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My grandmother's family are German Catholics who lived in Port Richmond. She married a 3/4 Irish, 1/4 Swedish man. Two of her sisters married Italian men. I think her youngest sister's husband is mostly English. Two of her brothers remained single all their lives, one married a woman from England, and one from Alabama. I have to say I don't know the wives of the other two well enough to comment.
I can't say I know any German Catholics. Most Catholics I know are of Irish, Italian or Polish descent. Maybe this is why.
Quote:
My subject must no be over-flated in significance: America's German Catholic immigrants were always a minority within a minority.
Although the GSP was officially unaffiliated with any religious denomination, its members were more often than not Protestants. A number of Lutheran and Reformed ministers held leadership positions within the GSP over the years; Catholic priests, by contrast, appear not to have been active in the society.
I don't get the sense that Philadelphia had many German Catholic parishes. A few, sure. But it seems like they were overrun by the Irish, Italians and Poles very quickly. The Protestant majority quickly assimilated into Anglo culture (and actually developed an "Anglo" identity cast in opposition to Italians, Poles and Catholics in general).
In the interview below, Jerry Blavat talks about growing up in South Philly in the 50s. He only mentions Irish, Italians, Poles, Jews and Blacks.
If you were to look at the census and see the people who claim German ancestry and practise catholicism as well, then plot the people who match this ceiteria on a map, whwre would the highest concentration in the USA be ?
My bet is on Wisconsin and Michigan, and northern Indiana and Illinois.
Cincinnati has a large number of German Catholics. Some came with the 48ers; some came later as a result of Kulturkampf.
Before I moved to Cincinnati, I'd never heard of 48ers or Kulturkampf. The German descendants I knew in NW Pennsylvania tended to be Protestant.
Cool. I never heard of the above until just now! There are a lot of German Catholics in St. Louis as well, I believe Omaha too. The Coors family of Colorado is Catholic. Although statistically there are a lot of Germans in SW PA, I did not know many outside of my family and the people from my church.
Last edited by Katarina Witt; 05-17-2014 at 08:14 AM..
German Catholics were likely most prevalent in the big Catholic cities of the Midwest, such Milwaukee, Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati, etc. Coastal cities like NYC, Baltimore, or Boston likely saw a high concentration as well.
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