Nearly one-quarter of Americans can trace their roots back to a German family tree (www.germany-info.org), according to the German Embassy in Washington, D.C.
Some German immigrants came directly to America. Others took the scenic route. In his scholarly paper on German migration patterns, Dr. Panikos Panayi, a professor of European History at De Montfort University in Leicester, England, explains why the Germans emigrated in large numbers and how many first made England their home. Panayi agreed by e-mail to allow me to quote from his work.
He said his paper was the result of his interest as an undergraduate in Anglo-German relations at the start of the 20th century. "One of my tutors suggested that I should look at Germans in Britain during the First World War, and it all grew from there," he said. The following information is paraphrased from his work.
Protestant refugees entered Britain as early as the 16th century, fleeing from instability caused by religious changes related to the Reformation. By 1700, a significant German community had developed.
A major influx into London occurred in 1708-09 from the Palatinate, partly on the instigation of Queen Anne, who offered to send the newcomers to the British colony in Carolina.
Other factors included a population boom coupled with an economic crisis. A strange land distribution system in Germany resulted in a multitude of tiny holdings that were often unable to support farm families. An inheritance system in parts of Germany gave land only to the oldest son.
Eventually nearly 15,000 Palatines arrived in London, where they faced widespread persecution. Nearly all departed for destinations that included North America and southern Ireland.
From 1861, when the first British census counted immigrants on a nationwide scale, until 1891, Germans formed the largest continental grouping in the country. The German population in England and Wales increased from 28,644 in 1861 to 53,324 in 1911.
The biggest exoduses of German migrants occurred during the 1800s, 1930s and after WWII. Destinations were global.
Flight from Germany was not a steady stream during the 1800s by a series of peaks. One took place from 1846-57 during a socio-economic crisis. Others came during 1864-73 and 1880-93. These mass exoduses were essentially caused by booms in the American economy which had the power to suck in millions of immigrants from all over Europe. In all, about 5-million people left Germany during the 1800s. The vast majority made its way to America.
Starting in the 1840s, most German emigrants sailed out of Hamburg and Bremen. Many ships, especially those from Bremen, went directly to America. Sailing from Hamburg to east-coast British ports and then by rail to Liverpool remained important throughout the 1800s. Many immigrants continued on to America. Some stayed in Britain.
Germans also migrated to Britain to join family who were already there. Natives of Hanover and Hesse also gravitated to London.
Males comprised nearly two-thirds of German immigrants in Britain between 1861 and 1911. The percentage of children under fifteen declined from 6.7 per cent in 1861 to 2.9 percent 50 years later.
Germans, whether male or female, tended to move to Britain as unmarried individuals. Any children that they had within the country became British citizens because of nationality laws. The gender structure, while uneven, enabled Germans to marry each other and also led to the intermarriage of German males with English women.
-- Read past Donna Murray Allen columns online at www.sptimes.com Type "Donna Murray Allen" in the search box. You can write to Allen c/o Floridian, St. Petersburg Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731, or e-mail her at rootscolumn@yahoo.com Her Web site: www.rootsdetective.com includes information on classes and lectures. Allen welcomes your questions about genealogy and will respond to those of general interest in future columns.
