Germans formed the largest foreign-speaking ethnic group of nineteenth-century Louisiana, larger than all the others combined. During the antebellum period, an estimated 12 percent of the New Orleans population was German, making the city the largest German colony below the Mason-Dixon line. Some later settlements moved upriver between New Orleans and Donaldsonville, near Lecompte, and in north Louisiana near Minden. Today, descendents of these immigrants make up over a fourth of the population. This book examines the state's German buildings, towns, monuments, prominent individuals, and more. This first comprehensive study of the German history and heritage of Louisiana provides information on the historical background of the colonial era, as well as immigration and settlement patterns of the nineteenth century. Also included are details of typical trades and businesses founded, owned, or dominated by German immigrants, a history of churches and synagogues in the New Orleans area, and facts about German social and civic life.
