Cincinnati's German Heritage
More than four Ohioans in 10 report German ancestry and Ohio has the third largest number of people claiming German ancestry,
according to the 1980 U.S. Census, but a higher percentage can be found in Cincinnati, where 50% of the population claims German ancestry! It, along with Milwaukee and St. Louis, formed what became
known as the "German Triangle"
Cincinnati's German heritage dates back to 1788 with the arrival of Major Benjamin Steitz (Stites) and Matthias Denmann. German
immigration has continued, most recently the Danube Swabian immigration of the 1950's.
The continued interest in the German heritage in the community is reflected by the Fairview Bilingual School, the twenty German-American societies, a German Language Newspaper, as well as numerous
social and cultural events and festivities- from the may festival to the downtown Oktoberfest, the largest outside of Munich!
The University houses a large German-Americana Collection. Established in 1974, the German-Americana Collection is one of the
nation's largest. It consists of books, pamphlets, documents, journals, and manuscripts pertaining to German-American history, literature and culture. The German-American Studies Program was established
in 1987, the Max Kade German Cultural Center in 1997.
