German-American Steuben Parade
| German-American Steuben Parade | |
|---|---|
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| information | |
| country |  United States
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| Venue | New York City |
| founding year | 1957 |
| Festival committee chairman | Robert K. Radske |
The German-American Steuben Parade is a traditional parade that takes place every year on the third Saturday in September on Fifth Avenue in New York City . The parade is one of the biggest events in the German-American festival calendar. It was founded in 1957 by Americans of German descent. They wanted to maintain the traditions of their homeland .
The German-Americans are the largest immigrant group in the USA to this day. About 15 percent of all Americans are of German origin or descent. Around 500,000 people of German descent live in New York City alone. The Steuben Parade is one of the largest festival parades on the east coast of the United States, it is attended by several thousand people annually.
history
The first Steuben Parade was held in 1957 in the Ridgewood neighborhood of Queens , New York . Most of the city's German-Americans lived there at the time . As more and more participants signed up over the years, the parade was moved to Fifth Avenue in Manhattan , where it now moves from 64th Street up to 86th Street. The 86th Street is again of particular importance for the German-Americans. Here, in the Yorkville neighborhood, was the German-American center of New York until the 1970s. The 86th Street itself had the unofficial nickname "Sauerkraut Boulevard" and was home to German restaurants, club houses, bakeries and butchers.
Von Steuben and the parade
The founders agreed to name the parade after Freiherr Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben , a highly decorated Prussian officer who renewed the Continental Army in his second career as an American general and became the hero of the American War of Independence under the command of George Washington . Steuben was a very active Freemason , he was admitted to Trinity Lodge No. 12 in New York around 1778 .
The Steubenparade is not a military event, but rather to be compared with a costume parade. Numerous groups from Germany take part every year, especially music clubs, traditional costume groups, carnival organizations and shooting clubs. After the parade had a Bavarian focus for years, it has opened up in recent years and also presents numerous groups from all other parts of Germany.
Grand Marshal and Guest of Honor
Every year the Steubenparade is led by two personalities: The Grand Marshal is mostly an American of German descent, and the annually changing Guest of Honor is a German with a special personal relationship or a special interest in the USA.
In 2007, on the 50th anniversary, the former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger , who was born in Germany, was Grand Marshal of the parade. The guest of honor was the former Chancellor Helmut Kohl .
Numerous prominent personalities have led the Steubenparade in recent years. Among the Grand Marshals to find the 2016 to the 45th President of the United States elected Donald Trump , Siegfried & Roy , George Steinbrenner , Carol Alt , Ralf Moeller , Eric Braeden , John Roland , Louis Freeh and some politicians who are not of German descent , but have always been strong partners for the German-Americans, including New York Mayors Michael Bloomberg and Rudolph Giuliani .
The guests of honor included three German Federal Presidents: Walter Scheel , Richard von Weizsäcker and Johannes Rau , as well as other guests from the political and economic environment, including the Prime Ministers Albert Osswald , Erwin Teufel , Kurt Biedenkopf , Bernhard Vogel , Ole von Beust and Lothar Late .
"The Steuben Parade is the only parade in New York where the streets are cleaner than before."
organization
The Steuben Parade and all associated events are organized by the German-American Steuben Parade Committee , a non-profit organization with exclusively volunteers. From 2005 to 2013, the German journalist Lars Halter was chairman (general chairman) of the committee, supported by three deputies (vice chairmen) : Geraldine Brand, Thomas Hacker and Herb Seeff. The members of the committee are representatives of the large German-American associations from the New York region.
Web links
swell
- ^ Steuben Parade in New York: Dirndl on Fifth Avenue. SPON on September 21, 2013 accessed on August 11, 2015.
- ↑ Alexander Osang: On thin ice. In: Der Spiegel . 40/2002, September 30, 2002.
- ↑ http://www.citykinder.com/cityportraits/lars-halter-steuben-parade/