German researchers, doctors and scientists (particularly Jews) left Germany due to economic problems or as a result of racial, religious, and political persecution. Probably the most famous of them was Albert Einstein, known for his Theory of Relativity. “Einstein” redirects here. ... Two-dimensional analogy of space-time curvature described in General Relativity. ...

After World War II, Wernher von Braun, and most of the leading engineers from the former German rocket base Peenemünde, were brought to the U.S. They contributed decisively to the development of U.S. military rockets, as well as of rockets for the NASA space program. For other uses of von Braun, see von Braun (disambiguation). ... Peenemündes position in Germany Peenemünde is a village in the northeast of the German (Western) part of the Usedom island. ...