American with German Heritage

More than a million Germans arrived in the United States between 1845 and 1855 ^[1]US History, Irish and German Immigration, and many more came after that. They were fleeing political strife and economic hardship. Even so, many had enough money to travel to the Midwest in search of farmland. That’s exactly what my family did, only they arrived much earlier.

The first of my German ancestors to arrive was Jacob Mueller. He came to Southwestern Illinois by way of New Orleans in 1828, along with two friends. Other Mueller family members came later and, eventually, Jacob married and had his own family. From there sprouted many generations and many of us still live within an hour (or so) of the original German settlements.

Today, over 44 million Americans claim German heritage ^[2]Travel Germany.

Claiming German Heritage

I have German on all sides of my family except one. Each side rarely or never married outside of the German community. My maternal grandma was the first in her line to marry a non-German… Grandpa was of Scottish heritage. He had the fiery red hair and blue eyes to boot.

Even inside a family who did not intermarry until my own grandma, she did not claim her German heritage. She was “Dutch” and would never admit being German. On a side note, my dad’s German grandmother was a bit that way, too. As a child, I didn’t know any better… Dutch was just what we were. Except we weren’t… aren’t.

Even when I was in high school and had to decide on a foreign language class, German was forbidden. Okay, Grandma strongly suggested I take something else, but, still, the message was clear. She knew German, but wouldn’t speak it. She also knew Latin and tried to teach me once. That was funny! I am definitely not not good with languages.

So why all the “we are not German”? The World Wars. As I have studied history in my life, I have come to realize just exactly why we were “Dutch”. Being German-American during the years of the World Wars was not popular. It did not matter how long families had been in the USA, there was fear that just being German was enough to be persecuted. Why the fear? Patriots feared German sympathy from German Americans, to put it plainly.

There are moments when I wonder if Grandma married a Scot to have a non-German surname. I am confident she loved him but put a stubborn German and a fiery Scot in the same house and sparks will fly, trust me. Regardless of the motive, I am here because of it.

I am Happily & Stubbornly German

I met a German in 2009 who became a close family friend, a brother. We bonded over food, and I have learned a lot from his family about German food and culture. I feel like I missed out on German traditions because we were not raised German. My mom and her siblings were not raised German. The families had assimilated into American life completely by the time my mom’s generation came along. Stepping into the shoes of my Grandparents, I understand why.

I have long embraced my Scottish roots. I mean, come on, who doesn’t love a Highlander in a kilt speaking Gaelic. Okay, moving on.

But, I never gave more than a passing thought to my German roots. They were never as romantic, or interesting. They are most of me, however.

So, I’m on a quest.

What does it mean to be a German who thought she was Dutch but knew she was Scottish and is all American?