America’s Bicentennial – 1976

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Immigration by Professor Waldemar Otto
Immigration by Professor Waldemar Otto was commissioned by the Breman, West German government as a bicentennial gift to the people of St. Charles Parish in commemoration of the early German settlers. The sculpture, located in the courthouse lobby, was cast in Berlin, Germany, and represents a settler breaking with the past (leaving Germany) and going into the future (going to America). Wording on the base of the sculpture reads: “A project of the United States Bicentennial Celebration, 1776-1976, St. Charles Parish Bicentennial Committee, Exchange Visits with the German Port City of Breman, Germany.”

St. Charles Celebrates America’s Bicentennial – 1976

St. Charles Parish had the first international bicentennial project in the state of Louisiana—a visitor exchange with the town of Breman, Germany.

As a result of this project, negotiations began for the establishment of a trade mission in New Orleans.

St. Charles Parish, known originally as the German Coast, was one of the earliest areas settled in Louisiana. Beginning in 1719, German families from the John Law Company arrived in St. Charles Parish.

This text is copyright © material by Marilyn Richoux, Joan Becnel and Suzanne Friloux, from St. Charles Parish, Louisiana: A Pictorial History, 2010.