German Immigration

It is difficult to define the term "German" (and thus, "German" migration) because of the changing boundaries of the state of Germany and other Germanic nations. Germans are often defined as those individuals from areas where forms of German have traditionally been spoken, including today's Germany, Luxembourg, Austria, Bohemia, and parts of Switzerland, Poland, Hungary, and the former Yugoslavia.

During the mid-1800s, the part of Europe that is now considered "Germany" consisted of smaller German states controlled by princes. These princedoms were later controlled by empires that allowed little or no political power to remain in the hands of the princely leaders. By 1870s, a united German state was finally created by Otto von Bismarck, although in the years that followed the boundaries of this state would continue to change. Because of the difficulty that exists in defining the term "German" and the numerous boundaries changes that have occurred within Europe throughout history, the following information does not refer specifically to Germany, but to the German states.

Why leave the German homeland?

German immigrants started coming to the United States when the colonies still belonged to Britain. Many of the early immigrants were in search of religious freedom. Later, as a result of the Napoleonic Wars (1796-1815), individuals sought freedom from military involvement and political oppression. German migration to Minnesota, however, was at its peak during the decades of the 1860s and 1870s.

During these two decades, many German individuals had already been in the United States for some time, arriving in the 1850s and having settled in Midwestern states with high concentrations of Germans, such as Wisconsin and Ohio. Their reasons for leaving Europe for these new homes in the United States were many. One reason was the development of mechanized manufacturing of goods. Increasing industrialization and the use of machines to perform tasks previously done by manual labor threatened cottage industries and drove many individuals to the city in search of employment. Unfortunately, the cities quickly became overcrowded and the availability of jobs there also declined, forcing some people to return to their homes in the rural areas or to migrate to the United States.

Also affecting emigration from the German states was an increase in taxation, which put a financial strain on many individuals and made the prospect of life in America quite promising. Also, a population increased, land became more scarce and thus more expensive. Less people were able to afford land, forcing many of them to look abroad for land where it was more plentiful and less expensive.

Also affecting emigration from the German states was an increase in taxation, which put a financial strain on many individuals and made the prospect of life in America quite promising. Also, a population increased, land became more scarce and thus more expensive. Less people were able to afford land, forcing many of them to look abroad for land where it was more plentiful and less expensive.

Another factor that led to German emigration was the unstable political situation in the German states in 1848. Around this time, revolutions in opposition of the monarchical governments were springing up throughout Europe, in such places as Italy, Austria, and the German states. The leaders of these revolutions wanted new, republican forms of government to replace the existing monarchies. However, the revolutions failed and resulted in even stricter regulations being placed upon the people. To avoid these authoritarian governments and their restrictions, many individuals fled Europe.

Coming to America

People chose the United States as their destination for various reasons. Along with the factors that caused people to leave their homelands and to search for the things they desired in the United States, many people were also persuaded to come to America by emigration officials, solicitors, friends and relatives.

Before Europeans ever thought of crossing the ocean, parts of Minnesota belonged to the Dakota, Lakota, Nakota, Anishinabe, Cheyenne, and Cree peoples. The United States took the land from Native peoples by force and coercion. The part of Minnesota where Germans settled was primarily Dakota land that was taken through the treaty process. The United States then failed to uphold its own end of the treaties, leaving the Dakota starving and without a permanent reservation. Dakota retaliation cumulated in the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862. Following the war, the U.S. military forcibly marched Dakota people to a concentration camp at Fort Snelling. As they passed through towns, Euro-American immigrant settlers poured hot, scalding water over the heads of Dakota women, children, and elders. During the spring of 1863, the military removed most of the Dakota people from southern Minnesota and the government placed a bounty on their scalps. Thus, the United States obtained land from the Dakota for pennies an acre.

Some of this land was made available to the Northern Pacific Railway as land grants for the railroad. Northern Pacific was instrumental in attracting settlers to land west of the Mississippi in the 1870s. Northern Pacific desired to sell the land grants it had gotten to build the railroad, but the driving factor was that the company needed traffic for its business. Northern Pacific hired representatives to travel to Europe and convince people to found colonies in America. Settlement societies, such as the Turner Colonization Society, also advertised to Germans the benefits of immigrating to certain parts of the United States. Particular states and territories had departments of emigration whose job it was to advertise the area and persuade immigrants to come there. Minnesota Territory, for example, established Eugene Burnand as the territory's first Commissioner of Emigration in 1856. Burnand, from an office in New York, advertised Minnesota through pamphlets, immigrant newspapers, and persuasive speeches made to newly-arrived immigrants at the ship docks. Through his work, Burnand brought many new immigrants to the territory, particularly individuals of German extraction. His post was discontinued because of an economic downturn, but by 1876 a Board of Immigration was re-established by the state of Minnesota. These organizations worked to bring in floods of immigrants from Europe to establish colonies. Land was sold to the immigrants for $2.50-$8.00 an acre in 1872-1873 and could be bought with credit under certain conditions.

Once immigrants were in the United States, they tried to get their families from back home to join them. Personal letters sent to the family and friends of immigrants urging them to come to the United States are called "America letters." Immigrants from the German states often wrote such letters to their loved ones back home.

Where in Minnesota?

German immigrants settled in various places throughout Minnesota. The areas of the state where many of these Germans settled include much of southern Minnesota, the homeland of the Dakota people. Sibley County, including the town of Gibbon, Brown County, including the cities of New Ulm and Sleepy Eye, and Nicollet County became areas of high concentration for the German element. Winona was another area in which Germans settled in southern Minnesota. To the north, Germans made their homes in Stearns County, in such cities as St. Cloud and New Munich, Benton, Morrison, and Wright Counties. Also, Germans settled in such towns and cities as Shakopee in Scott County, Le Sueur in Le Sueur County, Stillwater in Washington County, and Chaska in Carver County. Although Germans settled all over Minnesota, these are some areas in which the concentration of Germans was the highest.

German Culture

Holidays

Cuisine

Links

University of Minnesota German Ancestry Map

German-American Corner

"The Germans in America," by the Library of Congress

IUPUI Max Kade German-American Center

Society for German-American Studies

Map courtesy of www.theodora.com/maps used with permission.

Photos of German families courtesy of Julia M. Schugel.

Sources for German Immigration, Holidays, and Cuisine

Ball Blue Book Guide To Home Canning, Freezing & Dehydration, Volume I. Muncie, Indiana: Alltrista Corportation, 1999.