When I was in the 8^th grade, in middle school, there was an open house at the high school I would be attending that next year. We could go around and talk with all of the teachers. I remember stopping by where the foreign language teachers were. Four foreign languages were being offered at my high school – namely Spanish, Latin, French and German. I had been taking Spanish in middle school. The more I thought about it though, I realized most everybody was learning Spanish. So, that got me thinking of switching to a different language. I didn’t exactly like the sound of French and Latin, though important to know, is a dead language. German, on the other hand, well, I did enjoy listening to that language and I have some German ancestors in my family tree. Plus, the German teacher seemed nice. So, I decided on taking German starting in the 9^th grade. I wound up enjoying German so much that I decided to spend a year in Germany as an exchange student during my senior year and then major in German in college. I had hopes of becoming a professor of German at the university level, but life had other plans for me. Now that I am a little older and things have calmed down for me, I do plan to teach online German language classes and have been doing occasional freelance translating on and off over the years.

I am also very interested in history. The same high school I attended that sparked my interest in German had history instructors that were not the most inspiring. It wasn’t until I started taking university level history classes that I realized how intriguing and exciting that subject can be. I now wish there were courses about the influences many of the different ethnic groups had and still have on American history. BUT!!! I should not let my desires for classes in the past stop me from doing my own research and studying.

Recently – during the pandemic – I started ordering books about German history and Germany’s relationship with the United States throughout history. The book I am currently reading (“German-American Achievements: 400 Years of Contributions to America” written by Don Heinrich Tolzmann) is an easy read (in my opinion) and goes into the history of the contributions German-Americans have made to the United States over the centuries. I just posted about Independence Day on Friday. Chapter nine in this book talks about German-Americans and the very important role they played in declaring our independence from Great Britain. And the very next chapter, chapter ten, discusses the German-American contributions to the Union forces during the Civil War. Many of the German-American troops had served in the Prussian Army prior to coming to the United States. (The Prussian Army was the dominant army in Europe). (I had also mentioned the Civil War a couple weeks ago in my post about Juneteenth Day)

The other topics this book covers include immigration/settlement, helping preserve the union, building the nation (artistic, musical, literary, religious, etc. influences), and the German-American Experience. I find it very interesting to learn more history and the unique relationship we have had with the nation of Germany throughout time.

If you are interested in American history, I would highly recommend this book to get at least one more perspective. I would also like to think that maybe there are some books out there that speak to the contributions that other ethnic groups have played throughout our history.