“America Cultivates Best What Language and Culture Germany Brought Forth,” DEUTSCH, THE GERMAN LANGUAGE, is an Indo- SAID BENJAMIN FRANKLIN of the rich culture and of the Germanic language and related to Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, social and work ethics of the German people. Dutch, Flemish, English, and remnants of Frisian. The old Germanic alphabet consisted of 24 runes. High German was IN SEARCH of land for farming and work opportunities, the developed after Martin Luther's translation of the Bible (1522). Germans have come to America. • German is mother tongue of 100 million people in Europe • Approx. 1,000 A.D.: Tyrker the German (fellow explorer of including Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, South Tyrolia, Leif Eriksson) is first recorded German to set foot on North Belgium, France (Elsass-Lothringen), and Luxembourg. America in area of New England states. • Across the world, 300 million people speak German. • 1683: First registered group of 13 families arrived on "Con- cord" and founded Germantown, Pennsylvania. A National Hero • 1820-1920: mass immigration, 6 million Germans founded “Little Germanies” in New York, Milwaukee, St. Louis, and Officially, Germany has no national hero. Many Germans are Cincinnati. admired and honored, like: • 1920-1984: 1.5 million Germans came to U.S. KONRAD ADENAUER (1876-1967), founding father of the Religious Beliefs Federal Republic of Germany. First Chancellor in aftermath THE LARGEST ETHNIC GROUP IN THE U.S. IS OF of World War II (1949 to 1963) GERMAN DESCENT ( 1990 U.S. census): “FREEDOM OF RELIGIOUS OR OTHER BELIEF • Integrated West Germany into the Western Atlantic Alliance. U.S.: 59,947,374 = 23.3% of U.S. population SHALL BE INVIOLABLE” (Basic Law, article 4) • West Germany underwent economic recovery from war devasta- MICHIGAN: 2,480,071 = 28% of state’s population • 60 million people belong to a church tion and entered numerous unions with Western Europe STERLING HEIGHTS: 33,661 = 29% of city’s population - 30 million Lutherans (Protestants) • Set the foundation for the “Deutsche Wirtschaftswunder,” - 28 million Roman Catholics the German Economic Miracle (Ludwig Erhard) GERMAN AMERICAN DAY: October 6th (since 1987) - 2 million Muslims, mostly Turkish workers • 1952: Rejected Stalin's offer of re-uniting Germany as a STERLING HEIGHTS AREA RELIGIOUS CENTERS: neutral country as far as the Oder-Neisse line Physical Characteristics of Germany • German Church of God - Dodge Park Rd., Sterling Heights • 1954: Achieved repatriation of German POWs from Com- • St. Peter’s Lutheran Church - Chicago Rd., Warren munist Russia BUNDESREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND, the Federal Re- public of Germany is a vital link in the heart of Europe. Cultural Characteristics Ancient History • Capital: Berlin • Seat of government: Bonn • High ethic values: Ehre = honor, practiced from childhood on; THE GERMANS ARE DIRECT DESCENDANTS of the • Member of the European Union (EU) and NATO Treue = loyalty, faithfulness, fidelity; Ehrlichkeit = honesty Germanic tribes, belonging to the Indo-Aryan race. • Land area: 137,800 sq. mi. - Population: 79.7 million • Gastfreundschaft = hospitality • 9 A.D.: Armin the Cherusker Prince freed North Germany from (compared with Montana: 147,000 sq. mi./824,000 people) • Gemuetlichkeit = cheerful get-together Roman supremacy in the Teutoburger Wald battle. Armin • Five geographic regions: North German Plain, Central Up- • Disciplined and effective work force became the first national hero of Germany. land Rift, South-West German Hills, Alpine Foothills, Ba- • Pride in craftsmanship • 782 A.D.: Emperor Karl the Great, “Charlemagne,” broke the varian Alps • Renowned for highest educational standards Germans' resistance against Christendom by beheading 4,500 Sax- • High regard for dignity and privacy of others ons. BORDERED BY: • Famous for beer brewing and wine vintage • 962 A.D.: Otto the Great united the leading German states • Denmark - north with North and Baltic Seas (Reinheitsgesetz = Purity Law from 1516) Saxony, Bavaria, Franconia, and Lorraine by formation of the • Poland - east • Famous for cold cuts and baked goods “Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation.” • Czech Republic, Austria - south-east • Bloody resistance by farmers is scattered throughout • Switzerland - south HOLIDAYS CELEBRATED Germany’s history during the struggle of monarchs and the • France -west • January 1: New Year’s Day, New Year’s Eve party with Roman Catholic Church for their land. • Luxembourg, Belgium, Netherlands - north-west fireworks • 1438 to 1806: rule of emperors of the Habsburg dynasty; • Easter: by ancients, a spring celebration; hare and egg are kingdoms such as Bavaria, Brandenburg (Prussia), Saxonia, CLIMATE OF PRONOUNCED SEASONS: ancient symbols for life eternal and Austria raised to strong powers. • Early spring in