Category talk:People of German descent

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Germany

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Frankly, this category smacks of Volksdeutschenmacherei to me. Does this serve any encyclopaedic purpose? Feketekave (talk) 14:00, 23 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Well, I suppose if I was a school kid writing a project about famous germans from, lets say Hamburg, this category might be a good place to start. Does that cover "any encyclopaedic purpose"? --Alchemist Jack (talk) 12:19, 27 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry I don't know what "Volksdeutschenmacherei" means, and Google[1] and Babelfish aren't much help. --Alchemist Jack (talk) 12:23, 27 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Volksdeutschenmacherei = the activity consisting of making people into Volksdeutschen. Notice: this is not a list of people from Germany (as in Hamburg), but a list of people classified by (alleged) German descent. Feketekave (talk) 16:04, 27 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I don't know whether you noticed but I mentioned Hamburg, Pennsylvania. --Alchemist Jack (talk) 16:59, 27 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I didn't. I find it hard to believe that Hamburg, Pennsylvania, can produce Germans. Feketekave (talk) 17:03, 27 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

What about people of German descent. Born in German then lived their life in USA, worked there and became notable there?--Alchemist Jack (talk) 17:16, 27 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Those are people who were once German and then became naturalised. (But then, they wouldn't be from Hamburg, Pennsylvania, though presumably they could be from the other Hamburg.) Feketekave (talk) 17:24, 27 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

But they could still be in the People from Pennsylvania category, and isn't "once German and then became naturalised" another way of saying German descent?--Alchemist Jack (talk) 17:26, 27 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

No; most such people would happen to be of German descent, but what is relevant (if at all) about them is that they are of German birth. See, for

example, Alexander Grothendieck, and the labels at the bottom. Feketekave (talk) 14:46, 28 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]