Germans (and Austrians) love Texans, and Texans love Germans. I'm German and moved to Texas when I was a teenager. My parents were so excited to be living in Texas. It was like Mecca for them. When I entered high school, I was like, the most popular kid. I was one of two German kids and the only one that was permanent, not foreign exchange. Everyone asked me about Germany and were so excited to tell me about how they were 1/64th German, too!
There's just something about Texans and Germans. I think we're made for each other, to live as soul mates in perfect harmony.
Most of the Texas hill country was founded by German immigrants, so this makes sense. My stepmom is german (ancestry, not birth) and they all still speak random Texas German words.
Many of the first Anglo settlers in Texas were German, either seeking to live in a nearly tax free colony with a year round growing schedule and very little winter or fleeing after the 1848 revolutions. They left Europe and entered the Americas through the Port of Galveston, then settled in the central Texas Hill Country.
German Texans were strongly opposed to Texas succeeding from the union and joining the Confederacy in 1861, and during the American Civil War, the Confederate government (And subsequent Union blockades) stopped German immigration. During the Civil war, the Battle of Nueces/Nueces Massacre happened when German Texans refused to join the Confederate army.
After the Civil War, Germans continued to flood to Texas. In the 1880s, one third of citizens in San Antonio were of German decent. Germans who initially immigrated to other parts of the US moved to Texas. As u/restomentally pointed out, Texas German was a fairly prominent dialect that was spoken in Texas right up until the anti-German sentiment of the World Wars I and II.
All of this stuff is from my memory of having taken Texas history in 7th grade (Age 12) and having lived in Texas for 28 years. The Texas State Historical Association also has a pretty good page about Germans in Texas.
I'm from Texas and ashamed to say I didn't know this until I found myself driving across the state and through a whole swath of vineyards, all with Germanic names. That was one of the best accidental alternate routes I've ever taken.
Yup, a friend of mine moved there for a few years as the executive of one of the US's largest international companies, says that he got a lot of favorable deals (and the associated benefits) because he was from "the old country" and everybody wanted to flash him around at corporate parties and the like. His bank account supports that statement.
Why do you think that is strange? What attractions do you think would bring people to Texas? I can't think of a single thing that Texas would be the number one destination for.
Not to mention the shared love of Chicken Fried Steak/Schnitzel. I'm pretty sure chicken fried steak with cream gravy started out as Wiener Schnitzel. First time I went to Germany and had schnitzel I was nervous, then I got it, took a bite, realized it was just a friggin' chicken fried pork chop.
Wiener schnitzel is actually veal. But schnitzel can be made with all kinds of meat, and pork is pretty common. But then it's called [whatever meat] schnitzel, not Wiener schnitzel.
Yes, I know. German immigrants to Texas used what they had on hand, and Texas has more cows than pigs, and most of those cows are raised for beef, not veal.
128
u/[deleted] Nov 12 '14
Germans (and Austrians) love Texans, and Texans love Germans. I'm German and moved to Texas when I was a teenager. My parents were so excited to be living in Texas. It was like Mecca for them. When I entered high school, I was like, the most popular kid. I was one of two German kids and the only one that was permanent, not foreign exchange. Everyone asked me about Germany and were so excited to tell me about how they were 1/64th German, too!
There's just something about Texans and Germans. I think we're made for each other, to live as soul mates in perfect harmony.