Celebrating 400 years of German-American Heritage

Immigrants from Germany were among the first European settlers in North America, the first group arriving in 1608, only one year after the establishment of the first permanent English settlement in Jamestown, Virginia. They were lured to the New World by the promise of a brighter future. The first ship to carry Germans to the American East Coast was the "Mary and Margaret." At the time of their arrival, Jamestown was nothing more than a small wooden fort on the James River near what is now Norfolk, Virginia. These earliest immigrants from Germany brought with them the skills they had acquired in their home country, among them trades such as carpentry and glassblowing, as well as their agricultural knowledge and culinary expertise. Equipped with these essential skills, they contributed greatly to the survival of the first groups of settlers. Their crops and meals helped to feed the hungry and improve health conditions.

In 2008 Germanfoods.org pays tribute to this long and eventful history of immigration and to the achievements of German-Americans of the past and present.

Learn more about German-American history, modern Germany and the state of German America at GERMAN ORIGINality, brought to you by the German National Tourism Office and the German Information Center USA.

GERMAN ORIGINality