In the February 7, 2015 issue of weekly magazine The Economist there is an article all about “the silent minority”. The silent minority is none other than German-Americans, still the largest ethnic group in the U.S., for the present time (according to magazine). The most interesting part about the article is that it mentions Wisconsin, talk about of an Austrian chalet built as a tribute to immigrant John Michael Kohler who is a well known plumbing business in these parts. The article relates that about 41% of the people in Wisconsin are of Teutonic stock, like Angela Merkel. Kindergartens were started by German immigrants in the good state of Wisconsin. As many people may know beer is a big deal and Milwaukee has had it former barons like, Jacob Best, Joseph Schlitz, Frederick Pabst and Frederick Miller, oh and baseball Milwaukee Brewers – go team in 2015!

Of course acknowledging your German heritage is something that became more complicated in the 20th Century with both wars. So it was a surprise to me to see this article. Check it out, an interesting read with a little fun about Germans in America.