Short answers, pulled from the story.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau's figures from 2022, German Americans number roughly 41 million, which is approximately 12 percent of the total U.S. population. This represents a decrease from a 2009 Census Bureau figure reporting 50.7 million Americans with German roots.
The first permanent German settlement in what became the United States was Germantown, Pennsylvania, founded near Philadelphia on the 6th of October, 1683. Pennsylvania remains the state with the largest population of German Americans, with 3.5 million people of German ancestry.
Anti-German hysteria during World War I drove a rapid and largely forced abandonment of the language. State and federal governments banned or restricted German in schools and public places; the Iowa governor issued the 1918 Babel Proclamation prohibiting all foreign languages in schools and public places. German self-identification collapsed as a result, with Nebraska's German-origin population dropping from about 14 percent in 1910 to 4.4 percent by 1920.
German Americans established the first kindergartens in the United States, introduced the Christmas tree tradition, and brought popular foods including hot dogs and hamburgers. They also built many of the country's early symphony orchestras, Turner gymnastics societies, and a German-language press that by the late 19th century produced over 800 regular publications.
The Forty-Eighters were political refugees who fled Germany after the failed revolutions of 1848. They included professionals, journalists, and politicians. Prominent examples include Carl Schurz and Henry Villard. Hermann Raster, a Forty-Eighter editor, published anti-slavery pamphlets and helped secure German-American votes for Abraham Lincoln.
German Americans were the largest immigrant group to serve in the Union Army, with over 176,000 U.S. soldiers born in Germany. Major General Franz Sigel was the highest-ranking German officer in the Union Army. Pennsylvania fielded five German regiments, New York eleven, and Ohio six.