Kultur 1

I was interested to learn that while there are so many German people spread throughout the United States, the German descendants have stopped identifying so much with their culture. I spent a lot of time looking at the dispersal map for the German populations and I was surprised to find that I actually come from an area with a lot of German heritage- the area around Albany, New York. Growing up in this area, I guess I was exposed to a lot of German heritage, although it wasn't so much of the Oktoberfest beer and brat type German, it was more of the Amish, Pennsylvania Dutch and colonial German. There is a house about five minutes down the road from me that was built by a German family in 1743. Today is called the "Palatine House" and it's a museum. 

I was also interested to learn that so many things we consider American have their roots in Germany, such as Bambi. I didn't realize Bambi was originally a German story! Or that Brigadoon was based on a German story as well. Or that Groundhog day was originally a German holiday. 

I also found the perception of German farmers to be interesting- that Germans are viewed to be hardworking, root-loving people with a connection to the land they work and live on. My family, which has a great deal of German background (my mother's maiden name was Schaber), and who have always worked farms (and still continue to do so) seem to mesh very well with this stereotype. It is interesting that the German-American population, which is so very into their families and their roots and owning and working their land for generations doesn't really identify with their German heritage much.