German culture in America

[Crawford]

Ridgewood still has more than a trace of German influence. It might be the last urban U.S. neighborhood with a decent concentration of German merchants, though I think the large nearby Polish and other Slavic populations help keep some of the butchers and bakers afloat.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by James Bond Agent 007

My grandfather (from Germany) lived in Queens for a few years in the late 20's-early 30's in this house right here. I actually found out that address from his entry in the 1930 Census! He ended up moving back to Germany but died in WWII.

No Germans in this part of Queens, however, at least not in recent decades.

This is Elmhurst, which I believe is majority or plurality Asian, with a sizable Latino minority. It's ultra-diverse, even for Queens standards. It's the biggest Southeast Asian concentration in the NYC area.

[James Bond Agent 007]

Originally Posted by Crawford

No Germans in this part of Queens, however, at least not in recent decades.

This is Elmhurst, which I believe is majority or plurality Asian, with a sizable Latino minority. It's ultra-diverse, even for Queens standards. It's the biggest Southeast Asian concentration in the NYC area.

When he lived there, the entry in the census said he lived there as a boarder with what appears to be a mixed household. They all were from Germany as well. In fact, their names were:

Kuni Erhard - head of household
Joseph Endres - grandson
Mame Pape - granddaughter
Kurt Stehnike (my grandfather) - boarder
Kurt Hinze - boarder

You can find some really cool stuff by pouring through old census data.

[Docere]

German ancestry, Canada (2021)

Saskatchewan 272,475 24.7%
Alberta 641,025 15.3%
Manitoba 177,355 13.6%
British Columbia 539,145 11%
Nova Scotia 86,860 9.1%
Ontario 1,058,075 7.5%
Prince Edward Island 7,175 4.8%
New Brunswick 33,200 4.4%
Quebec 124,305 1.5%
Newfoundland 7,335 1.5%

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by James Bond Agent 007

When he lived there, the entry in the census said he lived there as a boarder with what appears to be a mixed household. They all were from Germany as well. In fact, their names were:

Kuni Erhard - head of household
Joseph Endres - grandson
Mame Pape - granddaughter
Kurt Stehnike (my grandfather) - boarder
Kurt Hinze - boarder

You can find some really cool stuff by pouring through old census data.

Oh absolutely. That's how my partner was able to find out more about his ancestors.

And the National Archives has a 72-year rule, so the 1950 Census records were released in April of last year. And of course my partner was totally on it and looked up his family when the 1950 Census was released.

[jmecklenborg]

If anyone's interested in some further reading, this guy has written quite a number of books on German-American subjects:
https://libapps.libraries.uc.edu/exh...ann-biography/

Here is a link to his many books on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=don+heinr...s_ts-doa-p_1_6

Are you interested in some super-obscure reading? German Pioneer Accounts of the Great Sioux Uprising of 1862 – January 1, 2002
https://www.amazon.com/German-Pionee...0-4513d670b6bc

Be the hero on trivia night.

[jmecklenborg]

Every March, Cincinnati has an event called Bockfest. It's a lot different than Oktoberfest. Unfortunately, this year's parade was cancelled due to a tornado.


People wear German and/or goat related costumes. This is the first time I saw someone dress as a Prussian army officer:

[Tom In Chicago]

^neat. . . is bock beer a thing, though? I've never had it while in Germany, but perhaps it's a seasonal thing like Weiss bier. . . of course we Americans will market the shit out of it so it's lost all meaning. . .

. . .

[jmecklenborg]

Originally Posted by Tom In Chicago

^neat. . . is bock beer a thing, though? I've never had it while in Germany, but perhaps it's a seasonal thing like Weiss bier.

Yeah, it's a spring beer. There was some sort of regional accent in Germany that caused the original word to be confused for "goat", so eventually it became "goat beer". There is no goat ingredient, just that alliterative accident.

In other news, I ran across a German society hall that is now apartments. What is unusual about this is that the building looks relatively new:
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2...80701685_zpid/

Per the county auditor, this building was built in 1950. My hunch is that it was not purpose-built but rather the German society moved into at some point around 1960 or 1970, but then dissolved or moved elsewhere.
https://wedge.hcauditor.org/view/re/...aerial_imagery

[Docere]

I like this ancestry map since it combines English/American:

https://i.redd.it/tmhr7ne1avt51.png

You can certainly see the clear separation of the German American Midwest and Pennsylvania and the Anglo-Saxon South.

[Nomad9]

Originally Posted by Docere

I like this ancestry map since it combines English/American:

https://i.redd.it/tmhr7ne1avt51.png

You can certainly see the clear separation of the German American Midwest and Pennsylvania and the Anglo-Saxon South.

That’s a cool map. It happens to draw a pretty accurate line between the Midwest and south, in my experience.

