Ethnic Germans

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This article is about the German diaspora. See Germans for the German ethnicity in general.

Ethnic Germans (German: Deutschstämmige, historically also Volksdeutsche), also collectively referred to as the German diaspora, are those who are considered, by themselves or others, to be of German origin ethnically, not necessarily born or living within the present-day Federal Republic of Germany, holding its citizenship or speaking the German language.

Ethnic Germans are a largely West Germanic ethnic group, with minor West Slavic roots due to assimilated Sorbs, Obotrites and other Slavs, as well as Celtic roots in Southern Germany and Baltic in the formerly Prussian areas. Germans are closely related to other Germanic peoples such as the Dutch, English, Norwegians, Swedish, Danish, Faroese, Icelanders, Flemish, Frisians, Swiss Germans, Liechtensteiners, and Luxembourgers.

In English usage, but less often in German, the term may be used for assimilated descendants of German emigrants.^{[citation needed]} The traditional American English language practice has been to refer to the ethnic Germans of a given country by combining the country or region name (or its adjective) with "Germans"; for example, "Brazilian Germans" was at least traditionally used (see below) to refer to ethnic Germans living in Brazil. In the past, this practice broke down when referring to countries that no longer existed ("Kingdom of Hungary" Germans) or regions that transcended national boundaries (thus "Black Sea Germans"), "Alsatian Germans" and "Baltic Germans".

However, the modern trend is to emphasize the status as citizens of the new country and to invert the order of the compound expression.^{[citation needed]} According to this system, one uses the word "German" as an adjective, not a noun. For example, German Americans are called German Americans but never "U.S. Germans" or "American Germans". For several decades, many ethnic German groups preferred to call themselves in a way that emphasized that they were assimilated members of the society of their new country.

German ethnicity is historically related to the persistence of speaking the German language Sprachraum. Thus, Swiss Germans still held strong ties with and sympathies towards Germany during World War I, although they had separated from the Holy Roman Empire between the 13th and 17th century.

The first attempts to create a consciousness of the "Austrian nation" took place during the Napoleonic Wars (at which time "Austrian" identity included non-German-speaking subjects of the Austrian Empire). This was revived in the 1930s during Dollfuss' Austro-Fascist period, but without much success. Many German-speaking Austrians considered themselves ethnic Germans until after World War II (see German Austria). Since the end of World War II, Austrians have increasingly come to see themselves as a nation distinct from the German nation.[1] In 1987 only 6 percent of the Austrians still identified themselves as "Germans".[2]

Terminology

Volksdeutsche "ethnic Germans" is a historical term which arose in the early 20th century to describe ethnic Germans living outside of the German Empire, although many had been in other areas for centuries. This is in contrast to Imperial Germans (Reichsdeutsche), German citizens living within Germany. This is the loosest meaning of the term, which was used mainly during the Weimar Republic. In a stricter sense, Volksdeutsch came to mean ethnic Germans living abroad but without German citizenship, i.e., the juxtaposition with Reichsdeutsch was sharpened to denote difference in citizenship as well as residence.

Auslandsdeutsche (adj. auslandsdeutsch) is a concept that connotes German citizens living abroad, or alternatively ethnic Germans entering Germany from abroad. Today, this means citizen of Germany living more or less permanently in another country (including long-term academic exchange lecturers and the like), who are allowed to vote in the Republic's elections, but who usually do not pay taxes to Germany. In a looser but still valid sense, and in general discourse, the word is frequently used in lieu of the ideologically tainted term Volksdeutsche, denoting persons living abroad without German citizenship but defining themselves as Germans (culturally or ethnically speaking).

Distribution

Ethnic Germans are an important minority group in many countries. (See Germans, German language, and German as a minority language for more extensive numbers and a better sense of where Germans maintain German culture and have official recognition.) The following sections briefly detail the historical and present distribution of ethnic Germans by region, but generally exclude modern expatriates, who have a presence in the United States, Scandinavia and major urban areas worldwide. See Groups at bottom for a list of all ethnic German groups, or continue for a summary by region.

North America

• There are over 60 million Americans of at least partial German ancestry in the United States, including various groups such as the Pennsylvania Dutch. Of these, 23 million are of German ancestry alone ("single ancestry"), and another 40 million are of partial German ancestry. Of those who claim partial ancestry, 22 million identify their primary ancestry ("first ancestry") as German. The 55 million Americans of primarily German ancestry are by far the largest part of the German diaspora, a figure equal to nearly two-thirds the population of Germany itself. Germans form just under half the population in the Upper Midwest.[3][4]

• Canada (2.7 million, 9% of the population)

Latin America

They are a considerable part of the population in:

• Brazil: Mainly in Southern Brazil; over 10% of the population has at least one German ancestor - about 18 million Brazilians.[5] Hunsrückisch and Pomeranian are some of the more prominent such groups.

