Today, over one-quarter of Pittsburgh's residents claim German heritage, the largest ethnic group in the region. It might be surprising to know that German was an official language of Pittsburgh at one time, and a daily German newspaper was printed from the mid-1800s up through World War II, but Germans have been living in the area since the 1600s, and Pennsylvania saw a dramatic influx of German immigrants in the later part of the 19th century. Without those immigrants, Pittsburgh would be a very different place--German-speaking Pittsburghers include names like H. J. Heinz, Honus Wagner, and the Kaufmanns, and they produced beloved Pittsburgh beers such as Iron City and Penn Pilsner. Today, remnants of the German-speaking community can be found throughout the city, and over 300,000 residents can claim German ancestry. German Pittsburgh explores the multifaceted cultural history of German-speaking immigrants and residents in the Greater Pittsburgh area, and provides an overview of the contributions that this diverse ethnic community has made in the city.

German Pittsburgh explores the multifaceted cultural history of German-speaking immigrants and residents in the Greater Pittsburgh area. Today over one quarter of the city's residents claim German heritage, the largest ethnic group in the region. German-speaking Pittsburghers include names like H. J. Heinz, Honus Wagner, and the Kaufmanns, and they produced beloved Pittsburgh beers such as Iron City and Penn Pilsner. It might be surprising to know that German was an official language of the city at one time, and a daily German newspaper was printed from the mid-1800s up through World War II. Today remnants of the German-speaking community can be found on the North Side, the South Side, Troy Hill, and Mount Oliver, to name a few. German Pittsburgh provides an overview of the contributions that this diverse ethnic community has made and is making today in the city.

Cover -- Half-title -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- INTRODUCTION: Pennsylvania German Studies -- PART 1 HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY -- 1. The Old World Background -- 2. To the New World: Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries -- 3. Communities and Identities: Nineteenth to the Twenty-First Centuries -- PART 2 CULTURE AND SOCIETY -- 4. The Pennsylvania German Language -- 5. Language Use among Anabaptist Groups -- 6. Religion -- 7. The Amish -- 8. Literature -- 9. Agriculture and Industries -- 10. Architecture and Cultural Landscapes -- 11. Furniture and Decorative Arts -- 12. Fraktur and Visual Culture -- 13. Textiles -- 14. Food and Cooking -- 15. Medicine -- 16. Folklore and Folklife -- 17. Education -- 18. Heritage and Tourism -- 19. Popular Culture and Media -- References -- Contributors -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Y -- Z -- Color plates follow page

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This book is a volume in the Penn Press Anniversary Collection. To mark its 125th anniversary in 2015, the University of Pennsylvania Press rereleased more than 1,100 titles from Penn Press's distinguished backlist from 1899-1999 that had fallen out of print. Spanning an entire century, the Anniversary Collection offers peer-reviewed scholarship in a wide range of subject areas.

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