My Family, the Berlin Wall and Context
November 9th marks the 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. It has been on my mind a lot lately. Over the last month I’ve read a few
#germanamericans
Being German in America Series: Part 1
I have been fascinated with my immigrant ancestors for much of my life. Like many people I wonder about their motivations for leaving their homeland and taking that chance for a more prosperous and fulfilling life in a new land. Their journeys sometimes were challenging and even life-threatening, but most made it here in the second half of the nineteenth century. This is the first in a series of articles I am writing about my German kin.
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.