March, hot summers, georgeous autumns • May 1: Tag der Arbeit (1889 workers' movement) • Frederick the Great (1712-1786): Hohenzollern Dynasty ("Altweibersommer" like Indian Summer), winters with • Ascension of Christ (also Fathers' Day) made Prussia model state. Superior military strike force. moderate snowfalls, more in the Alps, which harbor ski- • Pentecost Sunday and Monday Patron of culture and philosophy, granted freedom of reli- resorts popular world wide • October 3: Day of Germany’s Unification (since1990) gion: "Everyone shall find bliss in their own fashion." • Dec. 25 and 26: Christmas with the coniferous tree; the • 1871: Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898), "Architect of the 20th winter solstice celebration of ancient tradition Century Europe", converted the federation into a German Empire (Deutsches Reich) under the King of Prussia. • 1871 to 1918: the Hohenzollern emperors governed Germany until its defeat in World War I. Last German emperor: Wilhelm II. Published by the City of Sterling Heights Community Relations Department Modern History • Jacob (1785-1863) & Wilhelm (1786-1827) Grimm: prose writers and authors of the Fairy Tales • 1919: Germany became a democratic republic. • Arthur Schoppenhauer (1788-1860): philosopher • 1933: General Field Marshall Paul von Hindenburg ap- • Karl Spitzweg (1808-1885): painter pointed Adolf Hitler Chancellor, which gave rise to the • Franz Schubert (1797-1828): composer Getting to know your... National Socialistic Workers’ Party (“Nazis”). • Robert Schumann (1810-1856): composer • 1939: German invasion of Poland was followed by war • Johannes Brahms (1833-1897): composer declaration from the United Kingdom, which started World • Richard Wagner (1813-1883): composer War II. • Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900): philosopher • 1945: Germany suffered total defeat, accepting uncondi- • Max Reger (1873-1916): composer tional surrender. • Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928- ): composer • 1949: Country split by the victorious powers: West (Federal • Kaethe Kollwitz (1867-1945): sculptor, painter German- Republic of Germany), occupied by France, the United • Thomas Mann (1875-1955): novelist, essayist Kingdom, U.S.A.; and the East (German Democratic Repub- • Martin Heidegger (1889- ): philosopher lic), occupied by the Soviet Union. • Hermann Hesse (1877-1962): novelist • 1961: Walter Ulbricht erected Berlin Wall • Guenther Grass (1927- ): poet, novelist American • 1989: East Germany’s regime suspended border controls, • Film Industry: Marlene Dietrich, Curd Juergens, Gerd effectively opening the Wall. Re-Unification Froebe, Klaus and Natascha Kinski Famous Germans GERMAN NAMES IN AMERICAN SOCIETY: Neighbors • Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben (1730-1794): General, served GERMANS WHO CONTRIBUTED TO CIVILIZATION under Frederick the Great (Seven Year War); 1778: ap- • Johannes Gutenberg (1400-1468): inventor of book printing pointed by George Washington to train and lead the North • Martin Luther (1483-1546): reformator, founder of German American Army to fight for independence from England Protestantism (Lutherans) (Battles of Monmouth and Yorktown); Chief General of • Adam Riese (1492-1559): mathematician Staff in Washington; 1783: received the U.S. citizenship, • Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel (1738-1822): astronomer, dis- settled in New York State. covered Uranus, its moons, and Saturn’s moons • Albert Einstein (1879-1955): Quantum Mechanics, Nobel • Karl Ferdinand Braun (1850-1918): wireless telegraphy with Prize for physics 1921 crystal detector - Nobel Prize 1909 • Levi Strauss: garments from tent canvas, blue jeans • Heinrich Hertz (1857-1894): physicist, electro-magnetic waves • Henry Steinway: world famous pianos • Gottlieb Daimler (1834-1900) and Karl Benz (1844-1929): • Sebastian S. Kresge (1867-1966): founder of K-Mart Corp. inventors of the automobile • Walter Philip Reuther (1907-1970): U.A.W. president • Robert Koch (1843 -1910): physician; found tuberculosis • Busch, Pabst, Schlitz, Stroh: families in beer brewing and cholera causing bacteriae via microscope • Margaretha Meyer Schurz: introduced Kindergarten 1855 • Max Planck (1858-1947): physicist, quantum theory - ther- • U.S. Generals: George Armstrong Custer (Koester), John modynamics, "Planck's Constant", Nobel Prize 1918 Pershing, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Norman Schwartzkopf • Wilhelm Konrad Roentgen (1894-1989): X-rays, Nobel Prize • John Jacob Astor (1763-1848): richest man in the U.S. 1901 • Governors of Michigan: Alexander Groesbeck (1921 to • Otto Hahn (1879-1968): chemist, nuclear fission of Uran - 1926) and Gerhard Mennen Williams (1949 to 1960) Nobel Prize 1944 • Henry Kissinger (1923- ): international advisor to Presidents • Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976): nuclear physicist,