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Americans in Germany or American Germans (German: Amerikanische Deutsche or Amerika-Deutsche[3]) refers to the American population in Germany and their German-born descendants. According to Destatis, 300,000 - 400,000 Americans live in Germany. 200,000 of them in Rhineland-Palatinate.[4]

At the same time, more than 40,000 members of the US military and 15,000 civilian employees of American citizenship are permanently in Germany, with a strong presence in Kaiserslautern, which in the 1950s became the largest US military community outside of the United States.[5] In addition, there are significant numbers of American expatriates in Germany, especially professionals sent abroad by their companies and an increasing number of college students and graduates (also due to the affordable higher education system and the favorable quality of life). By December 2013, the largest American diasporas in Germany are Rhineland-Palatinate with over 50,000. Berlin with over 16,000 people, and the area around Darmstadt with about 13,000 people.[6]

Military backgrounds

American Zone in Germany after 8 June 1947. Mainly today's state areas of Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate were affected, as well as city states Berlin (West Berlin) and Bremen.

A large portion of the American-German population has a military background. Great numbers of American soldiers were stationed in Germany after World War II. The Occupation statute of 1949 set regulations for the post-war time within Allied-occupied Germany. Numerous American military installations were established during this time, and eventually hundreds were in place, mainly in Southern Germany. At the time of German Reunification in 1990, there were still about 200,000 US soldiers in Germany. By 2014, the number had been steadily reduced to 42,450 stationed in 38 facilities.[7]

During World War II General Dwight D. Eisenhower and the American War Department enforced a strict non-fraternization policy regarding contact between American military personnel and German citizens. After the war this prohibition was mitigated in several steps and finally abandoned in Austria and Germany in September 1945.[8] In the earliest stages of the Allied occupation US soldiers were not allowed to pay maintenance for a child they admitted having fathered, since to do so was considered as "aiding the enemy". Marriages between white American soldiers and German women were not permitted until December 1946.[9]


Demographics

Number of Americans in larger cities
# City People
1. Berlin 22,694
2. Munich 6,705
3. Hamburg 3,880
4. Frankfurt 3,147
5. Bonn 1,823
6. Heidelberg 1,670
7. Wiesbaden 1,346
8. Nuremberg 1,327
9. Stuttgart 1,264
10. Kaiserslautern 1,187

Notable American-Germans

In sports

Organizations of Americans in Germany

See also

References

  1. ^ "BiB - Bundesinstitut für Bevölkerungsforschung - Pressemitteilungen - Zuwanderung aus außereuropäischen Ländern fast verdoppelt". Archived from the original on 2017-12-09. Retrieved 2017-03-08.
  2. ^ publisher. "Pressemitteilungen - Ausländische Bevölkerung - Statistisches Bundesamt (Destatis)". www.destatis.de.
  3. ^ Barack Obama gilt als Favorit der Amerika-Deutschen, Westdeutsche Zeitung, 4 November 2012
  4. ^ [1]
  5. ^ "158 700 US citizens vote for their President". Märkische Online Zeitung. 30 October 2012. Archived from the original on 5 July 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  6. ^ Europe Online Magazine, 25 June 2014
  7. ^ "Bundestag" (PDF).
  8. ^ Varns, Nicola (December 2005). "It Started With a Kiss. Happy and tragic German-American love stories after World War II". The Atlantic Times. Archived from the original on 2014-12-25. Retrieved 2015-01-28.
  9. ^ Biddiscombe, Perry (2001). "Dangerous Liaisons: The Anti-Fraternization Movement in the U.S. Occupation Zones of Germany and Austria, 1945-1948". Journal of Social History. 34 (3): 611–647. doi:10.1353/jsh.2001.0002. JSTOR 3789820. S2CID 145470893.
  10. ^ PenrodApril 01, Susan; Team, 2006 Global IT. "Welcome to Democrats Abroad Germany". Democrats Abroad. Retrieved 2024-01-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)