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Gistok
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Username: Gistok

Post Number: 7055
Registered: 08-2004
Posted on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 - 6:49 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

OK, I'm only doing this to beat Detroitrise at starting another one...

My family first arrived in the 1930's from Bavaria.

Germans, still America's largest minority at over 50 million strong first arrived in 1683 in Pennsylvania. At some point in the 19th century German almost overtook English as America's leading language.

Metro Detroit is home to the Nord Amerikanische Wochen Post, founded in Detroit in 1849, and is America's oldest and largest circulating German newspaper.

Ein Prosit!!
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Bearinabox
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Username: Bearinabox

Post Number: 717
Registered: 04-2006
Posted on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 - 7:15 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

My "Oma" on my mother's side was born in Germany, in a tiny village near the Austrian border. She came here in 1957 after marrying my grandfather, a native Detroiter stationed at an air force base near her home. She taught me to speak German, and gave me my taste for Weißwurst, Wiener Schnitzel, and Spätzle.

I could write a book about how she changed my life, but I doubt it would be very interesting reading.
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Flanders_field
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Username: Flanders_field

Post Number: 562
Registered: 01-2008
Posted on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 - 7:32 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

1820s Alsace Lorraine to NE Detroit area, helped build Assumption Grotto, first Roman Catholic church outside downtown Detroit.

Many of my ancestors are buried in the small cemetery behind the chuch, most were victims of consumption. (tuberculosis)
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Ray1936
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Username: Ray1936

Post Number: 3312
Registered: 01-2005
Posted on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 - 8:13 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

My Grandfather, Karl Sendelbeck, in WW I. Born in Bavaria in 1895, he emigrated to the US with his wife and two daughters in 1923 and settled in Detroit. He was the interior decorator for the Lee Plaza for many years. He died in 1979, age 84, and is buried in Glen Eden Cemetery.



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Gnome
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Username: Gnome

Post Number: 1375
Registered: 08-2007
Posted on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 - 8:38 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Ray-
That is a lot of fruit cocktail your grandfather is wearing. He must have seen a trench warfare judging from his infantry uniform.

Kinda short wasn't he?
---

My Germans came to US in 1885 to a Catholic German colony in Alabama. Took my first visit last T-giving to Cullman, Alabama and found a cousin living in the old family farmhouse.
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Dtowncitylover
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Post Number: 199
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Posted on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 - 8:40 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

My great-great grandfather came from Miltenberg, Bavaria in the 1850s and started Bube's Brewery in Mt. Joy, PA, still in operation but not owned by any close relatives of mine. his son, Karl Bube moved to Highland Park and worked for Ford (of course!), where my grandmother grew up, she still has very German-like personality about her.
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Ray1936
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Username: Ray1936

Post Number: 3314
Registered: 01-2005
Posted on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 - 9:08 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

He was about 5-8, Gnome. I have some handwritten memos of his about his war experiences. One states: "I was in St. Mihiel and Campagne in Kaiserron Army. I was wounded on Vimy Ridge Easter morning fighting against a Canada Army. It was a good army, better than the French. The Fenchman is too nervous and excited."

I always loved that line!
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Gnome
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Username: Gnome

Post Number: 1376
Registered: 08-2007
Posted on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 - 9:32 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B attle_of_Vimy_Ridge

dang, grandpa saw hell. 1.5 million Canadian shells. We're lucky he survived, otherwise you wouldn't be sipping cocktails in the Vegas sun.
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Nainrouge
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Username: Nainrouge

Post Number: 2236
Registered: 05-2006
Posted on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 - 9:41 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Ich bin nicht Deutsch, aber ich kann Deutsch sprechen! Eigentlich sind meine Vorfahren Dänish. Darf ich trotzdem mitspielen??
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Gistok
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Username: Gistok

Post Number: 7056
Registered: 08-2004
Posted on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 - 9:53 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Nainroughe, Nah! Sicher kannst du mitspielen!

Die Dänen und die Deutschen sind verwand.

My uncle (by marriage) has an interesting ancestor. His grandfather was the college roommate of Paul Von Hindenburg, the namesake of the German airship, and President of Germany prior to Hitler's ascension.

