German language in the United States

Around 1800, two German-language Methodist churches were founded, the Vereinigten Brüder in Christo and the Evangelische Gemeinschaft. Both used Methodist hymnals in German and published German newspapers, of which one existed until 1937. From the middle of the 19th century English was used as a second language in the churches, but there were regions in which German was the main church language into the 20th century. In 1937 both churches fused and joined the United Methodist Church in 1968.

German newspapers in the U.S., 1922.

A 1940s-era poster discouraging the use of Italian, German, and Japanese.

The first German newspaper in the U.S. was der Hochdeutsch-Pennsylvanische Geschicht-Schreiber, oder Sammlung Wichtiger Nachrichten aus dem Natur- und Kirchen-Reich ("the High German-Pennsylvanian story-writer, or collection of important news from the realms of nature and the church"), later known as die Germantauner Zeitung.[11] It was a German-language paper, Der Pennsylvanische Staatsbote that on July 5, 1776, was the first paper to report the American Declaration of Independence, and it did so in German translation. English readers would have to wait a day later to read the English text in the Pennsylvania Evening Post.

In the 19th century the German press increased in importance and the number of dailies exploded. In 1909 a report stated "every American city or town with a large German population possesses one or more German newspapers. In New York City there are twelve or more... the best... being... the New Yorker Staats-Zeitung. The Illinois Staats-Zeitung has nearly as large a circulation, and the Milwaukee Germania claims the largest circulation of all. The Milwaukee Herold comes not far behind. Philadelphia has its Demokrat, Baltimore its Correspondent, Cincinnati its Volksblatt, St. Louis... its... Die Westliche Post, where Joseph Pulitzer started his career, and Der Anzeiger des Westens." It also reported that compared to 17,194 English papers in the U.S. in 1900, there were 613 German ones. The next largest language group, the Scandinavian, had only 115.[11]

With repression of the German language during World War I, the German press in America was reduced dramatically.

When the U.S. joined in World War I, an anti-German hysteria quickly spread in American society. German-Americans, especially immigrants, were blamed for military acts of the German Empire, and even speaking German was seen as unpatriotic. Many German-American families anglicized their names (e.g. from Schmidt to Smith, Schneider to Taylor, Müller to Miller), and German nearly disappeared in public. Many states forbade the use of German in public and the teaching of German in schools.

An extensive campaign forbade all things German, such as performing the music of German composers at symphony concerts. Language was the focus of legislation at state and local levels. It took many forms, from requiring associations to have charters written in English to banning speaking German within city limits. Some states banned the teaching of all foreign languages, though most only banned German. A bill was introduced in October 1918 to create a national Department of Education, intended to restrict federal funds to states that enforced English-only education. The Lutheran Church was divided by an internal battle over conducting services and religious instruction in German.[12]

On April 9, 1919, Nebraska enacted a statute called "An act relating to the teaching of foreign languages in the state of Nebraska," commonly known as the Siman Act. It provided that "No person, individually or as a teacher, shall, in any private, denominational, parochial or public school, teach any subject to any person in any language other than the English language." It forbade foreign instruction to children who had not completed the eighth grade. A total ban on teaching German in both public and private schools was imposed for a time in at least 14 states, including California, Indiana,[13] Wisconsin,[14] Ohio, Iowa and Nebraska. California's ban lasted into the mid-1920s. The Supreme Court case in Meyer v. Nebraska ruled in 1923 that these laws were unconstitutional.[15] During World War II, a similar wave of anti-German sentiment led many churches in California to stop holding German-language services.[16]

In Montana, speaking German was banned in public for two years during World War I.[17]

German never recovered its position as the second language in the United States. Pennsylvania's legislature passed a German-language ban, but it was vetoed by the governor.

Alsatian, (German: Elsässisch), is a Low Alemannic German dialect spoken by Old Order Amish and some Old Order Mennonites in Allen County, Indiana, and their daughter settlements. These Amish immigrated to the US in the mid-1800s. There are fewer speakers of Alsatian in Indiana than of Bernese German, even though there are several thousand speakers. There are also speakers of Bernese German and Pennsylvania German living in the community. Most speakers of Alsatian also speak or at least understand Pennsylvania German. Speakers of Alsatian in Indiana are thus exposed to five languages or dialects: Alsatian, Bernese German, Pennsylvania German, Standard German and English.[19]

Amana German, West Central German, a Hessian dialect in particular, is still spoken by several hundred people in seven villages in the Amana Colonies in Iowa, which were founded by Inspirationalists of German origin. Amana German is derived from Hessian dialects which fused into a so-called Ausgleichsdialekt that adopted many English words and some English idioms.

