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Prof. Ena Smith
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The silent minority
America’s largest ethnic group has assimilated so well that people barely notice it
KOHLER, WISCONSIN
ON A snow-covered bluff overlooking the Sheboygan river stands the Waelderhaus, a faithful reproduction of an Austrian chalet. It was built by the Kohler family of Wisconsin in the 1920s as a tribute to the homeland of their father, John Michael Kohler, who had immigrated to America in 1854 at the age of ten.
John Michael moved to Sheboygan, married the daughter of another German immigrant, who owned the local foundry, and took over his father-in-law’s business. He transformed it from a maker of ploughshares into a plumbing business. Today Kohler is the biggest maker of loos and baths in America. Herbert Kohler, the boss (and grandson of the founder), has done so well selling tubs that he has been able to pursue his other passion—golf—on a grand scale. The Kohler Company owns Whistling Straits, the course that will host the Ryder Cup in 2020.
German-Americans are America’s largest single ethnic group (if you divide Hispanics into Mexican-Americans, Cuban-Americans, etc). In 2013, according to the Census bureau, 46m Americans claimed German ancestry: more than the number who traced their roots to Ireland (33m) or England (25m). In whole swathes of the northern United States, German-Americans outnumber any other group. Some 41% of the people in Wisconsin are of Teutonic stock.
Yet despite their numbers, they are barely visible. Everyone knows that Michael Dukakis is Greek-American, the Kennedy clan hail from Ireland and Mario Cuomo was an Italian-American. Fewer notice that John Boehner, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Rand Paul, a senator from Kentucky with presidential ambitions, are of German origin.
Companies founded by German-Americans tend to play down their roots, too: think of Pfizer, Boeing, Steinway, Levi Strauss or Heinz. Buried somewhere on their websites may be a brief note that “Steinway & Sons was founded in 1853 by German immigrant Henry Engelhard Steinway in a Manhattan loft on Varick Street”. But firms that play up their Germanic history—as Kohler does, in a short film shown at the Waelderhaus—are rare.
German immigrants have flavoured American culture like cinnamon in an Apfelkuchen. They imported Christmas trees and Easter bunnies and gave America a taste for pretzels, hot dogs, bratwursts and sauerkraut. They built big Lutheran churches wherever they went. Germans in Wisconsin launched America’s first kindergarten and set up Turnvereine, or gymnastics clubs, iMilwaukee, Cincinnati and other cities.
Today German-Americans are quietly successful. Their median household income, at $61,500, is 18% above the national norm. They are more likely to have college degrees than other Americans, and less likely to be unemployed. A whopping 97% of them speak only English at home.
They have assimilated and prospered without any political help specially tailored for their ethnic group. “The Greeks and the Irish have a far stronger support network and lobby groups than we do,” says Peter Wittig, Germany’s ambassador in America. There was no German-American congressional caucus until 2010, though there were caucuses for potatoes, bicycles and Albanian affairs. The German caucus has quickly grown to about 100 members, who lobby for trade and investment as well as the preservation of their common cultural heritage.
Five years ago a small German-American Heritage Museum opened in Washington, DC. “Germany has never been as popular as it is today,” says Petra Schürmann, the museum’s director. German fests and Oktoberfests have sprung up all over the country, and they are not only about brats and beer, but also about tracing genealogy and displaying traditional dress and craftsmanship. Stuff made by Germans sells. And Americans travel to Germany in droves: the young to hip Berlin and older folks to pretty Heidelberg.
Translation
The silent minority
A minoria silenciosa
America’s largest ethnic group has assimilated so well that people barely notice it
O maior grupo étnico dos Estados Unidos tem se integrado tão bem que as pessoas dificilmente os percebem
KOHLER, WISCONSIN
ON A snow-covered bluff overlooking the Sheboygan river stands the Waelderhaus, a faithful reproduction of an Austrian chalet. It was built by the Kohler family of Wisconsin in the 1920s as a tribute to the homeland of their father, John Michael Kohler, who had immigrated to America in 1854 at the age of ten.
Em uma encosta coberta de neve vista para o rio Sheboygan está o Waelderhaus, uma reprodução fiel de um chalé austríaco. Foi construído pela família Kohler de Wisconsin nos anos 1920 como uma homenagem à terra natal de seu pai, John Michael Kohler, que emigrou para a América em 1854 aos dez anos de idade.
John Michael moved to Sheboygan, married the daughter of another German immigrant, who owned the local foundry, and took over his father-in-law’s business. He transformed it from a maker of ploughshares into a plumbing business. Today Kohler is the biggest maker of loos and baths in America. Herbert Kohler, the boss (and grandson of the founder), has done so well selling tubs that he has been able to pursue his other passion—golf—on a grand scale. The Kohler Company owns Whistling Straits, the course that will host the Ryder Cup in 2020.
John Michael mudou-se para Sheboygan, casou com a filha de outro imigrante alemão, que era dono da fundição local, e assumiu os negócios do seu sogro. Ele transformou a fabricação de arados em um negócio de encanamento. Hoje Kohler é o maior fabricante de toilets e acessórios para banheiros nos Estados Unidos. Herbert Kohler, o chefe (e neto do fundador), tem vendido tantas banheiras que tem tido muito tempo para dedicar-se a sua outra paixão, o golfe. A empresa Kohler é proprietária do Whistling Straits, o campo de golf que será o anfitrião da Copa Ryder em 2020.
German-Americans are America’s largest single ethnic group (if you divide Hispanics into Mexican-Americans, Cuban-Americans, etc). In 2013, according to the Census bureau, 46m Americans claimed German ancestry: more than the number who traced their roots to Ireland (33m) or England (25m). In whole swathes of the northern United States, German-Americans outnumber any other group. Some 41% of the people in Wisconsin are of Teutonic stock.
