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83-521: Jacob Zimmerman House was the home of Jacob and Lena Zimmerman, German American settlers who came west over the Oregon Trail in 1851 to what became Multnomah County in the U.S. state of Oregon . Built in 1874, the house was part of a 600-acre (240 ha) dairy farm. Members of the Zimmerman family lived on the farm from 1870 through 1992. The house and 1.58 acres (6,400 m) were added to

166-694: A Quaker -led coalition that took control of the legislature, which later supported the American Revolution . Despite this, many of the German settlers were loyalists during the Revolution, possibly because they feared their royal land grants would be taken away by a new republican government, or because of loyalty to a British German monarchy who had provided the opportunity to live in a liberal society. The Germans, comprising Lutherans , Reformed , Mennonites , Amish , and other sects, developed

249-571: A Germanic language, and only in the last couple centuries the people of the Netherlands. Other Germanic language variants for "deutsch/deitsch/dutch" are: Dutch "Duits" and " Diets ", Yiddish "daytsh", Danish/Norwegian "tysk", or Swedish " tyska ." The Japanese "ドイツ" (/doitsu/) also derives from the aforementioned "Dutch" variations. The Studebaker brothers, forefathers of the wagon and automobile makers, arrived in Pennsylvania in 1736 from

332-560: A colony in Virginia called Germanna , located near modern-day Culpeper, Virginia . Virginia Lieutenant Governor Alexander Spotswood , taking advantage of the headright system , had bought land in present-day Spotsylvania and encouraged German immigration by advertising in Germany for miners to move to Virginia and establish a mining industry in the colony. The name "Germanna", selected by Governor Alexander Spotswood , reflected both

415-454: A favored destination. By 1900, the populations of the cities of Cleveland , Milwaukee , and Cincinnati were all more than 40% German American. Dubuque and Davenport, Iowa had even larger proportions, as did Omaha , Nebraska, where the proportion of German Americans was 57% in 1910. In many other cities of the Midwest , such as Fort Wayne, Indiana , German Americans were at least 30% of

498-558: A microcosm of the Germania nationwide. The Germans who settled Texas were diverse in many ways. They included peasant farmers and intellectuals; Protestants, Catholics, Jews, and atheists; Prussians, Saxons, and Hessians; abolitionists and slave owners; 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

581-705: A regional public high school located in Germantown, were both closed in 2013. Mastery Charter Schools operates the Mastery Charter Pickett Campus (7–12, MCPC) in Germantown. The school opened in August 2007. The charter system headquarters is located at Pickett. Germantown Settlement Charter School (5–8), Imani Education Circle Charter school (pre-K to 8), and the Wissahickon Charter School's Awbury Campus (6th–8th)

664-612: A rich religious life with a strong musical culture. Collectively, they came to be known as the Pennsylvania Dutch (from Deutsch ). Etymologically, the word Dutch originates from the Old High German word "diutisc" (from "diot" "people"), referring to the Germanic "language of the people" as opposed to Latin, the language of the learned (see also theodiscus ). Eventually the word came to refer to people who speak

747-625: A slave). The most famous of the early German Palatine immigrants was editor John Peter Zenger , who led the fight in colonial New York City for freedom of the press in America. A later immigrant, John Jacob Astor , who came from Walldorf , Electoral Palatinate , since 1803 Baden , after the Revolutionary War, became the richest man in America from his fur trading empire and real estate investments in New York. John Law organized

830-570: A two-page condemnation of slavery and sent it to the governing bodies of their Quaker church, the Society of Friends . The petition was mainly based upon the Bible's Golden Rule , "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Though the Quaker establishment took no immediate action, the 1688 Germantown Quaker Petition Against Slavery was a clear and forceful argument against slavery and initiated

