The record of this ethnic group is varied. Germans were involved in the creation of one of New York's

largest department stores, the making of one of its very famous bridges, founded a world class piano manufacturing

• industry and were central in the city's greatest disaster before 911.

We might say that Germans coming to Manhattan started with this person. Peter Minuit, born in 1580 in Wesel, Germany was sent by the Dutch colony of New Netherland. Minuit had become the Director of the colony (Modern Day New York). His mission was to add more land to the settlement. In 1626 he made his famous $24.00 buying of Manhattan

Director Minuit purchased Manhattan from the Lenape Indigenous by trading 60 Guilders worth of beads, cloths and ornaments. The story remains open to some question even today. (1) Was Director Minuit and the Lenape understanding each other (language difference) at the time of sale? (2) Did the Lenape really "own" the land or were they just passing through? The twenty four dollar figure was estimated by historians in the 1800's, the worth of the trade items, and Manhattan would be totally different today. Researching the past can be tricky.

Research can also become easy and fun , with info falling in place. It so happens that I still live near The Steinway Piano Manufacturing

Center in Queens, NY. So- field research was no problem.