Welcome back educational travelers!
I’m bringing you another new post from our guest writer Jeff Stabins. Enjoy!
An educational tour to Washington, D.C. should include stopping by the fairly new German-American Heritage Museum which is the first national inspiration for German-American heritage and culture. Opened in March of 2010, the museum tells the story of all Americans of German-speaking ancestry and their contributions to our country. It collects, records, preserves, and exhibits the rich cultural legacy of German immigrants. It is a place for continuing dialogue, study, and development of ideas about German, Swiss, and Austrian-Americans, their heritage, values and future. Located at 719 Sixth Street, NW the museum is centrally located in Hockemeyer Hall in Washington, D.C. It is nearby the National Archives and the National Portrait Gallery and the Newseum. Add the GAHM to your next student tour of Washington, D.C.
Educational tours to Washington, D.C. which include a visit to the German-American Heritage Museum will enter the hall built in 1888 by John Hockemeyer, a German immigrant who fought in the Civil War and later became a successful merchant. The townhouse is part of the historic Penn Quarter, former home of over four thousand German immigrants including world famous architect Adolph Cluss, the first German born US Senator Carl Schurz and the inventor of the phonograph (not Thomas Edison) Emile Berliner. Keep German-American heritage alive on your next student trip to Washington, D.C.
Until next time,
Jeff.