The GW Expat Blog

Tag

German-Americans

Mae West: The German Girl

When Mary Jane West, later the stage and film star Mae West (1893-1980), was growing up in Brooklyn and Queens she was known as "the German girl." Her mother, Mathilde/Matilda West (née Delker), had been born on 8 December 1870, probably in the Kingdom of Württemberg,...

The Father of Sliced Bread Was a German Iowan

We take pre-sliced bread for granted. It has even become part of the language: "It's the best/greatest thing since sliced bread." But Iowa-born Otto Frederick Rohwedder did not begin selling his pioneering bread-slicing machine until 1928. It could automatically slice...

The Art and Tragedy of Albert Bierstadt

The German American landscape painter Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902) The painting depicted below is not what most people consider a typical Albert Bierstadt landscape. It was created during the "tragedy" period of Bierstadt's life and career. Many art critics, art...

Goethe and Schiller in San Francisco

German Culture at the "Goldenen Thor" During a recent visit to San Francisco I got a surprising reminder of how truly widespread and important German culture once was in the United States – before two world wars drastically changed the role it played in America. My...