Famous German-Brazilians are former military dictator Ernesto Geisel, politician Jorge Bornhausen, actress Vera Fischer, Cacilda Becker, top models as Gisele Bündchen, Ana Hickmann, Letícia Birkheuer and Rodrigo Hilbert, musicians like Andreas Kisser and Astrud Gilberto, architect Oscar Niemeyer^{[citation needed]}, landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx, physicist and astronomer Marcelo Gleiser, physician Adolfo Lutz, basketball player Oscar Schmidt, tennis player Gustavo Kuerten, swimmer Fernando Scherer, tv host Xuxa Meneghel, the Catholic prelates Cláudio Cardinal Hummes and Paulo Evaristo Cardinal Arns and the renowned sailor Robert Scheidt among many others.

• Argentina: Those of German ancestry constitute about 6-7% of the Argentine population, with well over 2,000,000 Volga Germans alone[6]. There are more than 400,000 of other German ancestries including Mennonites and German Swiss. These two groups are more common in Southern Argentina, and also in Santa Fe and Cordoba provinces. A notable example is the town of Villa General Belgrano, founded by Germans in the 1930s. In the 1960s it became the site of the Fiesta Nacional de la Cerveza, or Oktoberfest, which has become a major attraction in Argentina[7]

An example of German Argentines is former president Néstor Kirchner. Other notable examples of ethnic German Argentines are top model Nicole Neumann, basketball player Wálter Herrmann, and football player Gabriel Heinze, among many others.

Notable communities of ethnic Germans exist in:

• Chile: 500.000 - 600.000 [3], Some notable German descendants in Chile are: Air Force General Commander Fernando Matthei Aubel, architect Mathias Klotz, tennis player Hans Gildemeister, female athlete Marlene Ahrens, Police General Commander Rodolfo Stange Ölckers, Musician Patricio Manns, Army Commanders in Chief Lieutenant General René Schneider and Division Generals Emil Körner, Economist Rolf Lüders, politicians Carlos Kuschel, Rolf Lüders Schwarzenberg, Miguel Kast and Evelyn Matthei, businessmen Horst Paulmann, Jürgen Paulmann, Werner Grob, Carlos Heller; TV presenters Karen Doggenweiler, Margot Kahl, Pamela Hodar, Michael Müller, writer César Müller (aka Oreste Plath), actresses Gloria Münchmeyer, Aline Küppenheim, actor Bastián Bodenhöfer, painter Rossy Ölckers, publisher and orders collector Norberto Traub, . There are also many German speaking Swiss, generally assumed as Germans, of whom some notable descendants are: Presidents Eduardo Frei (father and son) and Economist Hernán Büchi.^{[citation needed]}
• Peru: The communities of Oxapampa, Pozuzo, and Villa Rica in the high jungles of the Peruvian Amazon basin were settled in the middle of the 19th century by Austrian and Prussian immigrants. Many of its present day inhabitants speak German[8] In the 18th century, German immigrants settled the areas of Tingo Maria, Tarapoto, Moyobamba, and the Amazonas Department.[9] German immigrants largely settled in Lima, and to a lesser extent Arequipa.[10] .
• Colombia: 20,000 Germans are believed to live in Colombia, the majority are descendants other than recent immigrants.^{[citation needed]}
• Dominican Republic: There is a colony of around 25,000 Germans who have settled in the country, mostly on the northern coast's Puerto Plata, as well as a colony of the descendants of German and Austrian Jewish refugees in Sosua.^{[citation needed]}
• Ecuador: 32,000, counting standard German-speakers only, but an estimated 150,000 are of German ancestry.^{[citation needed]}.
• Mexico,[11] Bolivia,[12] and Belize[13]: 80,000, 40,000, and 5,763 Mennonite German speakers respectively, as well as notable (but more assimilated) public figures from various German groups.
• Paraguay : 100,000 speakers. An estimated 300,000 of German ancestry, including former dictator Alfredo Stroessner.^{[citation needed]}
• Puerto Rico: 1,453 speakers^{[citation needed]} and the island experienced a large migration of Germans in the 19th century during Spanish rule.^{[citation needed]} (Spanish) Pozuzo Information
• Uruguay: 28,000 standard German, 1,200 Plattdietsch.^{[citation needed]}
• Venezuela : Around 1,300 Alemán Coloniero speakers in Colonia Tovar, Aragua. The country has 50,000 of German ancestry.^{[citation needed]}

Western Europe and the Alpine nations