Immigration from Germany

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 to the United States. Following the Revolutions of 1848 in Germany, 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.

Location of German Communities

The cities of Milwaukee, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Chicago, New York, and Baltimore were favored destinations of German immigrants. Many communities acquired distinctive names suggesting their heritage, such as the "Over-the-Rhine" district in Cincinnati and the "German Village" in Columbus, Ohio. Milwaukee was once known as "the German Athens," and radical Germans trained in politics in the old country dominated the city's Socialists. Skilled workers produced many crafts, while entrepreneurs created the beer brewing industry; the most famous brands included Pabst, Schlitz, Miller, and Blatz.

While roughly half of German immigrants settled in cities, the other half established farms in the Midwest. From Ohio to the Plains states, a heavy presence of German heritage persists in rural areas today. Few Germans settled in the Deep South, apart from some in New Orleans.

German population in America, 1872

This map shows the large number of German Americans in the United States and their concentration in the northern region of the country.

Politics and Role in Society

Sentiment among German Americans was largely antislavery, especially among Forty-Eighters. Hundreds of thousands of German Americans volunteered to fight for the Union in the American Civil War, making them the largest immigrant group to participate. Although only one in four Germans fought in all-German regiments, they created the public image of the German soldier.

Relatively few German Americans held office, but the men voted after they became citizens. In general during the Third Party System (1850s–1890s), the Protestants and Jews leaned toward the new Republican Party and the Catholics were strongly Democratic. When prohibition was on the ballot, the Germans voted solidly against it. In the late nineteenth century, many Germans in cities were socialists, and Germans played a significant role in the labor-union movement.

The Germans worked hard to maintain and cultivate their language, especially through newspapers and classes in elementary and high schools. German Americans in many cities, such as Milwaukee, brought their strong support of education, establishing German-language schools and teacher-training seminaries (Töchter-Institut) to prepare students and teachers in German-language training. By the late nineteenth century, the Germania Publishing Company—a publisher of books, magazines, and newspapers in German—was established in Milwaukee.

"Germania" was the common term for German-American neighborhoods and their organizations. Deutschtum was the term for transplanted German nationalism, both culturally and politically. Between 1875 and 1915, the German-American population in the United States doubled, and many of its members worked hard to maintain their culture. German was used in local schools and churches, while numerous Vereine—associations dedicated to literature, humor, gymnastics, and singing—sprang up in German-American communities. German Americans tended to support the German government's actions, and, even after the United States entered World War I, they often voted for antidraft and antiwar candidates. Deutschtum in the United States disintegrated after 1918.