German Coast

Region of early Louisiana settlement
the coast of Germany

The German Coast (French: Côte des Allemands, Spanish: Costa Alemana, German: Deutsche Küste) was a region of early Louisiana settlement located above New Orleans, and on the west bank of the Mississippi River. Specifically, from east (or south) to west (or north), in St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, and St. James parishes of present day Acadiana. It was largely settled by German immigrants and their African slaves. The four settlements of Augsburg, Hoffen, Karlstein, and Marienthal were located along this "coast".

As early as 1718, John Law and the Company of the Indies began recruiting French settlers to settle Louisiana (New France), though not specifically to what would become the German Coast. The early French settlers were not suited or prepared for the harsh conditions in Louisiana. This area of German settlers was called les Allemands or the Germans. In 1720, Germans were recruited in early spring to settle in les Allemands. Roughly four thousand individuals (four hundred and fifty families) mostly from Rhineland, but also from Baden Württemberg, Bavaria, Swedish Pomerania, Alsace–Lorraine, Belgium, and Switzerland traveled across France to Lorient in Brittany to make the voyage to Louisiana. Those families who were Lutherans and Calvinists were advised to convert to Catholicism as soon as possible, or their travel through France could be problematic. The German Coast was located along the west bank of the Mississippi River extending roughly from Taft north to Lucy in present day Louisiana. When the Company of the Indies folded in 1731, the settlers became independent land owners. Some historians credit these German farmers with the survival of early New Orleans. By the end of the Spanish era, the German Coast had become so well known for its abundance that it acquired the designation of Gold Coast. At the time of the Louisiana Purchase, the German Coast was renowned as the best cultivated part of Louisiana.

Most of the German Coast settlers came from the Rhineland region of Germany, the German speaking cantons of Switzerland, and other areas. Many 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, (Acadians are those who became known as "Cajuns.") A number of common Cajun surnames have German origins: for example, Schexnayder (various spellings), LaBranche (a calque of Zweig), Folse, Zeringue (Zehring), Hymel (Himmel), and Trosclair (a phonetic macaronic of Troxler). The Germans are also credited with introducing the accordion into Cajun music.

In 1811, the German Coast was the site of the largest slave revolt in US history, the 1811 German Coast uprising. This was after the US had acquired the Louisiana Territory, but was more than a year before the Territory of Orleans was admitted as the state of Louisiana. The rebellion's leaders were slaves Quamana and Harry, and Charles Deslondes, a free man of color. They gathered an estimated 500 slaves from plantations along the River Road and marched toward New Orleans. The insurgents killed two white men without meeting much resistance, but they were not well armed. The local militia was called out and killed nearly half of the total ninety five slaves who died in the rebellion. The remainder were executed after tribunals were held in the parishes, including Orleans Parish.

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 in the state, especially the printed or spoken use of the German language. The use of the German language had declined among descendants of settlers of the German coast, but descendants of more recent German immigrants who arrived after the Revolutions of 1848 and later were affected.

In 2014, Whitney Plantation opened for tours in what was the German Coast. It addresses the history and legacy of slavery and is open to the public.