My uncle (he's in his 80's and living in Washington MI) still has a set of 6 drinking cordial glasses made of what appears to be German Silver. They are in the shape of the pointed Field Marshall helmets (similar to Ray1936's ancestors pic), with the helmets upside down with a flat base. These were given to my (childless) uncle by his grandfather, with an accompanying letter from Paul Von Hindenburg. Maybe I'll be the lucky one in the family to inherit them... (along with the provenance letter).
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Ray1936
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Username: Ray1936

Post Number: 3316
Registered: 01-2005
Posted on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 - 10:09 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Yeah, Gnome, I've looked up Vimy Ridge many times. Grandpop was shot in the leg there, but managed to be pulled to aid and he fully recovered. Donner und blitzen for sure.

His brother was missing in action and the body never recovered.
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Gnome
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Username: Gnome

Post Number: 1377
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Posted on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 - 10:16 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

From a quick read, the full ground offensive began on the Monday after Easter Sunday, so he did get a million dollar ticket
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Karl_jr
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Username: Karl_jr

Post Number: 311
Registered: 06-2007
Posted on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 - 11:20 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

My Dads Mother and Father where born in Germany and my Moms Grandparents on both sides were born in Germany.

Like Ray my Family are mostly buried at Glen Eden. My Dads grave is the one that always has a Budweiser bottle on it.
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Rel
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Username: Rel

Post Number: 741
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Posted on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 - 11:26 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

For those of you who know my last name, it's a town in Germany.

Most of my family fled before the Holocaust, but some stayed. This thread prompted me to make a call to my dad to ask for a few stories... thanks, Gistok :-)
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Aiw
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Username: Aiw

Post Number: 6653
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 - 11:46 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Ray, interesting post. As a Canadian we are raised on the story of Vimy Ridge and what an important battle it was for Canada.

Last November I had the opportunity to visit Vimy, and it was a very moving experience. I had no relatives at Vimy, back then my relatives were still in England. My Great-great-grandfather was gassed by the Germans at the Somme, and as a result of the damage his lungs took he passed at the age of 50 in 1934.







The inscription on the monument at Vimy





The monument. This Monument was one of the few WWI monuments to survive WWII. Hitler even visited the site to prove that the Germans didn't destroy it.





Hitler had the utmost respect for the Canadian monument as he said it didn't symbolize the victory over the Germans, but rather reverence for the dead of a nation. Hitler fought on the front lines and was wounded near Vimy Ridge, and as a result the personal connection the site was undamaged during the war.





Following the war, the land that the monument sits on was given as a gift to Canada.





A small section of the trenches were preserved.





Even after 90 years the land remains scarred and damages from the effect of the war.





The area was mostly flat farm fields in 1913. The events the next four years transformed the landscape permanently. The results of the exploding shells are sill very visible.





Sorry for the small photo... This is the view from the top of the ridge. You can see for miles, hence the importance of the ridge.





To this day there are still so many unexploded shells, that you can't venture off the marked paths.
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Aiw
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Username: Aiw

Post Number: 6654
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Posted on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 - 11:56 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The roads around Vimy and Arras to the south are littered with cemeteries. It's very moving.

Ray your grandpa is very lucky, he could have ended up in Neuville-St-Vaast with about 45,000 of his fellow soldiers.





------------------





We dropped in to visit the cemetery at Neuville-St.-Vaast, the largest German cemetery in France.





This was our first stop, and it was absolutely heartbreaking to see. Every cross represents four German soldiers.





For all the crying about the wars today, the totals are only a drop in the bucket compared to WWI.





A "small" nearby French Cemetery





The tomb of the unknown soldier that was moved to Ottawa at the Canadian National War Memorial in 2000.
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Ray1936
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Username: Ray1936

Post Number: 3317
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Posted on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 - 1:17 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Fantastic post, AIW!

I copied a number of the photos above to put in the family album on Mom's line with a note of where they came from. Won't go anywhere else.

Years back, when Mom was still in Detroit and I was out here in the desert, I asked her about her father's war wound. She wrote me the following.

"He was at Vimy Ridge, starting about three or so weeks before Easter of 1917, on which day he was in the second trench line from the front. They were the front reserves, should the front wipe out and had closed-in dugouts built for protection with each "room", or space inside, holding about twenty men. On Easter of 1917 all Hell suddenly broke loose and the Canadians began an offensive the likes of which has never been seen. The entire area rocked with bombs and noise and the shelter shook to the utmost.

