Germans were among the first European settlers in present-day West Virginia, arriving around the 1720s along the Potomac River. They established towns like Mecklenburg (now Shepherdstown) and settled in areas like Hampshire County. By the mid-1700s, Germans made up about 30% of the population in Jefferson and Berkeley counties. Over the next century, many more Germans escaped persecution in Europe and founded small communities and cities such as Wheeling and Parkersburg.

After World War I, anti-German sentiment slowed down migration, but Germans continued to arrive. Most were Lutheran, Catholic, or Jewish. Today, about 20-25% of West Virginians have German ancestry, including many notable figures of German descent, like opera singer Eleanor Steber and comedian Don Knotts.