The German Empire and German Americans
On this day in 1871 the Deutsches Reich, or German Empire, was proclaimed from a group of 26 disparate entities. My ancestors hailed from the western side of the Prussian empire near Coblenz, the Duchy of Nassau, the Kingdom of Hanover, and the Electorate of Hessen. Lately, I’ve been researching the 1920s, German immigration to the U.S., prohibition, and WWI. Most of my ancestors emigrated prior to unification and therefore, I don’t believe they ever identified with the German Empire as their homeland.