913-937: Is all of Philadelphia. Public schools located in Germantown include the Anna L. Lingelbach School (K–8), the John B. Kelly School (K–6), the John Wister Elementary School (K–6), the Hill Freedman Middle School (6–8), the Theodore Roosevelt Middle School (7–8), the Fitler Academics Plus School (1–8), and the Martin Luther King High School (9–12). The Robert Fulton Elementary School and Germantown High School ,

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996-738: Is covered by the 19144 zip code, but the area north of Chew Avenue falls in the 19138 zip code. Although the arrival by ship of the Original 13 , the later founders of Germantown in Philadelphia on October 6, 1683, was later to provide the date for German-American Day , a holiday in the United States, historical research has shown that nearly all of the first thirteen Quaker and Mennonite families were in fact Dutch rather than Germans . These families, which were mainly Dutch but also included some Swiss, had relocated to Krefeld (near

1079-1146: Is home to one of the group's original settlements, the Germantown section of present-day Philadelphia , founded in 1683. Germantown is also the birthplace of the American antislavery movement , which emerged there in 1688. Germantown also was the location of the Battle of Germantown , an American Revolutionary War battle fought between the British Army , led by William Howe , and the Continental Army , led by George Washington , on October 4, 1777. German Americans were drawn to colonial-era British America by its abundant land and religious freedom, and were pushed out of Germany by shortages of land and religious or political oppression . Many arrived seeking religious or political freedom , others for economic opportunities greater than those in Europe, and others for

1162-688: Is located in the neighborhood . The Pennsylvania School for the Deaf , a private state-chartered school, occupies the former site of Germantown Academy , which moved to Fort Washington, Pennsylvania , in 1965. Germantown's private schools include the DePaul Catholic School (K–8), Waldorf School of Philadelphia (PreK-8), the High Street Christian Academy (K–4), the Germantown Islamic School,

1245-801: The Alsatian region who had recently fallen under French rule, and the Swiss to immigrate. Alsace was sold to France within the greater context of the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). The Jesuit Charlevoix traveled New France (Canada and Louisiana) in the early 1700s. His letter said "these 9,000 Germans, who were raised in the Palatinate (Alsace part of France) were in Arkansas. The Germans left Arkansas en masse. They went to New Orleans and demanded passage to Europe. The Mississippi Company gave

1328-480: The Battle of Germantown , on October 4, 1777, the Continental Army attacked the garrison. During the battle, a group of civilians fired on the British troops as they marched up the avenue, mortally wounding British officer James Agnew . The Americans withdrew after firing on one another in the confusion of the battle, which resulted in the battle becoming a British victory. The American losses amounted to 673 men and

1411-633: The Blue Ridge Mountains , where Palatine German predominated. Meanwhile, in Southwest Virginia , Virginia German acquired a Swabian German accent. In North Carolina , an expedition of German Moravians living around Bethlehem, Pennsylvania , and a party from Europe led by August Gottlieb Spangenberg , headed down the Great Wagon Road and purchased 98,985 acres (400.58 km ) from Lord Granville (one of

1494-664: The Frankfurter Wachensturm beginning in the 1830s—predominantly in Texas and Missouri, but also in other U.S. states—in which German intellectuals ( freethinkers , German: Freidenker , and Latinists ) met together to devote themselves to the German literature , philosophy , science, classical music, and the Latin language . A prominent representative of this generation of immigrants was Gustav Koerner who lived most of

1577-651: The National Register of Historic Places in 1986. In 1994, the city of Gresham began land acquisition and planning for a 5.98-acre (2.42 ha) public park, Zimmerman Heritage Farm, with the house as its centerpiece. The city, which owns the land, and the Fairview-Rockwood-Wilkes Historical Society (FRWHS), which owns the house, manage the Zimmerman Heritage Farm through a partnership. In 1992,

1660-701: The United States Census Bureau 's figures from 2022, German Americans make up roughly 41 million people in the US, which is approximately 12% of the population. This represents a decrease from the 2012 census where 50.7 million Americans identified as German. The census is conducted in a way that allows this total number to be broken down in two categories. In the 2020 census, roughly two thirds of those who identify as German also identified as having another ancestry, while one third identified as German alone. German Americans account for about one third of

