About 12 million Germans had to flee or were expelled from Eastern Europe. In subsequent centuries the German population grew considerably and a substantial number of Germans migrated to Eastern and Northern Europe. This name was used for Germanic peoples in Central Europe since the 8th century, during which a distinct German ethnic identity began to emerge among them.[2]. Although there were fears that the reunified Germany might resume nationalist politics, the country is today widely regarded as a "stablizing actor in the heart of Europe" and a "promoter of democratic integration". The Main valley was occupied from about 260 by the Burgundians, while the Agri Decumates (of the Black Forest region) were held by the Alemanni. The peoples whom Tacitus mentions as living on the Baltic coast had moved southeastward in the second half of the 2nd century. In subsequent centuries the power of the Franks grew considerably. Although individual travelers from the time of Pytheas onward had visited Teutonic countries in the north, it was not until the 1st century bc was well advanced that the Romans learned to distinguish precisely between the Germans and the Celts, a distinction that is made with great clarity by Julius Caesar. First, it motivated Anglo-Americans to push back against anything German. The German ethnicity emerged among early Germanic peoples of Central Europe, particularly the Franks, Frisians, Saxons, Thuringii, Alemanni and Baiuvarii. During the 13th century, the Teutonic Knights began conquering the Old Prussians, and established what would eventually become the powerful German state of Prussia. By this time Germanic peoples are believed to have dominated an area stretching from the Rhine in the west to the Vistula in the east, and the Danube in the south to Scandinavia in the north. The war resulted in widespread destruction and the deaths of tens of millions of soldiers and civilians, while the German state was partitioned. The arts and sciences are an integral part of German culture, and the Germans have produced a large number of prominent personalities in a number of disciplines. The term "German" may also be applied to any citizen, native or inhabitant of Germany, or member of the Germanic peoples, regardless of whether they are of German ethnicity or not. [35], German is the native language of the Germans. [2][24] German is a West Germanic language closely related to Frisian, English and Dutch. Germany is located in the middle of a lot of other relevant countries and their languages. They saw the Germans as a people united by language and advocated the unification of all Germans into a single nation state, which was partially achieved in 1871. [43] The German language remains the primary criterion of modern German identity. While individual Germans in Roman service would sometimes refer to themselves as Germani, the free Germans beyond the Rhine had no collective name for themselves until the 11th century ad, when the adjective diutisc (modern German deutsch, “of the people”) came into fashion. [30] The resulting religious schism among he Germans was a leading cause of the Thirty Years' War, which led to the death of millions of Germans. This campaign resulted in World War II and the Holocaust. For information on the population of Germany, see, "Towards a taxonomy of personality descriptors in German: A psycho‐lexical study", "Germany in the 21st Century, Part III: Who is a German", Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–1950), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Germans&oldid=1000804684, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia indefinitely move-protected pages, Wikipedia indefinitely semi-protected pages, "Related ethnic groups" needing confirmation, Articles containing Spanish-language text, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 16 January 2021, at 20:17. One of the first known names of the region was Germania, attributed to the area by the Romans. From an early date Germans are established in Denmark and southern Sweden. [11] The term "German" may also be applied to any citizen,[13] native or inhabitant of Germany,[14][15] or member of the Germanic peoples,[15][16][17][18][19] regardless of whether they are of German ethnicity or not. Balts settle along the southern and eastern coast of the Baltic Sea. The areas of eastern Germany vacated by the Goths and others were filled up by the Slavs, who extended westward as far as Bohemia and the basin of the Elbe. As a response, the Prussians sought to use the Zollverein customs union to increase its power among the German states. [41] East Germany and West Germany both sought to build up an identity on historical or ideological lines, distancing themselves both from the Nazi past and each other. As for the Danubian frontier of the Roman Empire, the Hermunduri extended from the neighbourhood of Regensburg northward through Franconia to Thuringia. It has become something of a cliché that the Marshall Plan paid for rebuilding but that was not true. Charlemagne was crowned emperor by Pope Leo I in 800. In modern times, remembrance of the Holocaust has become an integral part of German identity (Erinnerungskultur). [24] By the 3rd century, Germanic peoples were beginning to merge into great coalitions, and had begun conquering and settling areas within the Roman Empire. He also speaks of several other peoples of less historical importance, but he knows nothing of the Saxons, the Burgundians, and others who became prominent after his time. In the aftermath of World War I, Austria-Hungary and the German Empire were partitioned, resulting in many Germans becoming ethnic minorities in newly established countries. Ingmar Wesemann/Photolibrary/Getty Images The name "Germany" comes from the Latin "Germania," which was used to describe barbarian tribes in north-eastern Gaul. On the lower Danube were a people called the Bastarnae, who are usually thought to have been Germans. [31] Among the most powerful German state to emerge in the aftermath of the Peace of Westphalia was Prussia, which was under the rule of the House of Hohenzollern. As Imperial Russia expanded, a great need developed for capable and industrious workers, especially farmers, to settle these new and often unsafe lands. The Russian Empire also contained a substantial German population. Following the Reformation in the 16th century, the German lands became divided into Roman Catholic and Protestant states. [37], Popular German dishes include brown bread and stew. [31], After centuries of political fragmentation, a sense of German unity began to emerge in the 18th century. 