German Cultural Club of Greater Lowell

10/17/2026

10/06/2026

It's German American Day, the 6th October. But the first German immigrants to America had arrived in 1608, brought by a British sailing ship "Mary and Margaret".

Seventy-five years before 13 German Mennonite families from Krefeld landed in Philadelphia in 1683, helped to found Germantown, Pennsylvania, and are celebrated today.

A transatlantic voyage took eight to ten weeks in the early 17th century, and the Mary and Margaret landed around 1 October with skilled craftsmen, farmers and tradesmen, seeking religious freedom as well as a better future. And they settled in the small fort town of Jamestown.

Among them a PhD botanist Johannes Fleischer the Younger from Breslau, Silesia, in search of healing plants, and Swiss German mineral prospector Wilhelm Waldi, who was to accompany the ship's captain searching for precious metals. Under orders from the Colony's organisers, the shareholder owned Virginia Company of London.

Captain John Smith, leader of the Jamestown Colony, complained about the majority of the settlers, many were English gentlemen unused to hard labour who looked upon it as something of an adventure. "Never did know what a day's work was, except the Dutchmen (Germans) and Poles, and some dozen other".

The craftsmen's skills were important to the new colony, and they went straight to work but faced the same hardships as their English counterparts. A shortage of food and illness, with the winter of 1609-1610 extremely difficult on the Jamestown colony.

Four out of five colonists died within a few years of their arrival.

The number of Germans was too small to make a major impact during the initial years of the emergent colony, but their influence grew and more German immigrants followed.

Ensuring their place in American history among the country's founders.

Photo credit: First Germans at Jamestown Marker, original source unknown.

09/18/2026

08/30/2026

German Food Ranked!!! 🇩🇪

07/21/2026

Today in 1944 Count von Stauffenberg's assassination attempt on Adolf Hi**er failed, in part because a German officer moved the briefcase containing the bomb after Von Stauffenberg had placed it.

Although the Führer credited his survival to divine intervention.

Mass arrests followed. The N***s used the opportunity to arrest 7,000 and execute 5,000 rebels, dissidents and rivals for their alleged involvement in the plot, and the N***s coined the term "Verräter-Clique", traitor clique. An accusation that lived on for a long time, but now Stauffenberg and his co-conspirators are officially honoured, and the attempt considered a symbol of German resistance.

The bomb plot has been an important part of Germany’s political culture since WWII, with von Stauffenberg and some 200 people involved in the resistance action. Most fell victim to the N***s' campaign of revenge, and the plotters are seen as evidence that not all Germans supported the N***s.

Although many had been N***s, or supporters, originally, but had become disillusioned. Horrified by German atrocities in the east and, representing the traditional values of the nation, they were willing to die to bring about an end to N***sm.

Young children belonging to the plotters were placed in an orphanage in the German town of Bad Sachsa, Lower Saxony, stripped of their family names and intended for adoption by SS families. Older children and their mothers were imprisoned, some in concentration camps, and not reunited with their surviving mothers and extended families until June and July 1945. Following the end of the war.

And today 20 July 1944 is connected with the resistance against National Socialism, and Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg has become its face. Although there were many who rebelled against the terror of the N**i regime... Jews, communists, church leaders and members, artists, partisans. Others who resisted in silence, and whose actions have now been forgotten.

"We took this challenge before our Lord and our conscience, and it must be done, because this man, Hi**er, he is the ultimate evil." Claus von Stauffenberg.

Photo credit: Westdeutscher Rundfunk, https://www1.wdr.de/stichtag/stichtag202.html

07/13/2026

Das Segelschulschiff der Marine hat vor der US-Küste die „Five Sisters Trophy“ gewonnen. Die Mannschaft der „Gorch Fock“ setzte sich auf der Strecke von New York nach Boston gegen die drei Schwesterschiffe durch. shz.de/50914102

06/04/2026

🗓️ This week's fact tile is on freedom of expression in Germany, a fundamental right anchored in our Basic Law and constitutionally protected!

06/02/2026

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12/21/2025

German Stollen and the Saxon King Who Changed Christmas Baking

Few Christmas breads carry as much history as German Stollen. Dense, rich, and dusted in powdered sugar, Stollen is more than a holiday dessert. It is a symbol of endurance, faith, and one of the most fascinating food stories of medieval Europe. Its origins lie in Saxony, where winter fasting rules once dictated what could and could not be baked during Advent.

In the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church enforced strict Advent fasting laws. Bakers were forbidden from using butter, eggs, or milk during the weeks leading up to Christmas. As a result, early Stollen was a dry, heavy loaf made only with flour, water, yeast, and oil. It was nourishing but joyless, a far cry from the festive bread we know today. Even so, it became a staple of the season, shaped long and narrow to resemble the swaddled Christ child.

Everything changed in the late fifteenth century when Elector Ernst of Saxony and his brother Duke Albrecht petitioned the Pope for permission to use butter in their Christmas bread. Butter was abundant in their region, and they argued that the fasting restrictions were unnecessary hardship. In 1491, Pope Innocent VIII issued the famous “Butter Letter,” granting special permission for Saxon bakers to use butter in Stollen. What had once been a plain bread transformed into something truly celebratory.

As Stollen evolved, so did its prestige. By the eighteenth century, it had become a symbol of Saxon pride and royal favor. In Dresden, the tradition reached its peak under Augustus the Strong, the Saxon king known for his love of spectacle and excess. He hosted enormous baking competitions and festivals where massive Stollen loaves were presented to the court. One legendary Stollen reportedly weighed over a ton and required a specially crafted knife just to cut it.

The bread itself continued to grow richer. Butter replaced oil, dried fruits and candied citrus were added, and eventually marzipan became a prized filling. The final touch, a heavy coating of powdered sugar, symbolized the snowy landscape of a German winter and reinforced the image of the Christ child wrapped in white cloth. Each element carried meaning, blending religious symbolism with regional abundance.

Today, Dresden Stollen is protected by law, with strict rules governing how it must be made. What began as a humble fasting bread is now one of Europe’s most iconic Christmas foods. Its story is one of persistence, political negotiation, and celebration through baking. Every slice carries centuries of tradition, from medieval monasteries to Saxon kings competing to bake the greatest loaf of all.

Learn more at eatshistory.com