German – Facts and Stories

An Aphorism by Friedrich Nietzsche

There are lots of famous quotes and aphorisms by Friedrich Nietzsche. One of them can be found in Beyond Good and Evil (1886):

“It is characteristic of the Germans that the question “What is German?” never dies out among them.”

German as the Official Language of the U.S.A.? – A Brief Look at a Historical Myth

Nowadays, some people claim that the U.S. Congress had the intention of making German the official language of the newly founded U.S.A. at the end of the 18th century. According to these claims, the alleged proposal was eventually rejected by just one single vote. However, this is actually a historical myth. Those days an overwhelming majority (app. 90%) of the inhabitants of the U.S.A. spoke English.

The House of Representatives once suggested that all laws should be published in both English and German because there was a significant number of German citizens in some American states (esp. Pennsylvania). But this proposal was not popular at all and was rejected immediately.