1743-722: The War of 1812 . In 1709, Protestant Germans from the Pfalz or Palatine region of Germany escaped conditions of poverty, traveling first to Rotterdam and then to London. Queen Anne helped them get to the American colonies. The trip was long and difficult to survive because of the poor quality of food and water aboard ships and the infectious disease typhus . Many immigrants, particularly children, died before reaching America in June 1710. The Palatine immigration of about 2100 people who survived

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1826-603: The yellow fever epidemic of 1793. The first bank of the United States was also located here during his administration. Germantown proper, and the adjacent German Township, were incorporated into the City of Philadelphia in 1854 by the Act of Consolidation . Italians began settling Germantown in 1880, and comprised an active and vibrant part of the community. The significant changes that occurred in Philadelphia's demographics at

1909-655: 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

1992-694: The 19th century, German immigrants settled in Midwest, where land was available. Cities along the Great Lakes, the Ohio River, and the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers attracted a large German element. The Midwestern cities of Milwaukee , Cincinnati , St. Louis , Chicago were favored destinations of German immigrants. The Northern Kentucky and Louisville area along the Ohio River was also

2075-628: The 19th century, pressure increased from the Russian government to culturally assimilate. Many Germans from Russia found it necessary to emigrate to avoid conscription and preserve their culture. About 100,000 immigrated by 1900, settling primarily in the Great Plains . Negatively influenced by the violation of their rights and cultural persecution by the Tsar , the Germans from Russia who settled in

2158-634: The 21st century. Few German immigrants settled in the Deep South , apart from New Orleans , the German Coast , and Texas. Texas attracted many Germans who entered through Galveston and Indianola , both those who came to farm, and later immigrants who more rapidly took industrial jobs in cities such as Houston. As in Milwaukee , Germans in Houston built the brewing industry. By the 1920s,

2241-697: The British Lords Proprietor) in the Piedmont of North Carolina in 1753. The tract was dubbed Wachau-die-Aue , Latinized Wachovia , because the streams and meadows reminded Moravian settlers of the Wachau valley in Austria . They established German settlements on that tract, especially in the area around what is now Winston-Salem . They also founded the transitional settlement of Bethabara, North Carolina , translated as House of Passage,

2324-531: The British losses consisted of 575 men, but along with the American victory at Saratoga on October 17 when John Burgoyne surrendered, the battle led to the official recognition of the Americans by France , which formed an alliance with the Americans afterward . During his presidency, George Washington and his family lodged at the Deshler-Morris House in Germantown to escape the city and

2407-799: The Burnetsfield Patent. By 1750, the Germans occupied a strip some 12 miles (19 km) long along both sides of the Mohawk River . The soil was excellent; some 500 houses were 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". They kept to themselves, married their own, spoke German, attended Lutheran churches, and retained their own customs and foods. They emphasized farm ownership. Some mastered English to become conversant with local legal and business opportunities. They tolerated slavery (although few were rich enough to own

2490-595: The Dutch border) and Kriegsheim (in Rhineland-Palatinate ) some years prior to their emigration to America to avoid persecution of their Mennonite beliefs in the Dutch Republic and Swiss Confederacy . The town was named Germantown by the group's leader Franz Pastorius , a German preacher from Sommerhausen . The town's population remained largely Dutch-speaking until 1709 , after which a number of

2573-406: The Dutch families set out west and a series of major German emigrations reached Germantown and Pennsylvania as a whole. Their initial leader, Pastorius, later aligned himself with newer German arrivals and as the only university-trained and legal and literary man among the early settlers, chronicled and stressed the town's German origins. Adding to the assimilating of Dutch culture was the fact that

