Washington, D.C., March 16, 2021 — It’s more than beer and bratwurst. Lynne Breen’s beautiful anthology How German Ingenuity Inspired America: More Fun, More Beauty, More Freedom is an essential addition to every library that captures the German influence on every aspect of American culture and life. From Christmas trees, Easter eggs, steel cables and Volkswagen, to Aspirin and x-rays—Germans have made life easier, better, and more comfortable in both Germany and the United States.

This beautiful, linen-bound hardcover publication is filled with the biographies and contributions of over 1,000 individuals in different fields ranging from the arts to the natural sciences and everything in between. It also features more than 300 illustrations and photos of famous individuals including Carl Schurz, Henry Kissinger, Amelia Earhart, Albert Einstein, and screen legend Marlene Dietrich, as well as lesser-known historical figures, such as 19th-century sculptor Elisabet Ney, mathematician Emmy Noether, and Bauhaus architect Walter Gropius. Even lovers of culinary delights can learn a thing or two, ranging from the origins of the beloved pretzel to the unlikely inventor of coffee filters—a German housewife named Melitta Bentz who repurposed her young son’s blotting paper.

Reviewers have praised the work as “a welcome and elegantly written contribution to the understanding of the invigorating German influence on a vibrant American society” and for its “phenomenal research into the many areas of German life that influenced the development of the American automotive and space industry”. 

Breen has woven a beautiful and entertaining tapestry that effortlessly takes the reader on a journey through time, and intelligently joins the threads representing the book’s three parts of fun, beauty, and freedom. A writer for the state of Michigan and the University of Connecticut, Breen also served on the faculty of Northwest (Ohio) Community College. Her background includes a master’s degree in journalism from Michigan State University and a master’s in education from Eastern Michigan University. She is the co-author of I’ll See You Again, Lady Liberty: The True Story of a German Prisoner of War in America with the late Ernst Floeter. 

Published by the German-American Heritage Foundation in Washington, DC, a national organization to promote the interests of German-Americans, the book is now available for sale at www.gahmusa.org for $39.99 plus a $7 shipping and handling fee.