The German American National Congress, acronym DANK (Deutsch Amerikanischer National Kongress), is t The German American National Congress, also known as DANK (Deutsch Amerikanischer National Kongress), is the largest German-American organization in the United States, with 17 chapters in 7 states, including 8 in the greater Chicagoland area. The national organization seeks to bring together German-Americans in the pursuit of cultivating and presenting their heritage and interests on local, regional, and national levels. These were the primary reasons that DANK was founded in 1959, and they are still among the organization’s primary objectives today.