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2656-524: The FRWHS acquired the house from Isobel Faith Zimmerman, the youngest granddaughter of the original owners. By late 2006, the society had spent an estimated $ 170,000 on rebuilding the foundation, upgrading the security system, fixing the porch, repairing the chimneys, replacing the roof and gutters, painting the exterior, and other work. The house is open for public tours on the third Saturday of each month from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Zimmermans were among

2739-632: The German immigrants who sailed across the Atlantic to Virginia and the British queen, Anne , who was in power at the time of the first settlement at Germanna. In 1721, twelve German families departed Germanna to found Germantown . They were swiftly replaced by 70 new German arrivals from the Palatinate , the start of a westward and southward trend of German migration and settlement across the Virginia Piedmont and Shenandoah Valley around

2822-402: The German states , a wave of political refugees fled to America, who became known as Forty-Eighters . They included professionals, journalists, and politicians. Prominent Forty-Eighters included Carl Schurz and Henry Villard . "Latin farmer" or Latin Settlement is the designation of several settlements founded by some of the Dreissiger and other refugees from Europe after rebellions like

2905-446: The Germans rich lands on the right bank of the Mississippi River about 25 miles (40 km) above New Orleans. The area is now known as 'the German Coast '." A thriving population of Germans lived upriver from New Orleans , Louisiana, known as the German Coast . They were attracted to the area through pamphlets such as J. Hanno Deiler's "Louisiana: A Home for German Settlers". Two waves of German colonists in 1714 and 1717 founded

2988-594: The Green Tree School (special education, ages 6–21), and two Quaker schools: Germantown Friends School and Greene Street Friends School . Nearby private schools include Mount Airy's Revival Hill Christian High School (9–12), Blair Christian Academy (PreK–12), Islamic Day School of Philadelphia (PreK–5), Project Learn School (K–8), Classroom on Carpenter Lane (K-2), and Holy Cross School (K–8), as well as Chestnut Hill's Springside School (PreK–12), Chestnut Hill Academy (K–12), and Crefeld School (7–12). The William Penn Charter School (commonly known as Penn Charter),

3071-411: The Guadalupe valley had freethinking 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. Germans from Russia were

3154-433: The Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority allocated $ 10.6 million for the creation of public housing. Between 1954 and 1956, Germantown experienced an influx of lower-income African Americans, resulting in a decline in property values and triggering a " white flight " of the majority of white residents to the suburbs. The demographic shift caused a slow but steady decline in central Germantown's upscale shopping district, with

3237-408: The U.S. ramped up sharply during the 19th century. There is a German belt consisting of areas with predominantly German American populations that extends across the United States from eastern Pennsylvania, where many of the first German Americans settled, to the Oregon coast. Pennsylvania, with 3.5 million people of German ancestry, has the largest population of German-Americans in the U.S. and

3320-485: The United States in 2020. The Germans included many quite distinct subgroups with differing religious and cultural values. Lutherans and Catholics typically opposed Yankee moralizing programs such as the prohibition of beer, and favored paternalistic families with the husband deciding the family position on public affairs. They generally opposed women's suffrage but this was used as argument in favor of suffrage when German Americans became pariahs during World War I. On

3403-564: The birthplace of the American antislavery movement , the site of a Revolutionary War battle , the temporary residence of George Washington , the location of the first bank of the United States, and the residence of many notable politicians, scholars, artists, and social activists. Today, the area remains rich in historic sites and buildings from the colonial era, some of which are open to the public. Germantown stretches for about two miles along Germantown Avenue northwest from Windrim and Roberts Avenues. Germantown has been consistently bounded on

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3486-410: The borough was absorbed into the city of Philadelphia in 1854. Today, the western part of the former borough is the neighborhood known simply as 'Germantown' (though is sometimes called 'West Germantown') and the eastern part is the neighborhood of 'East Germantown'. While the boundary between the two neighborhoods is not well-defined and has varied over time, these days 'Germantown' usually refers to