1608 - Several Germans were among the settlers at Jamestown.. 1626 - Peter Minuit, a German, came to New Amsterdam to serve as the governor of the Dutch colony, New Netherlands. [34] As a result of the war, German identity became less nationalistic than what is was in the past. On 1937-JAN-17, the last Amish congregation -- in Ixheim, Germany -- merged with their local Mennonite group and became the Zweibrücken Mennonite Church. About a third are Roman Catholics, while one third adheres to Protestantism. And one of the more authoritative German scholars of the subject, Wolfgang Benz, offered a range of 5.3 to 6.2 million. (1000 ad) A name identified a specific person and later a group of persons (family name); at first through verbal usage, it was later fixed through writing. The 19th century saw the dismemberment of the Holy Roman Empire and the growth of German nationalism, with the state of Prussia incorporating the majority of the Germans into the German Empire, while a substantial number of Germans also inhabited Austria-Hungary. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. During the late Bronze Age, they are believed to have inhabited southern Sweden, the Danish peninsula, and northern Germany between the Ems River on the west, the Oder River on the east, and the Harz Mountains on the south. The dozen or so peoples surrounding Germany developed their own names for the Germans, from their point of view. Germans of this period who contributed significantly to the arts and sciences include the writers Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich Schiller, Johann Gottfried Herder, Friedrich Hölderlin, E. T. A. Hoffmann, Heinrich Heine, Novalis and the Brothers Grimm, the philosopher Immanuel Kant, the architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel, the painter Caspar David Friedrich, and the composers Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Joseph Haydn, Johannes Brahms, Franz Schubert, Richard Strauss and Richard Wagner. It would go on to be used as a mockery of the name Ignatz—a German variation of Ignatius. As their colonies grew, the Germans developed more land and established "daughter colonies." Many Germans, eager to improve their positions in life, began to colonize in Russia. Approximately 35 percent of Chicago's Germans came from the northeast, 25 percent from the southwest, 17 percent from the northwest, 11 percent from the west, and 12 percent from the southeast. [25], The late 13th century saw the election of Rudolf I of the House of Habsburg to the German throne, and the Habsburg family would continue to play an important role in German history for centuries afterwards. [6] The number of Muslims is growing. - left their land north of Babylon and migrated northwest - through the lands that are now Georgia, the Ukraine, Poland, … Indeed, Ignatz was a name common in Bavaria, the region from which the NSDAP emerged. The Roman frontier on the lower Rhine faced the Franks. The term "Germans" may also be applied to any citizen, native or inhabitant of Germany, a person of German descent,[14][15] or member of the Germanic peoples,[15][16][17][18][19] regardless of whether they are of German ethnicity or not. In the aftermath of Germany's defeat in the war, the country was occupied and partitioned, while millions of Germans were expelled from Eastern Europe. Another third does not profess any religion. In the chaotic years that followed, Adolf Hitler became the dictator of Nazi Germany and embarked on an genocidal campaign to unify all Germans under his leadership. [2] The Holy Roman Empire continued to exist until being dissolved by Napoleon in 1806. It is the key marker of German ethnic identity. [23] By the 8th century AD, the Germanic populations of Central Europe were known as diutisc, an Old High German term meaning "ethnic" or "relating to the people". [11] Völkisch elements identified Germanness with "a shared Christian heritage" and "biological essence", to the exclusion of the notable Jewish minority. [41] Today, discussion on Germanness may stress various aspects, such as commitment to pluralism and the German constitution (constitutional patriotism),[42] or the notion of a Kulturnation (nation sharing a common culture). An important German festival is the Oktoberfest. Hence they were divided into three groups—the Ingaevones, the Herminones, and the Istaevones—but the basis for this grouping is unknown. In a subsequent Franco-Prussian War, the Prussians and their German allies defeated France, and proclaimed the German Empire in 1871. This prevented an early unification of the Germans and contributed to the formation of strong German national groups, such as the Bavarians, Swabians and Franconians. The Germans (German: Deutsche) are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. [33] During this time, the German population expanded considerably, and many emigrated to other countries, contributing to the growth of the German diaspora. Germany. It’s said that success has many authors, and the encouraging data from Pfizer Inc.’s experimental Covid-19 vaccine had plenty of people in Washington lining up to take credit. East of the Rhine there were three great confederacies of peoples unknown to Tacitus. Starting in the early 18th century, many of the Amish migrated to the U.S. It was Caesar who incorporated within the frontiers of the Roman Empire those Germans who had penetrated west of the Rhine, and it is he who gave the earliest extant description of Germanic culture. Updates? Standard literary German is based on High German, and is the first or second language of most Germans, but notably not the Volga Germans. The German ethnicity developed among early Germanic peoples of Central Europe in the Early Middle Ages. At that time and for several centuries thereafter, there was only a single “Germanic” language, with little more than minor dialect