About eight million Germans emigrated to North America over the past four centuries. More than 50 million Americans living today – almost 17 percent of the entire US population – have German roots. This makes the German-Americans the largest immigration group in the United States. The German Tourism Association is now devoting a new project to this shared German-American cultural history. The campaign, which was launched in the summer of 2009, is entitled “400 years since the first Germans emigrated to America – Find your Roots!” A program is to be developed over the coming months that specifically targets US citizens who want to look for their ancestors.
“German-Americans are particularly interested in researching their roots,” explained Ernst Hinsken, the Federal Government's Commissioner for Tourism. The campaign was launched at the German Emigration Centre in Bremerhaven. The “European Museum of the Year 2007” is devoted to the history of emigration from Germany and is already a popular destination for American “heritage” tourists. Here, US citizens often discover files on their German relatives who boarded a ship in Bremerhaven centuries or decades ago to set off on their journey across the Atlantic.
