Germans in the United Kingdom

Germans in the United Kingdom form one of the largest minority groups in the country. Today, there are many Germans living in the United Kingdom, and many Britons or German British (German: Deutsch-Briten) have German ancestry, including the British royal family. While those born in Germany constitute one of the UK's largest foreign-born groups, many are British nationals, rather than German nationals, who were born in Germany to British military personnel based there.

History

The

In 1714, George I, a German Hanoverian prince, ascended to the British throne and founded the British House of Hanover. Every subsequent British monarch until Edward VII, in the 20th century, would take a German spouse.

Edward VII did not take a German spouse, but his wife was a Danish princess of German ancestry. His son would marry a British-born princess of predominantly-German ancestry, and his great-granddaughter Elizabeth II would marry a Greek prince of predominantly-German ancestry.

The

The Office for National Statistics estimates that in 2013, there were 297,000 people living in the UK who had been born in Germany, but that 189,000 of these were British nationals. The total number of German nationals resident in the UK, regardless of ethnic origin or birthplace, is estimated at 126,000 in 2013.^[9]

Other than in areas with army bases, clusters of people born in Germany are found in West London, particularly around Richmond, where there is a German school.^[3]

Influence

German Britons and German speakers have contributed to numerous areas in British life, especially in establishing powerful family dynasties. There are also areas and buildings named after famous Germans, such as Holbein Place in Central London, named after the Renaissance painter Hans Holbein the Younger, as well as the Herschel Museum of Astronomy, an independent museum in Bath dedicated to the life and works of the famous astronomer William Herschel, who discovered the planet Uranus in 1781.

In music, George Frideric Handel, one of the greatest composers of the Baroque era in the first half of the 18th century, was commissioned to write four anthems for the coronation ceremony of King George II. He became a subject of the British crown in 1727.

In business and commerce, Germans have also been highly successful.

Ekkehard von Kuenssberg was the founder and president of the Royal College of General Practitioners. As far as influential families go, the Freuds (present in the UK today via Emma and Matthew) can trace their roots back to Germany and have the Freud Museum named in honour of family patriarch Sigmund. John Jacob Astor, 1st Baron Astor of Hever, founded the Astor dynasty in England. The Battenberg family's roots go back to Prince Louis of Battenberg who became a British subject, and whose 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.

Education

The German School London serves German families in the UK's capital city.

Famous Britons with German ancestry

References