Title: US immigration: America’s German roots
Headings: History part 1: America’s German roots
History part 1: America’s German roots
Germans are the largest immigrant group in the USA – and yet are the least visible.
Klaus Lüber / 02.10.2018
A new life in “the land of the free”
Mobile and well-integrated

Content: Rumour had it that the Queen of England would gift them land, but this proved to be just that – a rumour. In the end, 3,000 made it across the Atlantic and settled in what is now Albany, New York. YouTube
A new life in “the land of the free”
The situation in Germany worsened when the start of industrialisation caused the population to grow dramatically. In the mid-19th century, around three quarters of farmers did not have enough land to make a living, hence they began migrating in huge numbers from 1816 – the start of official German mass emigration to the USA. The opportunities seemed too good to be true: A peasant farmer who had to survive on half a hectare of land in Germany could acquire 64 hectares after just ten years in the United States. A lack of political prospects was also a motivational factor behind emigration. For many people, the failure of the Revolution of 1848 represented proof that common people were unlikely to gain any rights to freedom in Germany anytime in the near future, and as a result, many members of the left-wing liberal middle classes and their supporters emigrated to the USA – the so-called “48ers”. German emigrants wait in Hamburg for their ship passage. Handout/Pressemitteilung/Getty Images
Mobile and well-integrated
Once in the USA, the Germans initially established themselves as a respected immigrant group, classic “hyphen-Americans” with dual identity.