3569-668: The chance to start fresh in the New World. The arrivals before 1850 were mostly farmers who sought out the most productive land, where their intensive farming techniques would pay off. After 1840, many came to cities, where German-speaking districts emerged. German Americans established the first kindergartens in the United States, introduced the Christmas tree tradition, and introduced popular foods such as hot dogs and hamburgers to America. The great majority of people with some German ancestry have become Americanized ; fewer than five percent speak German. German-American societies abound, as do celebrations that are held throughout

3652-606: The colonists. German immigrants also settled in other areas of the American South , including around the Dutch (Deutsch) Fork area of South Carolina , and Texas, especially in the Austin and San Antonio areas. Between 1742 and 1753, roughly 1,000 Germans settled in Broad Bay, Massachusetts (now Waldoboro, Maine ). Many of the colonists fled to Boston , Maine, 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

3735-441: The corporation of Germantowne", to make laws for the government of the settlement, and to hold a court of record. This court went into operation in 1690, and continued its services for sixteen years. In 1688, five years after its founding, Germantown became the birthplace of the anti-slavery movement in America. Pastorius, Gerret Hendericks and the brothers Derick and Abraham op den Graeff gathered at Thones Kunders's house and wrote

3818-480: The country to celebrate German heritage of which the German-American Steuben Parade in New York City is one of the most well-known and is held every third Saturday in September. Oktoberfest celebrations and the German-American Day are popular festivities. There are major annual events in cities with German heritage including Chicago, Cincinnati , Milwaukee , Pittsburgh , San Antonio , and St. Louis . Around 180,000 permanent residents from Germany were living in

3901-438: The demographic transition of Germantown into a predominantly black neighborhood was the result of the now illegal practice of blockbusting . "It was a great disgrace. Cheap houses would be sold to a black family, then the realtors would go around and tell the neighbors that the blacks are invading", said Stackhouse. The practice was used to trigger panic selling . Germantown is zoned to the School District of Philadelphia , as

3984-494: The direct vicinity of the settlement was already inhabited by fifty-four German families who had accompanied Johan Printz to the Swedish settlement on the Delaware several years before 1683 and had resettled themselves. Pastorius was the first bailiff. Jacob Telner, Derick Isacks op den Graeff and his brother Abraham Isacks op den Graeff , Reynier Tyson, and Tennis Coender ( Thones Kunders ) were burgesses, besides six committeemen. They had authority to hold "the general court of

4067-430: The famous blade town of Solingen . With their skills, they made wagons that carried the frontiersmen westward; their cannons provided the Union Army with artillery in the American Civil War , and their automobile company became one of the largest in America, although never eclipsing the "Big Three", and was a factor in the war effort and in the industrial foundations of the Army. Great Britain, whose King George III

4150-401: The first colonization of Louisiana with German immigrants. Of the over 5,000 Germans initially immigrating primarily from the Alsace Region as few as 500 made up the first wave of immigrants to leave France en route to the Americas. Less than 150 of those first indentured German farmers made it to Louisiana and settled along what became known as the German Coast. With tenacity, determination and

4233-401: The first generation of college-educated German Americans were moving into the chemical and oil industries. Texas had about 20,000 German Americans in the 1850s. They did not form a uniform bloc, but were highly diverse and drew from geographic areas and all sectors of European society, except that very few aristocrats or upper middle class businessmen arrived. In this regard, Texas Germania was

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4316-622: The first planned Moravian community in North Carolina, in 1759. Soon after, the German Moravians founded the town of Salem in 1766 (now a historical section in the center of Winston-Salem) and Salem College (an early female college) in 1772. In the Georgia Colony , Germans mainly from the Swabia region settled in Savannah, St. Simon's Island and Fort Frederica in the 1730s and 1740s. They were actively recruited by James Oglethorpe and quickly distinguished themselves through improved farming, advanced tabby (cement) -construction, and leading joint Lutheran- Anglican -Reformed religious services for

