About us

We - Jo Ann Wolf & Ute Mehlhorn - have started our TGAC travel & genealogy service business in 2008. We have named it THE GERMAN AMERICAN CONNECTION because it was - and still is - our idea and way to connect people in the USA and Canada with people in Germany and Austria. With our customized tours we - TGAC - strive to provide an authentic travel experience for our customers. There is absolutely nothing wrong with visiting popular tourist attractions in Europe - they are popular for very good reasons - but we also want to provide the chance to experience more, to step out off the beaten tracks and to mingle with the locals. Therefore all travel inquiries are being sent to and processed by our native German expert - Ute Mehlhorn, who is our TGAC trip planner, tour guide, driver, translator, genealogist - all in one person. We very much look forward to working and traveling with you in Germany & Austria.

Contact us for your unique travel experience or for your German genealogy project.

I first got the travel bug at 14 years old during a summer vacation visiting a friend in El Salvador - it was truly a life changing experience! I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas in 1975. Since then I have worked many jobs, in Singapure, Malaysia, Spain and in numerous cities in the U.S. - Manhattan, Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston. Then I became a student again and graduated from the University of St. Thomas with a Master in Liberal Arts, political science major in 2003. During this time, I reconnected with my German ancestors and relatives in Germany - and in the process I became very interested in genealogy and German American history. And I had the great pleasure of meeting a fantastic person from Germany, Ute Mehlhorn. While having many humorous moments during our "tutoring" conversations in my linguistically challenged German, Ute and I discovered that we share the same enthusiasm for German food, culture and travel. I hope that you contact us - The German American Connection - for your travel or genealogy.

I was born and raised in East Germany. I am considering myself a member of the "lucky generation" - I had just turned 18 when the Berlin Wall came down - exciting times, especially because I had just started to study at the Humboldt University in East Berlin in fall 1989! I have always enjoyed to travel - first in East Germany, then in the - since 1990 open for me too - West Germany and then around the world: Peru, China, Nepal, Madagaskar, Canada - not to mention numerous European countries. Within my professional career I have worked in consumer education - organizing seminars, field trips and excursions mostly regarding organic food, sustainable agriculture and regional tourism. In 2006 I came to Texas where I met Jo Ann Wolf at a "German language exercise group". We started out with kind of private German lessons but we quickly noticed that we share also share a great interest in travel. Soon the idea was born - and put into operation: to start a Germany travel business together - The German American Connection - TGAC. I also got involved in genealogy  research, originally in order to be able to prepare our customized German Ancestry Tours in the best possible way. In the meantime I have attended an intense 5-day German genealogy seminar and I have learned a lot within the last 10+ years of practise. I am proud to say that we have also perfected our custom travel service! 

• National Tour Operator Association NTA
• Faith Travel Association FTA
• German American Chamber of Commerce (South) GACC
• National Genealogy Society USA
• German-Texan Heritage Society GTHS
• Houston-Leipzig Sister City Association HLSCA
• Slow Food International / Slow Food Germany