German Traces NYC is jointly produced by the Federal Republic of Germany's main cultural representation in the US, the Goethe-Institut New York, and the Pratt Institute School of Information and Library Science. It provides free historical information about thirty-eight landmarks in the former Kleindeutschland (in Manhattan's East Village) and Yorkville areas. It is intended to support both research and a tour of Manhattan's German landmarks.
An About the Project link provides a general introduction to the history of German immigration to New York City. Each landmark on the German Traces Map is indicated by a live map location point; below the map, the individual landmarks are live links in a list corresponding to the map points. Each map point or list entry links to a GeoStory (available in English or German) of the respective landmark, with a historical image, short description, address, and estimated time needed to explore the landmark (usually five minutes, which seems short). Users can click on the Begin Exploring this Site link to access a short YouTube video accompanied by a written text/script and references and photo credits. These are mostly online sources (newspaper articles, Wikipedia articles, web sites of professional organizations, historical societies, libraries, and museums; images available from Flickr, the Library of Congress and other libraries, the Museum of the City of New York, personal online collections, and Wikipedia Commons; films, and podcasts; most books are accessible via Google Books). Below each text is a Trivia Time quiz with two-three multiple-choice questions; once answers are submitted, a score appears that can be posted to Facebook or Twitter.
German Traces NYC is available as a smartphone application (the GeoStoryteller app functions with Layar augmented reality technology to enhance tours with historical photographs of the respective landmarks). However, the GeoStories available to the smartphone are limited to a short description and a video.
While the links in the references and photograph credits are appropriate for the topics covered, and most links work quickly and reliably, some are dead (for instance, most of those to the Museum of the City of New York and some to the Goethe-Institut). Some of the texts contain awkward sounding English that reflects direct translation of German syntax. Others contain misspellings or incorrect word choices (e.g. “wrecking havoc” in the Astor Place text). There is no indication that the site is regularly updated; however, it is possible to contact the project organizers with comments and questions.
German Traces NYC has been awarded the American Library Association's Cutting Edge Library Service Award (2013). The site can be used profitably to explore remnants of German-American neighborhoods for academic or personal research, or touring Kleindeutschland and Yorkville. The identical visual and audio texts allow use by English or German monolinguals, language learners, and those with seeing or hearing challenges, according to principles of Universal Design. The Goethe-Institut and the Pratt Institute ought to expand the site and work to update and maintain the links in this valuable resource on German immigration to New York City.