4399-423: The five founding families of Fairview . They arrived in the Willamette Valley in 1851 and settled on Hayden Island in the Columbia River . After floods destroyed their first crops, they re-located to a 320-acre (130 ha) donation land claim about 10 miles (16 km) east of Portland . In late 1869, Jacob Zimmerman bought another donation land claim and moved into a log cabin on this site until building

4482-401: The largest community school of the arts in the United States, operates one of its six branches in Germantown. Free Library of Philadelphia operates public libraries. The Joseph E. Coleman Northwest Regional Library is located in Germantown. The library was given its current name in 2002, after Joseph E. Coleman, a member of the Philadelphia City Council . The first railroad in Philadelphia

4565-426: The last department store, a J. C. Penney branch, closing in the early 1980s. The current demographics of Germantown reflects this shift. As of the 2010 US Census, Germantown proper is 77% black, 15% white, 3% non-white Hispanic, and 2% Asian, and East Germantown is 92% black, 3% white, 2% non-white Hispanic, and 2% Asian. Eugene Stackhouse, a retired former president of the Germantown Historical Society says that

4648-425: The leadership of D'arensburg these Germans felled trees, cleared land, and cultivated the soil with simple hand tools as draft animals were not available. The German coast settlers supplied the budding City of New Orleans with corn, rice, eggs. and meat for many years following. The Mississippi Company settled thousands of German pioneers in French Louisiana during 1721. It encouraged Germans, particularly Germans of

4731-401: The loss of their language, the ethnic group remains distinct, and has left a lasting impression on the American West. Musician Lawrence Welk (1903–1992) became an iconic figure in the German-Russian community of the northern Great Plains—his success story personified the American dream. Germantown, Philadelphia Germantown has played a significant role in American history ; it was

4814-429: The manifesto of their settlement the ability to practice their respective Christian denominations, retain their culture and language, and retain immunity from conscription for them and their descendants. As time passed, the Russian monarchy gradually eroded the ethnic German population's relative autonomy. Conscription eventually was reinstated; this was especially harmful to the Mennonites, who practice pacifism. Throughout

4897-414: The most traditional of German-speaking arrivals. They were Germans who had lived for generations throughout the Russian Empire , but especially along the Volga River and the Black Sea . Their ancestors had come from all over the German-speaking world, invited by Catherine the Great in 1762 and 1763 to settle and introduce more advanced German agriculture methods to rural Russia. They had been promised by

4980-504: The neighborhood to Center City: the Chestnut Hill West Line with stops at Queen Lane , Chelten Avenue , and Tulpehocken stations; and the Chestnut Hill East Line with stops at Wister , Germantown , and Washington Lane stations. The neighborhood is also served by bus routes 18 , 23 (formerly a trolley line), 26 , 53 (formerly a trolley line), 65 , H and XH , J , and K . Germantown has numerous parks and recreation areas. These include: Other sites listed separately on

5063-476: The northern Midwest saw themselves as a downtrodden ethnic group separate from Russian Americans and having an entirely different experience from the German Americans who had emigrated from German lands. They settled in tight-knit communities who retained their German language and culture. They raised large families, built German-style churches, buried their dead in distinctive cemeteries using cast iron grave markers, and sang German hymns. Many farmers specialized in

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5146-399: The old country dominated the city's Socialists . Skilled workers dominated many crafts, while entrepreneurs created the brewing industry; the most famous brands included Pabst , Schlitz , Miller , and Blatz . Whereas half of German immigrants settled in cities, the other half established farms in the Midwest . From Ohio to the Plains states, a heavy presence persists in rural areas into

5229-575: The oldest Quaker school in the world, is located in nearby East Falls . La Salle University is in both Germantown and historic Belfield . Its west campus is centered on the old Germantown Hospital buildings and property, which it purchased in 2007. Other universities and colleges close to Germantown include Drexel University College of Medicine 's Queen Lane Medical Campus, Arcadia University , Chestnut Hill College , The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia , Philadelphia University , and Saint Joseph's University . Settlement Music School ,

