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U.S. Oktoberfests celebrate America's German heritage [1]
['Noelani Kirschner']
Date: 2024-10-04 22:42:53+00:00
In New Ulm, Minnesota, German heritage is on display year-round. A 45-foot glockenspiel tower chimes, and a local college is named for the Reformation priest Martin Luther. Schell’s Brewery and Domeier’s German Store sell old-country beer and gifts, as they have for generations.
But for two weekends each October, the town, located 90 minutes southwest of Minneapolis, attracts thousands of outsiders for an Octoberfest celebration and parade. People dress in Bavarian clothes, dance polkas, yodel and, yes, drink beer. New Ulm (population 13,500) is one of dozens of U.S. cities that host Oktoberfests.
Forty-five million Americans claim German heritage, making German Americans the second-largest ethnic group in the U.S., after British Americans. German Americans have shaped U.S. society since the beginning, helping forge founding principles, such as freedom of the press, and later fighting for the abolition of slavery. Prominent German Americans include former President Dwight Eisenhower, writer John Steinbeck and physicist Albert Einstein, who immigrated to the U.S. in 1933.
“German-Americans have strengthened our Nation’s character and sustained our progress and prosperity,” President Biden said in 2022. “They are leaders in every industry and every community, spearheading innovation and making essential contributions to our nation’s success.”
America’s Oktoberfests are held between late September and early November and include traditions such as the beer gardens and dances that originated in Munich. In a nod to the horse races that once closed the festival, some U.S. Oktoberfests hold “wiener dog races.” (The loose connection is that Dachshunds were originally bred in Germany.)
Oktoberfest Zinzinnati claims America’s largest Oktoberfest and draws 800,000 people to Cincinnati each year. The Midwestern city, which in the 1850s was home to four German-language newspapers, serves up 80,000 bratwursts, 50,000 sausages and 3,600 pounds of sauerkraut during the late-September festival.
While many Oktoberfests are in cities like New Ulm and Cincinnati, both places with large German American populations, others have also adopted the tradition. In the 1960s, Leavenworth, Washington, rebuilt itself into a Bavarian-style village with wooden balconies and colorful facades after the town’s jagged mountain landscape reminded some of the Bavarian Alps. Leavenworth now hosts multiple German-themed festivals, including the spring celebration Maifest and an Oktoberfest that spans three weekends and attracts thousands.
By 1990, 17% of Texans claimed some German heritage. And Oktoberfest celebrations in Fredericksburg and New Braunfels reflect the Texas towns’ German influence. Founded in the 1840s, the towns were established by German nobles as part of an economic outpost across 1.2 million hectares of central Texas, according to the Texas State Historical Association.
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https://share.america.gov/us-oktoberfests-celebrate-americas-german-heritage/
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