Bernese German, (Standard German: Berndeutsch, Alemannic German: Bärndütsch) is a subdialect of High Alemannic German which is spoken by Old Order Amish in Adams County, Indiana, and their daughter settlements. There are several thousand speakers of the dialect in the USA.

Hutterite communities in the United States and Canada speak Hutterite German, an Austro-Bavarian dialect. Hutterite is spoken in the U.S. states of Washington, Montana, North and South Dakota, and Minnesota; and in the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.

There is also a significant population of Amish and Old Order Mennonites located in rural areas of Elkhart County and LaGrange County, Indiana, who speak Pennsylvania Dutch. A much smaller community of Pennsylvania Dutch-speaking Amish is found in Parke County, in western Indiana. Many English words have become mixed with this dialect and it is quite different from Standard German (Hochdeutsch), but quite similar to the dialect of the Palatinate region.

Usually, Pennsylvania Dutch (often just "Dutch" or Deitsch) is spoken at home, but English is used when interacting with the general population. The Amish and Old Order Mennonites of northern Indiana often differentiate between themselves and the general population by referring to them, respectively, as the "Amish" and the "English", noting the difference in language. Pennsylvania "Dutch" is sometimes used in worship services, though this is more common among the Amish than the Mennonites. More mainstream (city) Mennonites may have a working knowledge of the language, but it is not frequently used in conversation or in worship services.

Parking meter checker stands by his police vehicle which is imprinted with the German word for police (Polizei). It is part of the town's highlighting its German ethnic origins. New Ulm, Minnesota, July 1974.

Old Order Amish, Old Order Mennonites and other Pennsylvania Germans speak a dialect of German known as Pennsylvania German (widely called Pennsylvania Dutch, where Dutch is used in its archaic sense, thus not limited to Dutch but including all variants of German).[20] It is a remnant of what was once a much larger German-speaking area in eastern Pennsylvania. Most of the "Pennsylvania Dutch" originate from the Palatinate area of Germany and their language is based on the dialect of that region.[21] While the language is stable among the Old Orders and the number of speakers growing due to the high birth rate among the Old Orders, it is quickly declining among the non-plain Pennsylvania Germans (also called Fancy Dutch).

Plautdietsch, a Low German dialect, is spoken by "Russian" Mennonites, who immigrated mostly to Kansas in the mid-1870s. These Mennonites tended to slowly assimilate into the mainstream society over several generations, but Plautdietsch-speaking Mennonite immigrants—mainly from Mexico, where there is no assimilation—invigorated Plautdietsch in Kansas. Plautdietsch-speaking Mennonite migrants from Mexico formed a new settlement in Seminole, Texas, in 1977. In 2016 there were about 6,000 Plautdietsch speakers around Seminole.[22]

A dialect called Texas German based in the Texas Hill Country around the town of Fredericksburg still exists, but has been dying out since the end of World War II. Following the introduction of English-only schooling during both World Wars, Texas German speakers drifted towards English and few passed the language to their descendants.[23]

The various German dialects that were brought to Wisconsin did not develop into a leveled dialect form, like, e.g., in southeastern Pennsylvania, where Pennsylvania German as a leveled dialect emerged, but remained distinct.

[31]

• Fairview-Clifton German Language School, Cincinnati[32]
• German American School, Portland, Oregon
• German Language School, Cleveland[33]
• German Language School, Columbus, Ohio[34]
• German School Phoenix, Tempe, Arizona[35]
• Goethe-Instituts in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, New York City, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.[36]
• Milwaukee German Immersion Elementary School, Milwaukee[37]
• Twin Cities German Immersion School, St. Paul, Minnesota
• Waldsee (camp) near Bemidji, Minnesota
• German International School Boston
• German International School Chicago[38]
• German School New York
• German International School of Silicon Valley
• German School Washington, D.C.