"Dad suddenly had a real panicky feeling and an instinct he could not explain forced him to leave the dugout. He felt that if he was about to be killed he preferred being shot in the open and not smothered. So he jumped out, forgetting his helmet and rifle. He called back to the men inside the dugout, who thought he was nuts to leave, to reach him his helmet (he never did think of his rifle!) and they did. The sky was all lit up with artillery firing and the ground was burning all around him. He tried to put the fire out around him, but whatever the Canadians were using, continued to burn despite his pouring dirt on top of the fire. It continued right on and he decided he had better get into the dugout again, but it had disappeared from sight. He tried to find the entrance but it had collapsed and all the fellows inside were suffocated. It was impossible to help them.

"He crawled around frantically looking for some place to land when another soldier came crawling towards him from the front line. They acknowledged each others presence and both began crawling away from the front as neither had a rifle for fighting by then.

"Suddenly there was a terriffic blast, and dad felt a searing pain through the center of his right leg, at the same time calling the fellow that he had been hit. They both stopped and looked at his long boot, with a big hole through it from front to back and the blood starting to ooze around it. The other fellow told him to hold on and he would pull him along to the rear, but before he could the fellow gave out and told him he was all in and could not carry him along any more. Dad told him to go on, that it was all right and the fellow left, saying he would send help.

"Dad lay there for some time and then, from loss of blood, became light headed and dizzy and he felt then that he was going to die, so prayed quietly to God for courage and for God to please protect and take care of his family in the future for him and to always help them and keep them from harm.

"He passed out and the next thing he knew the medics came and carried him to the rear. Then they put him, together with other injured, into a hay wagon, being pulled by horses, to get them to a hospital in a small town back of the lines. On the way they were being constantly shelled and the horses became frightened and tried to run away. The ride was a most horrifying and painful experience. All this time no one, luckily, including himself, had taken off the boot, as that would have meant instant death from loss of blood. The boot actually acted as a tourniquet. He will never know what kept him from removing it after he was hit.

"They took him to a small hospital at Douai. It was from there he was sent to a hospital in the Rhineland, a place named after the small town, "Sien" (spelling?). It is a hospital that belonged to the munitions magnate by the name of Krupp. He was there many months and then was sent to a recouperation center also belonging to Krupp where he spent three weeks and later was sent for further treatment to Nurnberg. When they removed the boot, the leather was so embedded in his leg that they took it out for weeks. He had been shot clear thru...bullet went into the front and out the back of the leg."

---------------------

I was born twenty years later, and I don't remember Grandpop having any limp or after effects from the wound, other than a very ugly scar on his shin. And he was a good man, and after 1923, a fine American to boot.
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Pam
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Post Number: 4205
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Posted on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 - 1:29 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I'm 1/4 German on my maternal grandmother's side. My grandma came to Detroit from Wisconsin in the 1920s with her parents and sister. The rest of her family remained in Wisconsin. They came over in the 1840s from Pomerania.
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Aiw
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Post Number: 6655
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Posted on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 - 2:05 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Ray send me an email, and I'll send you better versions of the photos.

andrew @ internationalmetropolis.com
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Lowell
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Posted on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 - 2:09 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Ray, thanks so much for sharing that story. I am again reminded of the horrors of that war, perhaps no better described than in the German classic novel "All Quiet on the Western Front". AIW great pics and text. Thanks.

I am also reminded that one can now cross the border between France and Germany without stopping, two countries that murdered millions of each other's citizens in the last century. Meanwhile the border between two countries that have been at peace for nearly two centuries, and allies in many wars including one today - Canada and the US, becomes increasingly intrusive, suspicious and delayed.

When in high school I lived in an area of Wisconsin populated by descendent refugees from the failed 1848 democratic revolutions in Germany. My high school football team's names read like a German platoon, the county being 80% German and the famous Karl Schurz came from nearby Watertown. German-American's like Schurz were a decisive factor in the Union's victory in the Civil War with over 250K serving in the Union ranks. Being democratic refugees they were vehemently anti-slavery and were absolutely essential in keeping the key city of St. Louis Union, among many other exploits.

