I realize it's been quite some time, but I did poke around at "that sausage place" and things have changed a lot in the last few years. More people who grew up there are moving to the City (San Antonio) or to Floresville. While the towns out there are growing at a crazy, crazy rate, it's mostly imports from the oil business, and so no German there. My grandfather is starting to get too old to ask about either Texas German or Polish, though I do believe 2-3 of his childhood friends (still living) do speak Texas German. But they would be older than himself and probably in similar condition, mentally and physically.
On a similar front, I attended Mass with my grandpa, and his Church is now mostly Spanish speaking, or bilingual. That's good for the church, as it needs young people, but is a bit sad. He grew up in that Church, and even if they never had homily in German, I imagine plenty of the people there spoke that way. It was exceptionally common when he was young, at least for that region, or perhaps extended family. It's difficult to know for sure, or understand everything he says now that he is so old. Or more pointedly, because his health has been so poor for such a length of time.
There are 2-3 old school delicatessens here in town run by German or German-Polish families. All of the owners and old staff either know my grandfather personally or know about his family. I mean we do have a street that runs through the middle of town with our name on it It will be interesting to see if they know any speakers closer to middle age, or possibly even my peers. I do admit I would prefer to work with someone who was within fifteen years or so of my age, or we probably won't have much to talk about
I'll give some updates if I have any.
Texas German
- SophiaMerlin_II
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Re: Texas German
If you're interested in reading an extensive account of the history of German in the US, then I can only recommend the book The German Language in America, 1683-1991. Although not specifically about the Texas German community, I can also highly recommend this interesting article from the journal American Speech, written by the same author, if you are interested about Germans/the German language in America "Good Old Immigrants of Yesteryear" who didn't learn English: Germans in Wisconsin. It can be accessed for free here: https://www.academia.edu/26310778/Good_Old_Immigrants_of_Yesteryear_Who_Didnt_Learn_English_Germans_in_Wisconsin
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