differences. After the 8th century the Germans recovered eastern Germany, lower Austria, and much of Styria and Carinthia from the Slavs. [2][20] Since the early modern period, it has been the most common name for the Germans in English. Owing to their long history of political fragmentation, the Germans are culturally diverse and often have strong regional identities. Competition for colonies between the French, British and German empires contributed to sparking World War I, in which the German, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires formed the Central Powers in opposition to the Allies of World War I. [36] The devastations also did much damage to the identity and reputation of the Germans. German cooks are famed for using extravagant ingredients and combining the whole into a rich dining experience, so it seemed to fit that this recipe must have come from Germany. The Germans of Austria-Hungary proclaimed the Republic of German-Austria, and sought to be incorporated into the German state, but this was forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles and Treaty of Saint-Germain. Others settled in New York, Maryland, Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia. The Marshall Plan did not come in until late 1948 and 1949. How did German people get their names? [27] These urban leagues significantly contributed to the development of German commerce and banking. [37], A steadily shrinking majority of Germans are Christians. Tribes using an Italic group of languages descend into Italy. They formed the largest non-English-speaking community in colonial North America. [28] In response to the advance of Protestantism, Catholics began the Counter-Reformation. The Vandals, Gepidae, and Goths migrated from southern Sweden in the closing centuries bc and occupied … The endonym of the Germans is derived from this word. Most emigrants left Germany during the following periods: 1683 to 1820. But … Speaking the German language is the most important characteristic of modern Germans, but they are also characterized by a common German culture, descent and history. This wave of emigration was caused by economic hardships and religious persecutions after the Thirty Years' War. Estimates on the total number of Germans in the world range from 100 to 150 million, and most of them live in Germany.[9]. At any rate, the currency of these songs suggests that in Tacitus’ time the various Germanic peoples were conscious of their relationship with one another. [32], It is estimated that there are between 100 and 150 million Germans today, most of whom live in Germany, where they constitute the majority of the population. In 9 bc the Romans pushed their frontier eastward from the Rhine to the Elbe, but in ad 9 a revolt of their subject Germans headed by Arminius ended in the withdrawal of the Roman frontier to the Rhine. 1683 - Thirteen families of German Mennonites seeking religious freedom arrived in Pennsylvania; led by Franz Pastorius, they purchased … Sweet baking chocolate is … The Marcomanni, who had previously lived in the Main valley, migrated during the last decade bc to Bohemia (which had hitherto been occupied by a Celtic people called the Boii), where their eastern neighbours were the Quadi in Moravia. The origins of the Germanic peoples are obscure. By the year 500, the Angles and Saxons were in England and the Franks controlled northeastern Gaul. The Vandals, Gepidae, and Goths migrated from southern Sweden in the closing centuries bc and occupied the area of the southern Baltic coast roughly between the Oder on the west and the Vistula River on the east. The settlers of the Pennsylvania German region came from the Rhineland, Switzerland, Tyrol, and various other regions beginning in 1689. [23] The church played an important role among Germans in the Middle Ages, and competed with the nobility for power. The recorded history of Germanic languages begins with their speakers’ first contact with the Romans, in the 1st century bce. [41] After German reunification in 1990, the political discourse was characterized by the idea of a "shared, ethnoculturally defined Germanness", and the general climate became increasingly xenophobic during the 1990s. They are also associated with Germanic languages, which originated and dispersed among them, and are one of several criteria used to define Germanic ethnicity. [6] There is also a notable Jewish community, which was decimated in the Holocaust. [32] German revolutionaries of the revolutions of 1848 were able to create a temporary Frankfurt Parliament, but failed in their aims to immediately unify the German homeland. Over time, some Slavic populations were assimilated by Germans, resulting in many Germans acquiring substantial Slavic ancestry. Many of these Russian Germans later emigrated to the United States, C… Great urban centers increased in size and wealth and formed powerful leagues, such as the Hanseatic League and the Swabian League, in order to protect their interests, often through supporting the German kings in their struggles with the nobility. [11], People of German ethnicity (or citizens, inhabitants or natives of Germany), This article is about the ethnic group. During the late Bronze Age, they are believed to have inhabited southern Sweden, the Danish peninsula, and northern Germany between the Ems River on the west, the Oder River on the east, and the Harz Mountains on the south. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. In 568 the Lombards entered Italy and lived there in an independent kingdom until they were overthrown by Charlemagne (774). By the end of the 3rd century ad important changes had taken place. The book is one of the most valuable ethnographic works in existence; archaeology has in many ways supplemented the information Tacitus gives, but in general it has tended only to confirm his accuracy and to illustrate his insight into his subject. The Burgundians were in the Rhône valley with the Visigoths as their western neighbours. [22] Much of Central Europe was at that time inhabited by Celts, who are associated with the La Tène culture. Hohenstaufen family sense of German ethnic identity emerged among German intellectuals in the Middle... 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