German-American Day

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The German-American Day (to German German-American Day ) is a holiday in the United States , which is celebrated annually on October 6. The holiday commemorates the German heritage in North America and refers to October 6, 1683, when thirteen German families from Krefeld and Lank-Latum (now part of the city of Meerbusch , Rhein-Kreis Neuss ) boarded the sailing ship Concord the North American Reached the coast. The emigrant group consisted of Quakers and Mennonites , who had previously been recruited by theologian Daniel Pastorius with the promise of religious freedom for the crossing to the Pennsylvania founded by William Penn . It was the first organized group of emigrants from what was then the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation to North America and the beginning of the German overseas migration . After crossing the Atlantic, the group founded Germantown ( Pennsylvania Dutch : Deitscheschteddel ) near Philadelphia on October 26 of the same year . This was the first German settlement in the Thirteen Colonies .

German-American Day was first celebrated in the 19th century, but this tradition died out due to the First World War and the anti-German sentiment prevailing in the United States during this time.

It was not revived until 1983, when then President Ronald Reagan proclaimed October 6th as German-American Day to celebrate and honor the 300th anniversary of the immigration of Germans and their culture to the United States. On August 6, 1987, the United States Congress passed a resolution declaring October 6 to be German-American Day . With the signature by President Reagan on August 18, the day was anchored in law. The official proclamation took place on October 2, 1987, as part of an official ceremony at the White House Rose Garden , at which President Reagan called on Americans to celebrate the day with adequate ceremonies and activities.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gazette Edition 2/2012 , page 4; Gazette is the magazine of the Association of German-American Clubs / Federation of German-American Clubs e. V.
  2. ↑ City of Krefeld: Americans celebrate “German-American Day”  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.krefeld.de  
  3. ^ German-American Day: A Short History ( Memento from June 4, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ^ Tricentennial Anniversary Year of German Settlement in America . January 20, 1983. Retrieved July 29, 2007.

Web links