Also interesting that Washington and Oregon are divided. I would’ve suspected a more common ancestry in the PNW.

[Docere]

That doesn't sound right...

2021 ACS:

Washington

English/American 16%
German 14.8%

Oregon

English/American 18.9%
German 16.6%

[craigs]

Docere, have you ever explained why you just automatically conflate "English" ancestry with "American" ancestry and combine them? I don't think the people who identify as one are necessarily agreeing to identify as the other. It's quite possible that people who claim "American" ancestry just don't know where their ancestors came from, but that's not likely true of those who claim English ancestry. It might also be a socio-political thing, declaring "American" ancestry.

[Docere]

Regional distribution:

English/American

Northeast 6,797,465 13.7%
Midwest 9,740,049 19.7%
South 22,621,532 45.7%
West 10,291,972 20.8%

Total: 49,451,018

German

Northeast 6,383,529 15.1%
Midwest 15,961,078 37.8%
South 11,578,159 27.4%
West 8,297,414 19.7%

Total: 42,220,180

[jmecklenborg]

The map is as much a religious map as it is an ethnic one. Germany is primarily Catholic and Lutheran whereas England is conspicuously not Catholic. Unfortunately, the anti-Catholic sentiments brought over from England hundreds of years ago still fester in the American South.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by craigs

Docere, have you ever explained why you just automatically conflate "English" ancestry with "American" ancestry and combine them? I don't think the people who identify as one are necessarily agreeing to identify as the other. It's quite possible that people who claim "American" ancestry just don't know where their ancestors came from, but that's not likely true of those who claim English ancestry. It might also be a socio-political thing, declaring "American" ancestry.

"American" self-identified ancestry is strongly associated with the south, in particular the upland South.

Old-stock southerners are indeed mostly English. The influence of Scotch-Irish ancestry on the South has generally speaking been overblown, and many of the "Irish" of colonial times were people who lived in the north of England just a few generations before.

Self-identified English ancestry is instead mostly limited to old-stock New England Yankees, and their cultural descendants, the Mormons (though there was direct migration from the UK into Mormon culture in the early 19th century, so it was reinforced).

I'd also say - having lived in the UK for a time - that you can actually see that more people "look English" in parts of New England, and particularly in the South (though they're heavier of course). Most white folks in the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest just don't really "pass" as English.

[Steely Dan]

what percentage of white people in the US are of a single European nationality ancestry?

I'd guess that it's pretty damn small these days.

I have German, French, Irish, English and Scottish ancestry.

AKA "generic white American".

I wouldn't look out of place casually walking down the street of a small town in any of those nations were I dressed in the local custom.

I might also need a haircut; I have no idea how common long-hairs like me are in small town Europe.

[Docere]

Originally Posted by eschaton

"American" self-identified ancestry is strongly associated with the south, in particular the upland South.

Old-stock southerners are indeed mostly English. The influence of Scotch-Irish ancestry on the South has generally speaking been overblown, and many of the "Irish" of colonial times were people who lived in the north of England just a few generations before.

Self-identified English ancestry is instead mostly limited to old-stock New England Yankees, and their cultural descendants, the Mormons (though there was direct migration from the UK into Mormon culture in the early 19th century, so it was reinforced).

I'd also say - having lived in the UK for a time - that you can actually see that more people "look English" in parts of New England, and particularly in the South (though they're heavier of course). Most white folks in the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest just don't really "pass" as English.

There's been an uptick in "English" responses, and a decline in "American" responses. English now edges out Irish.

2021 ACS (1-year estimates)

German 42,220,180 12.7%
English 31,825,171 9.6%
Irish 31,495,897 9.5%

Compared to the 2000 census:

German 42.8 million
Irish 30.5 million
English 24.5 million

Correspondingly there's been a decline in "American" responses.

[Docere]

The increase in English is most notable in the South, where English responses now outnumber American responses.

English ancestry

Alabama 12.2%
Arkansas 11.8%
Kentucky 15.1%
North Carolina 13%
South Carolina 12.4%
Tennessee 13.5%

American ancestry

Alabama 12.8%
Arkansas 7.7%
Kentucky 11.4%
North Carolina 8.5%
South Carolina 8.6%
Tennessee 11.7%

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Docere

The increase in English is most notable in the South, where English responses now outnumber American responses.

English ancestry

Alabama 12.2%
Arkansas 11.8%
Kentucky 15.1%
North Carolina 13%
South Carolina 12.4%
Tennessee 13.5%

American ancestry

Alabama 12.8%
Arkansas 7.7%
Kentucky 11.4%
North Carolina 8.5%
South Carolina 8.6%
Tennessee 11.7%

If a change of that order can happen in the total absence of a statistically significant influx of people from England. that makes one wonder about the reliability of this kind of data sometimes.