Washington, D.C., April 19, 2024 — The German-American Heritage Foundation is honored to announce that television host and entrepreneur Samantha Brown will receive the 2024 Distinguished German American of the Year Award at a black tie gala on Saturday, Oct. 26 at the Organization of American States in Washington, D.C.

Brown, who is of German and Scottish descent, lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. with her husband and twins, and has been hosting the Emmy-winning PBS travel show Samantha Brown’s Places to Love since January 2018. Each week, Places to Love takes viewers to little known destinations across the globe, giving them an intimate look at the people and sites that shape local culture. The popular show is now in its seventh season, and brings both domestic and foreign destinations to people’s living rooms, inspiring TV audiences to venture out and discover cities and towns all over the world. However, Brown’s work also enables those who may not be able to explore the world themselves to experience new adventures and learn about foreign countries and cultures from the comfort of home. The award from GAHF recognizes her for her educational outreach and promotion of cross-cultural appreciation and understanding through travel. Before Brown began filming with PBS, she worked for the Travel Channel where she presented successful shows such as Girl Meets Hawaii, Great Vacation Homes, Great Weekends, and Passport to Europe. For the last 12 years, she has also been promoting her own travel luggage line called “Samantha Brown: Travel America” drawing on her personal experience as a globetrotter who has visited more than 75 countries to help people save space and pack efficiently. 

Brown feels a strong connection to her German heritage, and expressed both her and her German mother’s delight at being selected for the award. She previously served as the 2011 Grand Marshal of the German-American Steuben Parade New York, which celebrates the birthday of the Prussian-born American Revolutionary War hero Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben. She is also the official godmother of the AmaMagna, an AmaWaterways river cruise ship that travels along the beautiful Danube. AmaWaterways is co-owned by Austrian Rudi Schreiner and his German wife Kristin Karst. 

Brown joins an impressive list of German Americans, including aerospace engineer Hans-Jörg Königsmann, former Calif. Governor Jerry Brown, entrepreneur and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, U.S. Ambassador William R. Timken, Jr., the Nobel Prize winner in Medicine Dr. Günter Blobel, General H. Norman Schwarzkopf of Desert Storm fame, Doug Oberhelman, the former chairman and CEO of Caterpillar, Inc., and entrepreneur and philanthropist Philip Frederick Anschutz, whose contributions have been recognized in the past. For almost four decades, GAHF has honored outstanding leadership, achievement, and innovation by Americans of German-speaking ancestry in various fields and disciplines; it is the only national society to present such an award.

For sponsorship information or questions about the gala, please contact Katja Sipple at [email protected].