Are you German? According to the Bureau of the Census, 42.8 million people or 15 percent of the population considered themselves to be of German (or part-German) ancestry. The actual number of Germans is about 25% of the population, including those descended from other German-speaking countries and areas of Europe, such as Austria, Switzerland, Alsace-Lorraine, Luxemburg, Liechtenstein, Russia, etc. German is the leading ancestry group in 23 states, including all states of the Midwest.

See for yourself. The German Emigration Center at Bremerhaven opens to the public. This is the place where seven million people made their way to Bremerhaven to leave Europe between 1832 and 1974. For decades, Bremerhaven was one of the main emigration ports in Europe.

Experience history. The Hamburg Port of Dreams Emigration City and museum project BallinStadt opens. They provide the public with an authentic impression of the conditions under which last century's European emigrants traveled across the Atlantic. Exactly 100 years after Albert Ballin had completed the 'emigrant halls' for European emigrants on the Elbe River's Veddel, a part of this Emigrant City has emerged again at the historical place. Between 1850 and 1939, Hamburg served as the "Gateway to the World" for some five million European emigrants who left their homeland via the city's port in search of a better life across the Atlantic.

50-year march. The German-American Steuben parade in New York celebrates its 50th anniversary.