5312-456: The opportunity to own land, and religious freedom. Often immigrants paid for their passage by selling their labor for a period of years as indentured servants . Large sections of Pennsylvania, Upstate New York , and the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia attracted Germans. Most were Lutheran or German Reformed ; many belonged to small religious sects such as the Moravians and Mennonites . German Catholics did not arrive in number until after

5395-509: The original house in 1874. The Zimmermans' son, George, enlarged the farm to 660 acres (270 ha) on which he ran a successful dairy business that continued under several relatives and lessees into the 20th century. [REDACTED] Media related to Jacob Zimmerman House at Wikimedia Commons German American German Americans (German: Deutschamerikaner , pronounced [ˈdɔʏtʃʔameʁɪˌkaːnɐ] ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. According to

5478-477: The other hand, there were Protestant groups who emerged from European pietism such as the German Methodist and United Brethren; they more closely resembled the Yankee Methodists in their moralism. The first English settlers arrived at Jamestown, Virginia in 1607, and were accompanied by the first German that was to settle in North America, physician and botanist Johannes (John) Fleischer (in South America Ambrosius Ehinger had already founded Maracaibo in 1529). He

5561-424: The part of the former borough that lies west of Germantown Avenue, up through West Johnson Street, and 'East Germantown' to the part that lies east of Germantown Avenue, up through East Upsal Street. The neighborhood of Mount Airy lies to the northwest, Ogontz and West Oak Lane to the northeast, Logan to the east, Nicetown–Tioga to the south, and East Falls to the southwest. The majority of Germantown

5644-415: The patriot side . The Muhlenberg family, led by Rev. Henry Muhlenberg was especially influential on the Patriot side. His son Peter Muhlenberg , a Lutheran clergyman in Virginia became a major general and later a Congressman. However, in upstate New York, many Germans were neutral or supported the Loyalist cause. From names in the 1790 U.S. census, historians estimate Germans constituted nearly 9% of

5727-470: The population. By 1850 there were 5,000 Germans, mostly Schwabians living in, and around, Ann Arbor, Michigan . Many concentrations acquired distinctive names suggesting their heritage, such as the " Over-the-Rhine " district in Cincinnati, " Dutchtown " in South St Louis, and " German Village " in Columbus, Ohio. A particularly attractive destination was Milwaukee , which came to be known as "the German Athens ". Radical Germans trained in politics in

5810-434: The process of banning slavery in the Society of Friends (1776) and Pennsylvania (1780). In 1723, Germantown became the site of the first congregation of Schwarzenau Brethren in the New World. The Church of the Brethren - among other churches - have their roots in the Schwarzenau Brethren. When Philadelphia was occupied by the British during the American Revolutionary War , British units were housed in Germantown. In

5893-659: The production of sugar beets and wheat, which are still major crops in the upper Great Plains. During World War   I, their identity was challenged by anti-German sentiment . By the end of World War   II, the German language, which had always been used with English for public and official matters, was in serious decline. Today, German is preserved mainly through singing groups, recipes, and educational settings. While most descendants of Germans from Russia primarily speak English, many are choosing to learn German in an attempt to reconnect with their heritage. Germans from Russia often use loanwords , such as Kuchen for cake. Despite

5976-435: The shipping and fishing industries. The tide of German immigration to Pennsylvania swelled between 1725 and 1775, with immigrants arriving as redemptioners or indentured servants. By 1775, Germans constituted about one-third of the population of the state. German farmers were renowned for their highly productive animal husbandry and agricultural practices. Politically, they were generally inactive until 1740, when they joined

6059-548: The south to Philadelphia occurred. While the majority of middle-class African American newcomers first settled in North Philadelphia, the housing shortages in this area that followed the end of World War II caused later arrivals to move instead to the Northwest. This led to a wave of new housing construction. To meet the housing needs of the growing numbers of African American families moving into southern Germantown,

