German Interest Group
Willkommen!
Gerhard family, Washington D.C. ca 1912
Courtesy of L.H. Taylor
About Us
We Meet: The 3rd Saturday of each month, January through November (check calendar)
Hours: 1 to 3:45 p.m.
Virtual GIG meetings using GoToMeeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/282290373
Contact: germaninterest@scgsgenealogy.com for more information.
Goal
The Southern California Genealogical Society's German Interest Group (GIG) was formed to provide a wide range of resources both inside and outside the SCGS Library to help trace German family lineage. GIG's purpose is to educate and support our members as they pursue German genealogical research.
Meetings
The group meets at the SCGS Library on the third Saturday of each month (January through November) from 1 to 3:45 p.m. Meetings include presentations on a wide variety of research topics, highlights of German resources available in the library, online research tips, group help with brick wall problems, highlights of discoveries, and personal research time with the help of other members. Meetings are held in a hybrid format—at the SCGS Library and online. We also hold an annual Oktoberfest potluck meeting, appropriately in October, that is very popular with our members and guests. We're proud to host leading speakers and experts on German genealogy at our meetings.
German Interest Group Events 2026
The goal of the German Interest Group is to provide a wide range of resources both inside and outside the SCGS Library to help trace German families. The group meets at the Library every third Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. Each month, we feature a genealogist specializing in German ancestry. After the presentation, GIG members provide assistance with your German research problems. New members and guests are always welcome. If you bring your family information (pedigree charts and family group sheets with as much detail as possible), group members will be better able to assist you in locating the information you need to trace your German ancestors.
October 17
Allene Aubertin
"The Monument Men"
November 21
Tadeusz Pilat
Topic to be announced
March 21: Thanks for attending!
Fritz Juengling
April 18: Thanks for attending
Jana Bickel
“Ottilie Assing, a Female German Emigrant Who Collaborated with Fredrick Douglass”
May 16: Sorry we missed you!
Milan Pohontsch
“How East Germany Generated Hard Currency”
June 20
Bill Reilly
"Delving into Archion and Matricula"
August 15
Milan Pohontsch
“Living in East Germany as a Deeply Rooted Christian”
German Immigration to the United States
1850s
Nearly one million Germans immigrated to America in this decade, one of the peak periods of German immigration; in 1854 alone, 215,000 Germans arrived in this country.
1860
An estimated 1.3 million German-born immigrants resided in the United States; 200 German-language magazines and newspapers were published in this country; in St. Louis alone, there were seven German-language newspapers.
1880s
1890s
1910
1933
1940
1950s
1960s
1987
2023
The 1880s was the decade that experienced the heaviest influx of German immigration. Nearly 1.5 million Germans left their country to settle in the United States; about 250,000, the most significant number ever, arrived in 1882.
During this period, an estimated 2.8 million German-born immigrants lived in the United States. Most of them were located in the "German triangle," whose three points were Cincinnati, Ohio; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and St. Louis, Missouri.
An estimated 2.3 million German-born immigrants lived in the United States by 1910. With declining immigration and increasing assimilation, the number of German-language publications fell to about 550.
Adolf Hitler's growing power in Germany caused a significant immigration of leading German scientists, writers, musicians, scholars, and other artists and intellectuals to the United States to escape persecution. By the end of World War II, there were about 130,000 of these German and Austrian refugees living in America.
An estimated 1.2 million German-born immigrants lived in the United States.
Between 1951 and 1960, approximately 580,000 Germans immigrated to the United States.
An estimated 210,000 Germans immigrated to the U.S. between 1961 and 1970.
German-American Day was established by Congressional resolution and presidential proclamation on October 6, 1987.
More than 43 million people living in the U.S. claim German ancestry.
Sources: "German American Day, October 6, 2023", U.S. Census Bureau, https://www.census.gov/newsroom/stories/german-american-day.html