This website offers information about Alberta's German-speaking communities from the 1880s to the present, their origins in Central and Eastern Europe, the United States and other Canadian provinces, and their settlement history in the province.

The reader will find an overview of the immigration histories of 12 of Alberta's German-speaking communities and biographical sketches, with special emphasis on Calgary and Edmonton (types and location of German-run businesses, churches, clubs, political involvement, newspapers, etc. between the 1880s and 1918). There are maps of "German" settlements and Mennonite and Hutterite colonies in Alberta as well as a list of "German"-"inspired" place and topographical names in Alberta and an explanation of their origin.

An extended section deals with the maintenance of the German language in Alberta as a mother tongue and a home language, the "slow death" of the German language in the urban areas and its rapid growth among Hutterites and conservative Mennonites. The findings are based on 2006 and 2011 Census data.

Copyright restrictions do not permit the display of many relevant photos, but there are directions on how to access the wealth of visual information about the German-Albertans and the tape recordings made with almost 100 "old-timers."

More detailed information about Alberta's German-speaking communities is available in the Bibliography of the Cultural History of the German-speaking Communities in Alberta: 1882 to the present. It contains more than 10,250 annotated entries on individuals, groups and events of interest to the communities mentioned in newspaper articles, books, journals, art works, etc. since the 1880s.