germans have constituted a major portion of ethnic whites in chicago since the beginning of the city's history. when the great plains opened up for settlement in the 1830s and 1840s, many german immigrants stopped in chicago to earn additional money before moving west to claim a homestead. those with skills in demand could—and often did—stay. from 1850, when germans constituted one-sixth of chicago's population, until the turn of the 20th century, people of german descent constituted the largest ethnic group in the city, followed by irish, poles, and swedes. in 1900, 470,000 chicagoans—one out of every four residents—had either been born in germany or had a parent born there. although their numbers dropped because of reduced emigration from germany and because world war i had made it unpopular to acknowledge one's german heritage, 22 percent of chicago's population still did so in 1920. one of the most distinct of these german groups were the volga germans, or ethnic germans having lived along the volga river in russia. they largely clustered in jefferson park on the city's northwest side, coming to the area mostly between the years 1907–1920. by 1930 450 families of volga german heritage were living in the jefferson park area, most of whom originated from "wiesenseite". chicago also hosts the headquarters of the largest lutheran body in the united states, the evangelical lutheran church in america.