The United States of America has long been considered a “melting pot”, or mixture of citizens of many different ancestries. But according to the 2000 U.S. Census, 42.8 million Americans say they are of German descent, which represents 15.2% of the entire U.S. population.   

German immigrants came to America as early as 1608, when several Germans were among those who settled Jamestown. Later, in 1683, thirteen families of German Mennonites, led by Franz Pastorius, came to Pennsylvania, seeking religious freedom. They bought 43,000 acres of land and founded Germantown, six miles north of Philadelphia. This trend of immigration to America continued among Germans during the 1700s and 1800s, peaking in the 1880s. The National German-American Alliance had two million members by 1914.  

German immigrants came to America to find religious freedom and a better standard of living. As they became one of the predominant immigrant groups of the 19th century, their influence on the development of American culture began to grow. The U.S. educational system has its roots in German educational traditions, and in 1855, the first kindergarten was launched in Wisconsin, based on the kindergartens of Germany. The Christmas tree, the gift-giving Santa Claus, and the Easter Bunny are all of German origin. Chocolate, hot dogs, hamburgers, many types of sausages, and sauerkraut are all German inventions as well.

German-Americans have also contributed to the American ideals of freedom and democracy. In 1735, the first great victory for freedom of the press occurred when a jury found John Peter Zenger, a German-American printer and journalist, justified in criticizing the colonial government. A newspaper from Philadelphia that was printed in the German language was the first to report the Declaration of Independence. 

However, in spite of the fact that at least a sixth of the entire population of the United States is of German ancestry, the cultural identity of German-Americans has been subtle, at best. Dr. Russell Kazal, author of “Becoming Old Stock: The Paradox of German-American Identity” (2004), examines in his book how Americans of German descent left behind their German identity in the early twentieth century and redefined themselves according to race, class, nationalism and religion. Post-World War I German-Americans often defined themselves as Americans first and Germans second, and they, along with immigrants of other nationalities such as the Italians and southern European immigrants, assimilated into the new American post war culture. As African-Americans moved to the cities, color lines also blurred the cultural identity of any immigrants who were Caucasian.

Both World War I and World War II were huge factors in the loss of German- American cultural identity. In both wars, Germany was the enemy of America.  World War I began in 1914 and lasted until 1918, and by 1917, there was a tremendous amount of anti-German sentiment in the United States. In some states, the teaching of the German language was banned in schools, and German books were burned in the streets. Frankfurters became “hot dogs” and sauerkraut was called “liberty cabbage”. To prove their patriotism, people of German origin began to anglicize their names and parents would forbid their children to speak German outside the home. The author, Kurt Vonnegut, who was a child of third-generation German immigrants, wrote in his autobiographical novel, “Palm Sunday”:  “…the anti-Germanism in this country during the First World War so shamed and dismayed my parents that they resolved to raise me without acquainting me with the language or the literature or the music or the oral family histories which my ancestors had loved. They volunteered to make me ignorant and rootless as proof of their patriotism.”

In more recent times, however, German-American cultural identity may be making a bit of a comeback. According to Gregory Redding, a professor of modern languages and literature at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana, “the more homogenized our society becomes, the more we see some people seeking to differentiate themselves by forming distinct personal identities”.  

The state of Pennsylvania, which was one of the most popular areas for German immigration throughout American history, still has the largest population of German-Americans. It has 3.5 million people who claim German ancestry. Census figures indicate that German-Americans are slightly older and better-educated than the general population, with one-third having a bachelor’s degree or higher.