German Americans (German: Deutschamerikaner) are citizens of the United States of German ancestry and form the largest ancestry group in the United States, accounting for 17% of U.S. population.The first significant numbers arrived in the 1680s in New York and Pennsylvania. Some eight million German immigrants have entered the United States since that point. Immigration continued in substantial numbers during the 19th century; the largest number of arrivals came 1840–1900, when Germans formed the largest group of immigrants coming to the U.S., outnumbering even the Irish and English. Some arrived seeking religious or political freedom, others for economic opportunities greater than those in Europe, and others simply for the chance to start afresh in the New World. California and Pennsylvan