The First Germans Arriving In America

As you know, I'm half Irish, half German. I love writing posts about how these countries influenced America and the way we live here. Today, let's take a closer look at the first Germans that came to America.

In the U.S., we can find some 43 million Americans of German descent (2019), and some say it's even closer to 50 million. In fact, the Germans form the largest ancestry group in the United States.

Their number is higher than that of English, Irish, Mexican, African, or Italian Americans, and in total, German Americans make up some 17 percent of the entire American population.

The First Germans Arriving

Not bad, is it, for a group of settlers that started with only 13 families from a German town named Krefeld, right? They were the Germans first arriving in America.

German-American Day celebrates the German-American heritage that started when in 1683, 13 families first set up home on American soil in Pennsylvania, and the annual holiday is held on October 6.

The first Germans that actually came to America arrived already in 1608, but it wasn't until 1683 that the settlement of Germans in America really set off.

Francis Daniel Pastorius

In that year, a small group of German religious dissidents from Krefeld approached a lawyer for the German Society in Frankfurt named Francis Daniel Pastorius to help them to acquire land in the area that is now Pennsylvania.

They planned to set up a settlement in that area, and when they had finally reached the American shores, that is exactly what Pastorius did for the group.

The Birth Of Germantown

Pastorius' negotiations led to the purchase of land, almost 6.000 acres, from the Englishman who had established Pennsylvania some years earlier, William Penn. This piece of land is exactly where the town of Germantown was founded.

Of course, the early German settlers didn't escape Germany as we know it today. In the late 17th century, Germany did not exist as a nation or country. It wasn't until 1871 that Germany as a state was established.

Around 1683, however, there were separate states that were (although they all spoke German) self-ruled as sections of the Holy Roman Empire.

Religious tensions in those self-ruled states grew stronger, however, since Martin Luther had published his 95 in Wittenberg.

Though this already had occurred in 1517, it wasn't until many years later that his call for people to stick to the words of the Bible rather than those of the Pope caused so much uproar.

The 30 Years' War

In 1618, The 30 Years' War broke out, and this conflict turned out to be one of the worst periods in European History. This actually caused many Germans to turn their backs on their homeland and emigrate to The New World.

The Thirty Years' War had a terribly devastating impact on portions of Germany and Europe. The conflict resulted in the loss of some 25 percent of the German population, and many decided t seek a better future in America. Nowadays, immigrants face some other tough hurdles.

William Penn

In those days, William Penn made a few travels to Germany, attracting many Germans. William Penn spoke at meetings in the Rhineland area and in Frankfurt am Main about the religious freedom that could be found in Pennsylvania.

His speeches ignited much interest in America, and many Germans became interested in immigration. So when Pastorius was approached by a group of religious Mennonites in 1683, he went to Pennsylvania to buy land for the group.

In August of that same year, Pastorius arrived in America and negotiated with Penn the tract of land located just northwest of Philadelphia, and, as we now know, Germantown was born.

Pastorius divided the land between investors of the German Society and the emigrants from Krefeld who arrived in Philadelphia, on their ship, The Concord, on October 6 of that year.

During the following years, Germantown was a rapidly growing settlement consisting of mostly skilled farmers and dedicated craftspeople who sold their farm produce in and around Philadelphia and set up (among many other activities, a flourishing linen weaving business.