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The Week in Germany: Culture October 5, 2007 New Campaign Reaches out to 43 Million Americans with German Heritage In Honor of the 400 Years of German Immigration to America, German National Tourist Office and German Information Center USA launch joint initiative
Over four centuries, since the first German blacksmiths arrived in Jamestown in 1608, German-Americans have left an indelible mark on the nation's social, cultural, economic, and political fabric. From General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, the architect of the Continental Army's victory over the British, to Carl Laemmle, the founder of Universal Pictures, to Albert Einstein and Levi Strauss, German-Americans are behind many institutions and achievements considered quintessentially American. They also make up America's largest ethnic group, with 43 million Americans claiming German heritage in the most recent US census. The German Information Center USA and the German National Tourist Office have launched a campaign raise awareness among all Americans of German-Americans important contributions and help German-Americans reconnect with their roots. The newly launched website www.germanoriginality.com is just the beginning of the joint initiative. The site provides links to ancestry websites, personal profiles of famous German Americans, an overview of German products and inventions, a transatlantic emigration time-line and an interactive map of Germany. Community features will include recipes and a forum for sharing stories and photographs, a calendar of German events in America and lists of German American societies. While focusing on America's historic links to Germany, www.germanoriginality.com also presents modern Germany as a captivating travel destination. Resources for planning and booking a trip to Germany are just a mouse-click away. GERMANS IN AMERICA, a four-part television series about German immigrants in the United States, will be released for public television broadcast via NETA, the National Educational Telecommunications Association, in Spring 2008. Originally made for European television by award-winning producer Axel Engstfeld, the series combines captivating historical dramatizations shot on location in the U.S. and Europe, rarely-seen archival footage and poignant interviews with descendants of early German settlers to bring German-American alive. South Carolina ETV and NETA joined forces with the Goethe-Institut and the German Information Center to adapt the film for American television. More at www.GermansInAmerica.org. Wolfgang Tiefensee, Germany’s Federal Minister of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs, introduced these initiatives to members of the Congressional Study Group on Germany at a breakfast organized by the Study Group, the German Embassy, and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung on October 3, 2007. October 3 is the Day of German Unity, which marks the unification of East and West Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and October 6 is German-American Day, which was proclaimed by President Reagan to honor the contributions of German-Americans to American society and the friendship between the German and American people. Links: Discover German Originality (the new heritage website) GermanyinAmerica (more about the four-part heritage mini-series) German National Tourist Office Welcome to the Garden of Ideas (from Germany.info) The Day of German Unity - October 3 (from Germany.info) Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Washington DC Office More about the Congressional Study Group on Germany (USAFMC) |
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