British Germans
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British Germans are people of German origin who live in the United Kingdom
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[edit] History
Germans have resided in Britain throughout its history.[1] These have included German soldiers serving in the Roman army and the Anglo-Saxon settlers of the fifth century, as well as the Hanseatic merchants of the Middle Ages. From the sixteenth century Protestant refugees entered Britain, fleeing from the instability caused by the religious changes consequent upon the Reformation. By the end of the seventeenth century, a significant German community had developed, consisting mostly of businessmen, mainly from Hamburg, sugar bakers and other economic migrants.
In 1714, George I, a German-speaking Hanoverian prince of mixed British and German descent, ascended to the British throne, founding the House of Hanover. Every subsequent British monarch until Edward VII in the Twentieth century would take a German spouse. The British Royal family retained a German surname until 1917, when, in response to the anti-German feelings of World War I, it was legally changed to the english-sounding 'Windsor'. Even today, the Royal family is sometimes parodied as being 'German' even though the family's German blood is now much diluted.
Today there are estimated to be well over 100,000 people of German origin based in the UK with around 70,000 Germans living in London alone. The largest numbers of Germans and German speakers are found in London, mostly in the wealthier boroughs such as Richmond, the location of a German medium school as well as other German shops catering to the population there. There is a sizeable community in Stoke Newington (Hackney) as well as in some north western and southern boroughs of London and other parts of the South East UK.
Traditional German celebrations in the UK include lantern walking on St. Martin's day (November 11), German carnival for children, but also picnics in parks and casual get-togethers. There is also an Oktoberfest in Richmond with the highlight being a cruise with a live Oompah band.
[edit] British German influence
British Germans and German speakers have contributed to a vast number of areas in British life. George Frideric Handel, one of the great composers of the Baroque era in the 18th century, was commissioned to write four anthems for the coronation ceremony of King George II, later becoming a subject of the British crown in 1727. In 1818 Johann Heinrich Schröder founded with his brother, the London-based firm Schroders, today one of the world's largest investment banks. John Jacob Astor, 1st Baron Astor of Hever, founded the Astor dynasty in England. The Battenberg family's roots go back to Prince Louis I who became a British subject, and who's immediate descendants were his youngest son Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, and his grandson Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and husband of Queen Elizabeth II.
[edit] Famous British Germans
Famous British Germans include:
Sir Ernest Cassel, Merchant banker
George Frideric Handel, Baroque composer
Gustav Holst, British composer (of German-Swedish descent)
Hans Holbein the Younger, Renaissance-era painter of Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour
Nathan Mayer Rothschild, Founder of NM Rothschild, the UK Merchant Bank
Arthur Schuster, physicist.
Rainer Hersch, British musical comedian
Karl Marx, German-British revolutionary economist and philosopher
Friedrich Engels, philosopher, and collaborator with Karl Marx.
J. R. R. Tolkien, novelist.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Deutsche In London
- German Deli Foods
- Oktoberfest, the UK's major German cultural festival held in Richmond-upon-Thames, London
- The Goethe Institut London
 British Census: White British |
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| Native inhabitants | Anglo-Irish • Brython • Cornish • English • Gael • Irish/Irish Traveller • Scottish • Welsh |
| Immigrants | Australian • French • German/German-Briton • Greek • Italian • Spanish • Polish • Russian |
