German American Roots-Which State? (surnames, ethnic, test, history)

[texdav]

Lots of Germans speak people came to Texas under the Spanish land grants given. You'll find the concentrate in the hill country region mostly.I leased land for hunting from Eckerts family that owned the land had it since then and of course keep it since Texas gave up no lands when entering the union. It very common in that region for towns to be named for towns in areas they came from. German culture is very alive in that region of Texas.

[waviking24]

The majority of Germans in my family tree came from the Baden-Wurrtemburg area before 1700 and eventually settled in either Missouri or Virginia.

[bcgr]

To answer the original question, the dominant state emigrated from was most likely the Kingdom of Prussia, at least to the US. The heaviest German immigration was during the late 19th cen. and Prussians comprised the largest part during this time.

There was no Germany, only independent states that finally formed what we now call Germany.

This is false. Germany for a long time could be considered a nation or a country, but there was just no large unified state calling itself Germany until 1871. And this was a shaky claim and led to confusion. Austrians for a long time battled to unify Germany and were later left out of the German Empire, yet could still be considered German; the same goes for the Germans in other places such as Schleswig or Holstein - Germans and German duchies subject to the Kingdom of Denmark. Germany before the German Empire could be considered pretty much any German-speaking area in central Europe.

Most of the German immigration to America occurred long before 1871 when Germany was unified.

While there was heavy German immigration to the US before 1871, the peak was in the 1880s with almost 1.5 million German immigrants during the decade.

[silibran]

Originally Posted by foreverdublin21

I did hear and watched ancestry films that there was some strong immigration from the Palatinate region. But I also saw this link on other places in Germany where some immigrants also came from as well. Hope this helps...

German Immigration to the U.S. in the 1800s

Yes to immigrants from the Palatinate. My ancestors came quite early, I believe, in the 1700s.

There were other waves that came in the following century, but I don't know from which places in Germany.

[sheena12]

From what I know, my ancestors who are German came from the Palatinate region in the early 1800s
Some stayed in NYC and others went to Missouri and Pennsylvania.

[Rabflmom]

Originally Posted by silibran

Yes to immigrants from the Palatinate. My ancestors came quite early, I believe, in the 1700s.

There were other waves that came in the following century, but I don't know from which places in Germany.

A lot of people came to the midwest-Indiana/Illinois/ Missouri/Wisconsin/Minnesota in the early 1870s from Oldenburg area out of Bremon like my grandfather.

[Tracysherm]

I just figured out that two of my ancestors came from Bavaria in the 1860s, when it was still its own kingdom.

[bjh]

We have Alsace-Lorraine and Saarbrucken in southwest Germany to PA.

In the east Saxony (in today's eastern Germany) and Silesia (was part of Prussia, now Poland) to NY.

[nightbird47]

My 7x great grandparents came to England about the time of the expulsion of the non-complient Protestents. My 6x great grandparents were born there but in the mid 1700's came to Pennsulvania. The family line is full of scots and ulster sorts and English which intermixed since, but my 5x great grandfather willed land in Pennsulvania to his sons when he died at 91.

[ArkansasSlim]

I have a document stating that my ancestor WILHELM KLEBSATTEL was born in 1613 in Sulzfeld, Karisruhe, Baden-Wuerttenberg, "Germany". Could any of you tell me the actual location of that area?