6142-468: The southwest by Wissahickon Avenue, on the southeast by Roberts Avenue, and on the east by Wister Street and Stenton Avenue, but its northwest border has expanded and contracted over the years. When first incorporated as a borough in 1689, Germantown was separated from the rural Germantown Township by Washington Lane; later, the border was expanded to Carpenter and East Gorgas Lanes; it was then rolled back to Washington Lane in 1846, and remained there until

6225-542: The start of the 20th century caused major shifts in Germantown's ethnic makeup as well. When the first wave of the Great Migration brought more than 140,000 African Americans to the city from the South, long-established Philadelphians started to move to the outskirts. During this time, many German, Scots-Irish, and Irish families moved to Germantown. During the 1940s, a second mass migration of African Americans from

6308-735: The time in Belleville, Illinois until his death. A few German Jews came in the colonial era . The largest numbers arrived after 1820, especially in the mid-19th century. They spread across the North and South (and California, where Levi Strauss arrived in 1853). They formed small German-Jewish communities in cities and towns. They typically were local and regional merchants selling clothing; others were livestock dealers, agricultural commodity traders, bankers, and operators of local businesses. Henry Lehman , who founded Lehman Brothers in Alabama,

6391-525: The total population of people of German ancestry in the world. The first significant groups of German immigrants arrived in the British colonies in the 1670s, and they settled primarily in the colonial states of Pennsylvania , New York , and Virginia . The Mississippi Company of France later transported thousands of Germans from Europe to what was then the German Coast, Orleans Territory in present-day Louisiana between 1718 and 1750. Immigration to

6474-482: The white population in the United States. The brief Fries's Rebellion was an anti-tax movement among Germans in Pennsylvania in 1799–1800. The largest flow of German immigration to America occurred between 1820 and World War   I , during which time nearly six million Germans immigrated to the United States. From 1840 to 1880, they were the largest group of immigrants. Following the Revolutions of 1848 in

6557-591: Was a particularly prominent example of such a German-Jewish immigrant. They formed Reform synagogues and sponsored numerous local and national philanthropic organizations, such as B'nai B'rith . This German-speaking group is quite distinct from the Yiddish-speaking East-European Jews who arrived in much larger numbers starting in the late 19th century and concentrated in New York. The port cities of New York City, and Baltimore had large populations, as did Hoboken, New Jersey . In

6640-627: Was also the Elector of Hanover in Germany, hired 18,000 Hessians . They were mercenary soldiers rented out by the rulers of several small German states such as Hesse to fight on the British side. Many were captured; they remained as prisoners during the war but some stayed and became U.S. citizens. In the American Revolution the Mennonites and other small religious sects were neutral pacifists. The Lutherans of Pennsylvania were on

6723-605: Was followed in 1608 by five glassmakers and three carpenters or house builders. The first permanent German settlement in what became the United States was Germantown, Pennsylvania , founded near Philadelphia on October 6, 1683. Large numbers of Germans migrated from the 1680s to 1760s, with Pennsylvania the favored destination. They migrated to America for a variety of reasons. Push factors involved worsening opportunities for farm ownership in central Europe, persecution of some religious groups, and military conscription; pull factors were better economic conditions, especially

6806-489: Was the Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad , which linked Germantown to a station at 9th and Green Streets in Center City . It opened in 1832, and was initially powered by horses. The inventor Matthias W. Baldwin built his first commissioned steam locomotive for the new railroad. Nicknamed Old Ironsides , it eventually reached a peak speed of 28 mph. Today two SEPTA Regional Rail lines connect

6889-590: Was the largest single immigration to America in the colonial period. Most were first settled along the Hudson River in work camps, to pay off their passage. By 1711, seven villages had been established in New York on the Robert Livingston manor. In 1723 Germans became the first Europeans allowed to buy land in the Mohawk Valley west of Little Falls . One hundred homesteads were allocated in

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