Author’s Note: All research is thanks to the National Day Calendar, German-Way, and NDSU Library. Anyone interested in learning more about Germans from Russia can visit the NDSU Library Germans from Russia Heritage Collection homepage.
I don’t think it’s a secret that America is full of different people from different countries. Even at NDSU, you walk to class and encounter people from all over the world and almost every continent.
With so many cultures, we still find so many of the students are Midwesterners. For those of us with German heritage, we can thank President Ronald Reagan for creating a holiday especially for us. On October 6, National German-American Day honors all those with German blood flowing in our veins.
The very first German-speaking immigrants to America arrived at Jamestown Colony in Virginia in 1608. However, the first real German settlement was not founded until 1683 in Pennsylvania. Germantown, as it was appropriately named, became the first permanent German settlement in all of North America. The settlers were mostly made up of Quakers and Mennonites, many of Swedish and Dutch heritage as well, who left Europe to escape religious persecution like so many others during that time.
Many other German families followed throughout the centuries and established a prominent German-American culture.
German newspapers became the first non-English literature printed in North America, as they were the largest non-English speaking group for many years. Sadly, most of these publications, as well as German speech, all but disintegrated during World War One and World War Two.
In the Midwest, much of our German heritage is thanks to Germans from Russia, those from Germany who originally escaped a disunited Germany in the 1700s to Russia, thanks to a promise of free farmland and autonomy from Russian Czarina Catherine the Great.
When Russia began its reforms following its loss of the Crimean War in the 1860s, the German settlers saw their privileges and freedoms being slowly revoked and decided it was time for them to move on, just as their ancestors had done.
The Germans from Russia settled across the globe but mostly in the North American Great Plains, from Canada down to Texas.
These would be the vast majority of those of us in the Midwest with German heritage. North Dakota became the largest region of Germans from Russia, with some 70,000 people with this heritage living in the state in the 1920s.
These people brought over much of their culture and refined it to be their own. Many older generations of Germans from Russia still speak German as they did at home when they were young and teach their children to cook traditional German foods such as dampfnudel and sauerkraut.
German newspapers became the first non-English literature printed in North America, as they were the largest non-English speaking group for many years. Sadly, most of these publications, as well as German speech, all but disintegrated during World War One and World War Two.
German-Americans also had a great impact on society. One of our own North Dakotans went on to become one of the greatest television persons of his time. Lawrence Welk, born in Strasburg, North Dakota, in 1903, hosted “The Lawrence Welk Show,” a TV program featuring champaign music that aired for more than thirty years.
Other German-Americans with a profound impact on society include the famous musician John Denver; actor Leonardo Di Caprio; Gertrude Ederle who was the first woman to swim the English Channel; scientist and Nobel prize winner Albert Einstein; Presidents Herbert Hoover and Dwight Eisenhower; Baseball Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig; Henry J. Heinz, the founder of Heinz ketchup; actor Rob Lowe; actress Angelina Jolie; and comedian Jimmy Kimmel.
The observance of National German-American Day began in 1883 when German-Americans began celebrating the 200th anniversary of the founding of Germantown, Pennsylvania. However, when World War One began and anti-German attitudes swept the nation, the tradition died out. Decades later, on the 300th anniversary of Germantown’s founding on October 6, 1983, Germans from both America and Germany joined together to revive the holiday. President Ronald Reagan commemorated the event and declared the day to be, officially, National German-American Day. While Congress didn’t make it official until 1987, the day was now forever stamped for the people who had influenced the nation in so many ways.
Today, many Americans are proud of their German heritage, known for their strong work ethic and traditional values. On October 6, whether you have any German blood or not, there is a strong possibility that you know someone who does. Eat some sauerkraut, dance a polka, watch a Leo Di Caprio movie, and take time to appreciate all the Germans in your life.