The king's family moves to New York. Not the king of Germany. But Elvis Presley, who would have been Elvis Pressler if Johann Valentin Pressler hadn't changed his name during the Civil War. He made wine in the village of Niederhochstadt in the Southern Palatinate until he moved to the States. A number of descendants of the Pressler family still live in Niederhochstadt today. But Elvis is the most famous descendant of this German family.

A new group. Alexander Mack was controversial for his opposition to infant baptism. He came from the town of Schwarzenau and founded a group called the Schwarzenau Brethren. But to avoid persecution, some fled to the Netherlands. Others followed Peter Becker to America where they settled in Germantown in 1708. From there, they spread out West. And by 1908, they lived mostly in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas and North Dakota.

From the mountains of Germany and Switzerland to the land of the free. The first group of Amish landed in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. With solid roots in the Mennonite community, they came to Pennsylvania as part of William Penn's "holy experiment" of religious tolerance. To avoid persecution from Catholics and Protestants, they held religious services in the privacy of their homes.

Money in the bank. One of the largest private fortunes belonged to the Rockefeller family. They came to America from a town called Neuwied in the Palatinate area of Western Germany. These descendants of Goddard Rockefeller, born in 1590, settled in New York and New Jersey. Their fortune came from acquiring large landholdings.

German language in American press. The Philadelphische Zeitung was the first German language newspaper published in the United States.

Putting it in print. A German printer born in Palatinate named Christopher Saur established the first German publishing company. He printed the first edition of the Bible, written in a European language (German). It was called Luther’s translation of the old and new testaments.

German words. The Declaration of Independence of the 13 original colonies from England was announced and was almost immediately translated into German.

German-Americans supported the Revolution. Even the Quakers and Mennonites, who couldn't bear arms or carry weapons for religious reasons, showed support. They supplied food and clothing.

Moving fast. Benjamin Franklin helped Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben from Magdeburg, Prussia to emigrate to the United States. It only took one year before he was inspector general of the Continental Army.

Steuben made his mark by providing guidelines for the performance of military duties and establishing military discipline. He also created armies who claimed victory over the British in Yorktown.

Drop your weapons and you can stay. 5,000 Hessian soldiers, hired by Britain to fight the war, decided to leave their homes in the Kassel area for Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. Congress offered them a place to call home if they would put down their weapons.

From $25 to $20 million. From the little village of Waldorf in Wüerttemberg came a man named John Jacob Astor. Successful in fur trade and real estate, he became the richest man in the country, worth an estimated $20 million. Not bad considering he came from Germany with $25 in his pocket.

From Losantiville to Cincinnati. A few German men, Major Benjamin Steitz, Matthias Denmann, Israel Ludlow and Robert Patterson arrived in Ohio as the first German settlers in the area. They bought 800 acres along the Ohio River at the Licking River's mouth. They picked a name that would only last a year - Losantiville. It quickly changed to Cincinnati. Fifty years later, about 16,000 of the 40,000 inhabitants were German.

The town of Cincinnati now boasts more than 20 German-American societies, a bilingual school, a German-language newspaper, a sprawling May festival and the largest Oktoberfest outside of Munich. It sets the record with its 80,500 bratwurst, 64,000 sauerkraut balls, 56,000 sausages and 24,000 potato pancakes that are consumed each year.

Part German. The first American census was taken and records showed that one third of Pennsylvania was German. Of the total U.S. population, 8.6 percent was German. They came from the Palatinate, Baden and Württemberg and were spread throughout New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia and South Carolina.

On January 13, 1795, Congress considered a proposal, not to give German any official status, but merely to print the federal laws in German as well as English. During a debate, a motion to adjourn failed by one vote. The final vote rejecting the translation of federal laws, which took place one month later, is not recorded. The translation proposal had been started by a group of Germans living in August, Virginia.