Discovering where a family came from in the past is something many people have taken the time to look into. With this project, I was given the opportunity to do the same by tracing back my ancestors to their homeland and finding out how I eventually came to be living here in the United States of America. When I’ve heard German accents or seen video clips of Germany in the past, I never once thought of my ancestors until now. My mother’s ancestors immigrated to the United States from Germany. Therefore, I am German- American.
Through asking my Grandfather about our family’s history, I discovered that my relatives lived in an area south of Berlin around what is today Neu Zauche. My ancestors were agriculturalists and like many others, their crops consisted mainly of potatoes and wheat. That is as much knowledge about my own ancestors that I was able to obtain.
Right in the heart of Europe lays Germany. To the north, Germany borders Denmark, the Baltic Sea, and the North Sea. To the east there is Poland, the Czech Republic, and Austria. In the south lies Switzerland and to the west you’ll find the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg and France. Albert Einstein and Adolf Hitler are among the most famous to have ever come from Germany.
“Germany’s climate is moderate and generally goes without sustained periods of cold or heat. Northwestern and coastal Germany experience a maritime climate caused by warm westerly winds from the North Sea. The climate is characterized by warm summers and mild cloudy winters. Farther inland, the climate is continental, marked by greater seasonal variations in temperature, with warmer summers and colder winters.” (GermanCulture.com)
With the fall of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the way of life known for hundreds of years began to change. The political system, religion and economic systems no longer operated the same. Wages paid to laborers decreased and work became more and more difficult to find. Prices for living necessities began to increase as well which added to the economic downturn in Germany. Work became scarce due to thousands of German troops heading back out to the farm fields for work after their military service was completed.
Large numbers of German Immigrants to the United States began arriving in the mid 1840’s.With Germany becoming more and more industrialized many farmers began to realize their labor alone was not going to be enough to compete with the larger industrial producers. Therefore, thousands of laborers and small farmers began migrating to America.
Many subsistence strategies are demonstrated all throughout Germany. First of all, Agriculture plays a key role. “German agricultural exports and imports are among the highest in Europe.” (Organic- Europe) Agriculturalists produce beets, wheat, onions, cabbage, rye, fruit and potatoes in Germany. The leaders of all the production are the farmers. Physical labor in the fields is practiced from sun up to sun down during the planting, growing and harvesting stages. Labor then turns to the barns in the off season to repair and maintain all the farming equipment. Tools used in the agricultural trade include trucks for transportation of equipment, workers and crops, fertilizers to control pests and give crops nutrients and tractors to till, plant and harvest the German crop fields. Tens of thousands of German workers are employed due to Agriculture in their country.
Second, Electronic Information Technology (EIT) plays another large role in Germany’s subsistence strategies. Along with the United States, Germany is leading in internet usage at an estimated 54.2 million users in 2009. (Internetworldstats.com) Due to education in telecommunications, Germany has the best telecommunications system in the world. Instead of public payphones which require coins, their public phones have a card reader which you swipe your phone card through in order to access the phone line to make calls anywhere in the world. Of the three major subsistence strategies used by Germany, Electronic Information Technology is by far the most common.
Industrialism is another major subsistence strategy demonstrated in Germany. This includes mining, and manufacturing. Tools used in the mining industry include hand tools such as picks and pick axes, mining drills, railcars, and railroad systems for transporting mined materials. Automotive manufacturing is Germany’s primary industry. Many cars are manufactured in Germany including Audi, BMW, Mercedes – Benz, Porsche, and Volkswagen vehicles. Tools used to produce all these automobiles include steel, robots, machine tools, computers, glass makers and cows for the leather interiors. Work consists mainly of machine operators who watch over the machine technology in the automobile manufacturing plants to make sure they run smoothly and work continues at a constant rate to ensure an efficient output of product.
With the unification of Germany, came their centralized political system. Germany is governed by a Federal Republic. Power lies with the Chancellor, who leads the executive branch and is in charge of all government policies. The president on the other hand represents Germany in foreign affairs and is the head of state.
Germany is classified as a Social Market Economy. That means the people want to be free of state interference and offer protection to workers to maintain a stable economy. Germans usually deposit their money directly into banks which also creates a “Bank” economy. This means that Germany’s banks are provided with the country’s investment capital instead of money going directly to the stock market.
Exports of food and automobiles to the United States and other Western European nations are exchanged for goods and services Germany needs to survive. As mentioned, beets, wheat, onions, cabbage, rye, fruit and potatoes are the main exports in Agriculture, whereas Audi, BMW, Mercedes – Benz, Porsche, and Volkswagen are the main exports for German Industrialism. Citizens exchange euros as currency with negative reciprocity so everyone is trying to get the “better half” of the exchange.
Religion is quite evident throughout Germany. I interviewed John Commissaris, who was stationed in Germany with the United States Air Force for a year. John said the Catholic churches in Germany take your breath away when you look up at their architecture. 54.7 million or 67% of Germans practice Christianity, followed by 3.3 million or 4% who practice Islam. Germany runs on a separation of church and state, leaving the two apart from each other.
In Germany, love and race play the biggest roles in who marries who. I found it interesting that German women are more likely to marry a man from America, Yugoslavia or Italy than a man from Germany! The German men are also more likely to marry someone they fall in love with from Yugoslavia, Austria or Poland! But it is all based on love. There is no tradition of arranged marriages in Germany.
While talking to John, I realized how much he really had grown to enjoy different parts of German culture. “Little things you don’t always think about become very noticeable in another country, like the fact that girls don’t shave here like they do back home.” (John) But he also said that girls there don’t wear clothes that show too much skin such as short shorts or skirts. I found it interesting that the roads are much narrower in Germany and public transportation is very popular. When he goes to the city he and his friends take the bus everywhere they go. “The beer is so strong here too!” (John) That seemed to be his favorite part. “Bars are more common than McDonalds and people drink like there is no tomorrow.” (John) I’m guessing they do drink a TON because he was no lightweight around here. He said that theatre is more popular there than anywhere else he has been. There are big theatres in most of the cities and they advertise plays and musicals. But the biggest difference he said was the language. For the first couple of weeks he felt like he was being yelled at by the locals when he would ask a question because their accents are so sharp and have a stern sound to them. I wanted to know what the people look like in Germany and he said the main difference is their weight. He said it is rare to see an obese person walking around like you do here in the states.
I am glad I learned more about my ancestors. Not only did millions of people migrate to America for “the better life” but it was mainly to escape from something holding them back in their home countries. I am proud to know where I came from and now when I hear a German accent or see a clip from Germany, I think about my ancestors.