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Schwäbisch

Swabian
East Village
Western EuropeGermany flagGermany
S

peakers of German language varieties were among the early colonists in New Amsterdam, but it was in the mid-19th century that New York became a German-language metropolis of tremendous scale and diversity rivaled only by Berlin and Vienna. Initially the hub was Kleindeutschland (Little Germany), today the East Village, especially in the vicinity of Tompkins Square Park. Among the largest regional linguistic groups, coming in waves after the uprisings of 1848, were the Prussians, the (Prussian-avoiding) Bavarians (including Palatines), Swabians, Wurttembergers, Hanoverians, and many others. Each group was concentrated to a degree in a different, neighboring East Side ward. There were 28 German-language newspapers around 1850, and still 12 German dailies in 1890, including some in regional languages like the Plattdeutsche Post (Low German) and Schwabbisches Wochenblatt (Swabian). The end of Kleindeutschland (Little Germany) is sometimes dated to the Slocum Disaster of 1904, in which over 1,000 people (primarily German-Americans) died, and the discrimination faced by German-Americans during the World Wars.

Note that the language above may be used throughout the New York area — this is just one significant site.
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An urban language map

Welcome to Languages of New York City, a free and interactive digital map of the world’s most linguistically diverse metropolitan area.

All data, unless otherwise specified, is from the Endangered Language Alliance (ELA), based on information from communities, speakers, and other sources.

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