German Coast

The German Coast (French: Côte des Allemands) was a region of early Louisiana settlement located above New Orleans on the east side of the Mississippi River – specifically, from east to west, in St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, and St. James parishes of present-day Acadiana. The four settlements along the coast were Karlstein, Hoffen, Meriental, and Augsburg. Originally, the Germans settled at the Arkansas Post, however the conditions were intolerable. The area's name was derived from the large population of German pioneers who were settled there in 1721 by John Law and the Company of the Indies. When the company folded in 1731, the Germans became independent land-owners.

Despite periodic flooding, hurricanes, and the rigors of frontier life, the German pioneers made a success of their settlements. Their farming endeavors provided food not only for themselves but also for New Orleans' residents. Some historians credit these German farmers with the survival of early New Orleans.

In 1768, they joined with Acadians from the Cabannocé Post area to march on New Orleans and overthrow Spanish colonial governor Antonio de Ulloa. The German and Acadian settlers united again, under Spanish colonial governor Bernardo de Gálvez, to fight the British during the American Revolution.

Most of the German Coast settlers hailed from the Rhineland region of Germany, the German-speaking cantons of Switzerland, and other places today called, Bayou des Allemands and Lac des Allemands (meaning Germans' Bayou and Germans' Lake, in French). Many Germans came from the German-speaking region of Alsace-Lorraine in France, and some from Belgium.

From the time of their arrival, the German immigrants began speaking French and intermarried with the early French settlers. Over the subsequent decades they intermarried with the descendants of the latter as well as the Acadians. Together with other settlers, they helped create Cajun culture. For example: German settlers introduced the diatonic accordion to the region, which become the main instrument in Cajun music by 1900.

The German Coast was the site of the largest slave revolt in US history, the 1811 German Coast Uprising. Leaders were Quamana and Harry, slaves, and Charles Deslondes, a free person of color from Haiti, who gathered an estimated 200 slaves from plantations along the River Road and marched toward New Orleans. The insurgents killed two white men before meeting much resistance, but were not well armed. Nearly half of the total ninety-five slaves killed were by the militia; the others received summary executions after quick trials in parish courts.

During World War I, in a reaction against Germany as the enemy, the Louisiana state legislature passed Act 114: it prohibited all expressions of German culture and heritage, especially the printed or spoken use of the German language, in the state.