I have found that there is a great variety among the various German-American organizations. Some are strictly social, others, like the Indiana German Heritage Society, are basically a historical society. I have not attempted to categorize them. However, I have been collecting addresses and newsletter from various German-American organizations in hopes of putting these into some sort of order and, with a short description, onto our Website. The task is mind-boggling and we need help.

If anyone knows of any active groups, please, send it to Ruth Reichmann.

Here is some of what I found:

J. Richly's Directory of the German-American Societies in the USA, 1988 listed app. 800 "Vereins." Of these "Sachsen," "Bayern" and "Schwaben" represent original tribal names. The "Österreicher" (Austrians) are of Bavarian origin; subsequently the "Kärntner" and "Burgenländer," named after two Austrian provinces, share the same ancestry, and so do a good many of the "Egerländer Sudeten," who were part of the 3.5 million Germans living in what was then Czechoslovakia. The "Siebenbürger Sachsen" and the "Donauschwaben" represent the once large German settlements on the Balkan--though not necessarily all were Sachsen and Schwaben but settlers from various parts of the German Empire. Over the centuries each of these German settlements in Eastern/Southeastern Europe developed new tribal cohesion with a sense of their own identity.

Toward the end of WW II many of them fled west before the advancing Red Army, others suffered expulsion, even death, in Europe's worst case of "ethnic cleansing." Together with the 10 million from the lost eastern provinces of Germany, a total of over 17.5 million were uprooted and one out of nine did not reach the west alive. Only about 10% remained, or were retained, in their homelands. Large numbers of these "Flüchtlinge" (refugees) came to Bavaria, where they were jokingly called "The 4th Tribe" --that is after the Bayern, Franken and Schwaben who traditionally made up Bavaria's populace.

As with an earlier involuntary exodus from Russia in the 19th century that had brought thousands of German Mennonites to the Great Plains, where they became pioneers of American agriculture, Germans from eastern and southeastern Europe flocked again to America. Here they have been seeking continuity of their specific heritage through close contact in Vereins. So do the "Schlesier" (Silesians) and the "Pommern," "Mecklenburger" and "West- and Ost-Preussen" whose lands were severed from Germany and taken by Poland and Russia--likewise as a consequence of Hitler's war.

A recent example of setting preservation goals for the German cultural heritage, of customs and traditions, is found in the first issue of the Ostfriesen "Neues Blatt" (Feb.1, 1Ö7), the Newsletter of the Ostfriesen Heritage Society in Iowa. The "Goals of the Society" are:

1. Preserve the knowledge of the emigrants, their names, customs, foods and land of origin through Genealogy, Fest and language classes.

2. To use and enjoy the Platt Language for the 2 generations that still speak this ancient Friesen Language of the Low coastal lands of Germany.

3. To preserve records of the language through cassettes and video of the Plattdeutsch theater and music at our Fests.

4. Providing a Fest with Platt Theater and German music.

5. Forming an Ostfriesen Genealogical Resource/Research Center at the Wellsburg Library, for this central part of Iowa and all whose ancestors first settled in Grundy County and surrounding areas.

6. To bring performing groups from Ostfriesland, Germany and for our people to perform in Germany and research their roots in the land of the ancestors.

And Dat Pommersche Blatt (Jan. 1997), Newsletter of the Pommersche Verein Central Wisconsin, states: "Our Verein has chosen the Jamunder Tracht for our Tracht (folk costume)." And in regard to Language: "Since the formation of our Verein, we have gathered and published information about the German dialect spoken by our forefathers. At our meetings we attempt to state resolutions brought from the floor in "Platt"..."

Pommerscher Verein of Central Wisconsin PO Box 358 Wausau, WI 54402-0358

Here are some other groups for which I have addresses:

GERMAN-BOHEMIAN HERITAGE SOCIETY (GBHS)
Postal address:
P. O. Box 822
New Ulm, Minnesota 56073-0822
eMail address: lalgbhs@newulmtel.com

Publication: Quarterly German-Bohemian Heritage Society Newsletter
Editor: Louis Lindmeier
1101 South Valley Street
New Ulm, Minnesota 56073-3436

Eberhard and Ruth Reichmann
https://liberalarts.iupui.edu/maxkade/