The most German towns in New Jersey

With all of the Oktoberfest celebrations in the past month and a half, you might wonder where the pockets of Germans might be in New Jersey.

The settlements of people of German ancestry are from more than two centuries ago, unlike Irish or Italian immigration of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

So the population is more watered down and less obvious in the presence of German surnames, unlike the Italians, Irish or even Poles and Russians.

There are two areas that stand out in the northern part of the state as heavily German settled areas.

One is Oldwick, which is part of Tewksbury Township in Hunterdon County.

Around 1745, German immigrants began to settle in this area and soon made up the majority of the village's population.

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By 1754, Smithfield had become "New Germantown" and would retain that name until 1918, when Germany became America's enemy in the First World War.

The first commercial structure in New Germantown was a general store located on Church Street, followed by the introduction of a hotel, and then a tavern built by John Farley on land that he purchased from the Zion Lutheran Church.

This church was a magnificent stone structure built by these German American Lutherans in 1767; it remains prominent in the village.

The other "German" area of North Jersey is Long Valley.

Once known as German Valley from its foundation during the colonial era, the community was renamed in response to anti-German sentiment during World War I.

Long Valley is part of Washington Township in Morris County. As of the 2020 census, Long Valley's population was 1,827.

The largest settlement of Germans in South Jersey seems to be in Egg Harbor City. You'll see plenty of German names in the streets and shops in this little town in Atlantic County.

Names like Suenderhauf's Bakery, Weisbecker Cleaners, Messinger's Grocery, or Theilacker's Flower Shop. There are streets like Buerger, Campe, Beethoven Diesterweg and Duerer.

Germans began settling here in Egg Harbor City in 1855 and prior to the Civil War was an almost exclusively German settlement.

New Jersey has many ethnic enclaves old and new throughout the state.

So, no matter where your ancestors come from, you'll probably find a town or region in this state where many of them settled at one time or to this day.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Dennis Malloy only.

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