German-Americans are the most melting pot "Americanized" of the immigrant communities. I think this is a result of their feeling a need to prove their loyalty, amid accusations, in both World Wars, which like the civil war they did admirably.
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Diane12163
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Post Number: 58
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Posted on Thursday, August 07, 2008 - 12:33 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

My mom is German. Her mom and dad were German. Her mom's maiden name was Kiel from the town Kiel Germany. My Grandfather on my dad's side was belgian and also a pow with a number on his arm from WW1. He took a long time to like my mom. My mom is the baby of 11 kids. Their name is Nichols.
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Frankg
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Post Number: 482
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Posted on Thursday, August 07, 2008 - 1:08 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

My great-grandparents on my dad's side came from Reiste, in the Saurland, Germany, in 1885. Family lore has it that he was supposed to marry one girl, but ran off to the US with her younger sister. The older sister died a year later from a broken heart. This story was confirmed on the German side of the family fairly recently.

On my Mom's side, my great-great grandfather came from Oedingen, in the Saurland, in Germany. He came to the US in 1857, and fought in the civil war with the First Michigan Light Artillery, Battery A. By the way, Oedingen is fairly close to Reiste.

He married his wife in 1865, and she came from Dorlar, which is also in the Saurland, only 3-4 kilometers from Reiste. Small world, huh?

All my German ancestors were parishioners of St. Joseph's church in Detroit.
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Lodgedodger
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Post Number: 282
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Posted on Thursday, August 07, 2008 - 10:18 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

German (Berlin) and Italian (Monte Cassino area)
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Kathinozarks
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Post Number: 1368
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Posted on Thursday, August 07, 2008 - 10:33 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

We are a proud bunch, eh? Oh yes.

Maternal grandfather and grandmother came to the States on 'the boat' in 1923 or so. They were the best.

I love that I'm German.
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Mikeg
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Post Number: 1728
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Posted on Friday, August 08, 2008 - 7:54 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Like FrankG, several of my ancestors came to Detroit from the Sauerland. A paternal great-great grandfather was born in Cobbenrode (abt. 10 km south of Reiste) and immigrated here in 1849. A maternal great-great grandfather was born in Meschede (abt. 10 km north of Reiste) and immigrated here at about the same time.

Another pair of paternal great-great grandparents were both born in the village of Duengenheim, which is located about 40 km southwest of Koblenz in the German Eifel region. They were married on Sept. 1, 1868 at St. Joseph's Parish in Detroit.

During a brief visit to Duengenheim in 2003, I stopped by the local cemetery where I noticed this monument to fallen WW I German soldiers that contained the names of several relatives:

Duengenheim war memorial
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Turkeycall
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Posted on Thursday, September 11, 2008 - 2:21 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Back in the 1700's, Catherine the Great (a German by birth) was married to Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia. Russia was in need of farmer-settlers. Catherine invited Germans to move to Russia. My ancesters settled along the Volga River in the Village of Kind.

My understanding is that Catherine set up the villages and built a church for the newcomers. Also my understanding that she staggered the settlers according to which church they belonged to. There were alternating Lutheran and Catholic villages.

My grandparents moved to the United States in 1913, first going to the Deckerville area (because that's where the sugar beets were grown)and then ending up in Port Huron.
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Downriviera
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Post Number: 965
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Posted on Thursday, September 11, 2008 - 6:09 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I am half German and half Polish, which explains why I want to take over the world yet I don't know why.
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Frankg
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Posted on Thursday, September 11, 2008 - 8:33 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Similar to Mike G's post above, when I was in Reiste, I saw a small memorial to fallen WWI soldiers, with several dozen names on it. It may have also had WWII soldiers, too. It was on the church property. There was some kind of altar or something, with a roof over it, and a locked iron gate.
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Patrick
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Post Number: 5556
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Posted on Thursday, September 11, 2008 - 9:25 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I have some german on my mother's side. The last name was Hammer....I guess they arrived in the 1850s or so and several fought in the Civil War. I need to look up more information.
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Kathinozarks
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Post Number: 1501
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Posted on Thursday, September 11, 2008 - 11:03 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Lowell: "German-Americans are the most melting pot "Americanized" of the immigrant communities. I think this is a result of their feeling a need to prove their loyalty, amid accusations, in both World Wars, which like the civil war they did admirably."