Os alemães-americanos são o maior grupo étnico da América (se você dividir os hispânicos em mexicano-americanos, os cubano-americanos, etc). Em 2013, de acordo com a agência governamental encarregada pelo censo nos Estados Unidos., 46 milhões de americanos alegaram ascendência alemã: mais do que o número que indicou que suas raízes são da Irlanda (33 milhões) ou Inglaterra (25 milhões). Em vastas áreas do norte dos Estados Unidos, os germano-americanos superam qualquer outro grupo. Cerca de 41% das pessoas em Wisconsin são de descendência teutônica.
Yet despite their numbers, they are barely visible. Everyone knows that Michael Dukakis is Greek-American, the Kennedy clan hail from Ireland and Mario Cuomo was an Italian-American. Fewer notice that John Boehner, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Rand Paul, a senator from Kentucky with presidential ambitions, are of German origin.
Mas, apesar de seus números, eles são pouco visíveis. Todo mundo sabe que Michael Dukakis é grego-americano, que o clã dos Kennedy é nativo da Irlanda e Mario Cuomo foi um ítalo-americano. Poucos percebem que John Boehner, o presidente da Câmara dos Deputados, e Rand Paul, senador de Kentucky com ambições presidenciais, são de origem alemã.
Companies founded by German-Americans tend to play down their roots, too: think of Pfizer, Boeing, Steinway, Levi Strauss or Heinz. Buried somewhere on their websites may be a brief note that “Steinway & Sons was founded in 1853 by German immigrant Henry Engelhard Steinway in a Manhattan loft on Varick Street”. But firms that play up their Germanic history—as Kohler does, in a short film shown at the Waelderhaus—are rare.
As empresas fundadas por alemães-americanos tendem a subestimar as suas raízes também: pense na Pfizer, Boeing, Steinway, Levi Strauss ou Heinz. Enterrada em algum lugar em seus sites pode ser uma breve nota que “Steinway & Sons foi fundada em 1853 pelo imigrante alemão Henry Engelhard Steinway em um sótão em Manhattan na rua Varick”. Mas as empresas que desempenham a sua história germânica, como a Kohler, em um curta-metragem mostrado no museu Waelderhaus- são raras.
German immigrants have flavoured American culture like cinnamon in an Apfelkuchen. They imported Christmas trees and Easter bunnies and gave America a taste for pretzels, hot dogs, bratwursts and sauerkraut. They built big Lutheran churches wherever they went. Germans in Wisconsin launched America’s first kindergarten and set up Turnvereine, or gymnastics clubs, iMilwaukee, Cincinnati and other cities.
Os imigrantes alemães têm colocado sabor na cultura americana como a canela em um Apfelkuchen. Eles importaram árvores de Natal e coelhos de Páscoa e deram à América um gosto para pretzels, cachorros quentes, bratwurst e chucrute. Eles construíram grandes igrejas luteranas onde quer que fossem. Os alemães em Wisconsin lançaram o primeiro jardim de infância da América e estabeleceram os Turnvereine, ou clubes de ginástica, iMilwaukee, Cincinnati e outras cidades.
Today German-Americans are quietly successful. Their median household income, at $61,500, is 18% above the national norm. They are more likely to have college degrees than other Americans, and less likely to be unemployed. A whopping 97% of them speak only English at home.
Hoje os germano-americanos são silenciosamente bem sucedidos. Sua renda familiar media anual, é de 61.500 dólares, é 18% acima da média nacional. Eles são mais propensos a ter diplomas universitários do que outros americanos, e tem menos probabilidade de estar desempregados. E um número extraordinário de 97% deles só falam Inglês em casa.
They have assimilated and prospered without any political help specially tailored for their ethnic group. “The Greeks and the Irish have a far stronger support network and lobby groups than we do,” says Peter Wittig, Germany’s ambassador in America. There was no German-American congressional caucus until 2010, though there were caucuses for potatoes, bicycles and Albanian affairs. The German caucus has quickly grown to about 100 members, who lobby for trade and investment as well as the preservation of their common cultural heritage.
Eles têm se integrado e prosperado sem qualquer ajuda política especialmente adaptada a seu grupo étnico. “Os gregos e os irlandeses têm grupos de rede de apoio e grupos de lobby muito mais fortes do que nós temos”, diz Peter Wittig, embaixador da Alemanha nos Estados Unidos. Não houve convenção congressional germano-americana até 2010, embora houvesse convenções para as batatas, bicicletas e assuntos albaneses. A convenção alemã tem crescido rapidamente para cerca de 100 membros, que fazem lobby para o comércio e investimento, bem como para a preservação do seu património cultural comum.
Five years ago a small German-American Heritage Museum opened in Washington, DC. “Germany has never been as popular as it is today,” says Petra Schürmann, the museum’s director. German fests and Oktoberfests have sprung up all over the country, and they are not only about brats and beer, but also about tracing genealogy and displaying traditional dress and craftsmanship. Stuff made by Germans sells. And Americans travel to Germany in droves: the young to hip Berlin and older folks to pretty Heidelberg.
Há cinco anos, um pequeno museu de herança alemã-americana abriu em Washington, DC. “A Alemanha nunca foi tão popular como é hoje”, diz Petra Schürmann, diretor do museu. As fests e Oktoberfests alemãs têm surgido em todo o país, e elas não são apenas sobre brats e cerveja, mas também sobre traçar a genealogia e exibir trajes tradicionais e artesanatos. As coisas feitas pelos alemães vendem. E os americanos viajam para a Alemanha em massa: os jovens para a moderna Berlim e pessoas mais velhas para a linda Heidelberg.