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Historical Researcher Grassl Honored for Work on Germans at Jamestown

Award: Ambassador Scharioth applauds Grassl after presenting him with the award.
© German Embassy

Nearly 400 years after German craftsmen arrived in Jamestown, among the settlers of the earliest permanent English colony in America, Gary C. Grassl, a tenacious historical researcher, made sure their contribution was finally acknowledged with a historical marker near the settlement in Virginia.

On July 30, 2007, Germany made sure to acknowledge Grassl’s contribution over the years to promoting and preserving the history and achievements of German-Americans. Ambassador Klaus Scharioth, acting on behalf of Federal President Horst Köhler, presented the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany to Grassl, president of the German-American Heritage Society of Greater Washington, DC.

“Your major contribution has been researching the German settlers in the Jamestown area in 1608,” Ambassador Scharioth said at the ceremony at his residence. “These carpenters and glassmakers were among the first craftsmen [in the colonies]. Their contribution might have been forgotten if you had not researched and written about their story.”

Honor: Ambassador Scharioth with, from left, his wife, Ulrike Scharioth, Garry Grassl and his wife
© German Embassy

Grassl’s writings include the paper, “Dr. Johannes Fleischer, the First Botanist/Scientist in Jamestown;” a recounting of the life of Joachim Gans, possibly the first metallurgist to arrive in North America; and perhaps his most important publication, “First Germans at Jamestown.”

This last booklet served as the basis for Grassl’s efforts, supported by the German-American Heritage Society, to have Virginia place a historical marker near Jamestown on VA Route 31 in 1998 commemorating the arrival of German craftspeople 1608 and 1620.

“You have made a major contribution in keeping alive the memory of those Germans who contributed in colonial society,” Ambassador Scharioth said.

Presentation: Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
© German Embassy

In accepting the award, Grassl thanked Ambassador Scharioth and also took the opportunity to promote the celebration in April 2008 of the 400th anniversary of the arrival of Germans at Jamestown.

August 1, 2007

Link

German-American Heritage Society of Greater Washington, DC

.04.2007 10:51 AM

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