Lowell, that is very well put. I had never thought about it that way. Thank you.
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Fury13
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Post Number: 4165
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Posted on Thursday, September 11, 2008 - 11:52 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I hope all of you German-Americans celebrated Sedantag on Sept. 2. Why? To annoy the French, of course.
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Reddog289
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Post Number: 577
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Posted on Friday, September 12, 2008 - 3:00 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I,m German from my Mothers side, But my fathers side[english/irish] and step dads side{french} give me and my mom the biz.Not a good German cause i hate German food and dread going to Frankenmuth. BUT gimmee a beer and i,ll deal with both.
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Ray1936
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Posted on Friday, September 12, 2008 - 8:51 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

When I was born, my mother (who was born in Germany) wanted to raise me bi-lingually. My dad had a fit (old-time WASP) and said absolutely no, English only.

It was the only mistake my dad ever made. But I did pick up a little German along the way.

Donner und Blitzen, und leiderhosen, und mach schnell.
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Patrick
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Post Number: 5564
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Posted on Friday, September 12, 2008 - 9:00 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Ok, question for the German speakers....why do so many Germans sound like they are yelling when they speak?
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Lodgedodger
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Posted on Friday, September 12, 2008 - 9:49 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Patrick, you must be watching a lot of the old war movies. Most German sounds lovely.
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Lodgedodger
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Post Number: 555
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Posted on Friday, September 12, 2008 - 9:51 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Flanders, I'm an old Assumption Grotto kid. I know of a few folks buried there. It's a very peaceful place.
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Downriviera
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Posted on Saturday, September 13, 2008 - 4:48 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Years ago while doing some work with the German Formula 1 racing team Zakspeed, one of the mechanics, an Aussie, working on the car asked me to hand him a fitzel. I told him I didn't know much German and was not sure what that was. He said fitzel, adjustable wrench, you know, fits all. Turns out this was a common joke among the non German mechanics on the team.
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1st_sgt
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Post Number: 199
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Posted on Monday, September 15, 2008 - 9:10 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

German blood from Grandmother on Mom's side Haack and Meyers.
Funny thing is I loved visiting germany but hated being stationed there.
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Ewo
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Post Number: 40
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Posted on Monday, September 15, 2008 - 6:27 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

My dad is from Heidelberg, my mom from Hamtramck. She was a WAC in the early fifties and got stationed in Heidelberg where they met and got married in 1953. The next year they moved to Detroit.
Hearing "Your mother wears Army boots" never bothered me.
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Lilpup
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Posted on Monday, September 15, 2008 - 8:08 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Great-great-grandmother from Bavaria Württemberg to Pennsylvania, but that's a looong time ago. I'm sure there's more in the mix farther back because she married a man in PA named Yost=>his parents were also from Württemberg sometime prior to 1835.

(Message edited by lilpup on September 15, 2008)
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Barnesfoto
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Username: Barnesfoto

Post Number: 5465
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Posted on Tuesday, September 16, 2008 - 3:08 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

"I am also reminded that one can now cross the border between France and Germany without stopping, two countries that murdered millions of each other's citizens in the last century. Meanwhile the border between two countries that have been at peace for nearly two centuries, and allies in many wars including one today - Canada and the US, becomes increasingly intrusive, suspicious and delayed."

Wise words.

Barnesfoto, born partly of good Wisconsin German and Canadian German stock, grandson of a man who dropped his middle name, as it was the same as the Kaiser's.
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Mikeg
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Posted on Tuesday, September 16, 2008 - 6:38 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

My mother took a lot of grief during her high school years (1939-44) because of the very closeness of her German surname to that of "Hitler".

1945 graffiti on a sign in her hometown

1945 graffiti on an advertising signboard in her hometown - l. to r., Hitler, Hirohito and Mussolini
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Stinger4me
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Post Number: 307
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Posted on Tuesday, September 16, 2008 - 5:54 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

1st_sgt: are you related to a Louis Haack? He was on the Hamtramck P.D. many years ago?
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Stinger4me
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Post Number: 311
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Posted on Sunday, September 21, 2008 - 6:45 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

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