Famous Germans in American History

Henry Melchior Muehlenberg was George Washington's chaplain and was appointed by the Continental Congress.

John Hanson was elected President of the United States in Congress Assembled and served until George Washington was inaugurated. Michael Hilligas became the first Treasurer and served until Hamilton took office.

The first stars and stripes was made by Sara Austin and the Ladies Aid Societry of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, Philadelphia. This flag had only twelve stars and was presented to John Paul Jones. It received the first salute granted to the Star Spangled Banner in Europe. It was on display at the Naval Academy Chapel until 1968 and is now in the National Museum in D.C.

General Peter Muhlenberg and his German Lutheran brigade turned the battle for Washington at Brandywine and Monmouth.

The Liberty Bell was hauled by Fredrick Leiser, a German Lutheran, in 1777 from Philadelphia to Allenton and was hidden under the floor of Zion Lutheran Church.

Von Steuben, an inspector, saved the U.S. Treasury $600,000. Historians rank him next to Washington and Greene for valuable services. His "Rule of Discipline" created our National Army and still forms the basis of our military tactics.

German Foreign Policy - 2009

At the recent summit meetings in Europe, the discussions between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the USA's current president were mixed.

On the one hand, Merkel clearly refused, when Obama suggested that the German federal government should borrow billions of Euros and pump them into the regional economy. Merkel indicated that it would be irresponsible to put the government into that degree of debt, and there is no certainty, or even probability, that this manoeuvre would help the economy.

On the other hand, Chancellor Merkel gave Obama the green light to commit more American soldiers into Afghanistan. She indicated that Obama's plan to send another 19,000 soldiers (to join the 38,000 already there) would be greeted by Germany as a stabilizing influence in that part of the globe.

Big!

Germany, Switzerland, and Austria have long been known for advances in engineering. Automotive, aerospace, and photography are only a few of the research and development topics dominated by German-speaking technologists.

Unexpected benefits sometimes arise from these engineering projects.

In the last decade, several projects were proposed to develop capabilities for moving large and heavy objects by air. Several massive cargo aircraft were designed. One of them would have been the world's largest airplane, of incredible size, with incredible capacities.

However, a competing design, an updated version of the Zeppelin, ultimately proved better. So, nearly seventy years after the Hindenburg disaster which ended the first phase of Zeppelin development, the second phase began. Thankfully, these new Zeppelins are filled with inflammable helium! So the Zeppelins are no longer historical curiosities: they are flying almost every day.

But what about the project that didn't happen - the one that would have been the world's largest and most powerful airplane? It was never built, because the Zeppelin project was calculated to be better. But the company which had designed it had already built the world's largest aircraft hangar - for an airplane which would never be built! What do you do with a 700,000 square-foot building, 32 stories high, made of 14,000 tons of steel?

Easy! German engineers will always come up with something! They built the world's largest indoor water park! Thousands of tourists visit it daily; it's located between Berlin and Dresden!