Grottos of the Midwest: Religion and Patriotism in Stone Peyton Smith All Photos for This Article by Peyton Smith

Volume 21 No 3 • Fall 2012

Grottos of the Midwest: Religion and Patriotism in Stone Peyton Smith All photos for this article by Peyton Smith. this articlePeyton by for All photos The front of the Grotto of Christ, the King, and Mary, His Mother, in Dickeyville, Wisconsin, extols religion and patriotism and greets visitors to the grotto.

he Midwest is home to a which are considered to be among fascinating array of religious the most important folk or “outsider” INSIDE structures created primarily art works in the United States. Deri- byT German immigrants. Throughout vations of a European tradition that • In Memoriam: Henry Geitz this part of the country one finds priests, primarily German Catholics, • Immigrant Memorial Marker cemeteries with elaborate headstones brought with them to the new coun- in Wausau and crucifixes, small roadside chapels try, grottos reflect the times in which • “A German Osage Chief” and shrines, bathtub Virgin Marys, they were first built: times when • Teaching the U. S. Civil War and spectacular tall-spired Catholic disease swept the world and wiped in Germany and Lutheran churches with detailed out huge segments of the population. • Book Review: Pennsylvania stained-glass windows and ornately The first major grotto in America, for German in the American carved wooden altars. example, was built by a priest who Midwest But the real architectural gems had promised to erect a shrine if he • In Memoriam: Fritz Albert created by these immigrants may be the religious grottos of the Midwest, Continued on page 8 In Memoriam: Henry Geitz (1931-2012), Former MKI Director

Director of the UW’s Junior Year in honors often came his way, including Freiburg in 1967–1968, and then as the silver medal of the University of Chair of German in the UW Exten- Freiburg (1984), the Outstanding sion and the UW Center System. German Educator Award presented From 1983 to 1989 he was Associ- by the Wisconsin Chapter of the ate Director of the UW’s Academic AATG (1989), and the Cross of Merit Programs Abroad; in 1989–1990 he from the Federal Republic of Germa- was Resident Director of the UW’s ny (1991). Those of us who knew him Program Abroad in Budapest; and personally remember him as a warm thereafter, until his retirement in and generous Friend, colleague, and 1997, he served as Director of the supporter-and as our former direc- Max Kade Institute. tor. We will miss him! Hank’s parents were immigrants from German-speaking areas of Europe, his father from Hesse and his mother from the Banat; and Hank had a lifelong, solid, and enthusi- astic interest in German-American studies. He was among those who rofessor Henry Geitz, Jr., had long dreamed of establishing an whom we knew as Hank, died institute at the UW to promote work in Fitchburg, Wisconsin, on in this area, and he devoted consider- POctober 27, 2012, at the age of 81. A able energy to the founding of the native of Philadelphia, he first came MKI. As MKI Director, he organized to Madison in 1956 as a graduate special conferences on the German- student and teaching assistant in the American press, German influences Department of German. After com- on education in the United States, pleting his doctorate at the UW in and the land ethic of Aldo Leopold. 1961, he taught a year at the Univer- He was the editor of The German- sity of Richmond before returning to American Press (1992) and co-editor Madison in 1962, where he became of both the first English edition of a dedicated and award-winning Hans Bahlow’s Dictionary of German teacher of German language and Names (1993) and German Influences literature, cultural history, and peda- on Education in the United States to gogy. In addition, he held a variety of 1917 (1995). In addition, he oversaw administrative positions that brought the publication of a number of other him into contact with colleagues and volumes in the Max Kade Institute acquaintances around the world. He series, of which he was the general worked as Associate Director and editor. then Director of the UW’s NDEA In- Hank’s contributions and achieve- stitutes in 1964 and 1965, as Resident ments were recognized, and high

2 DIRECTORS’ CORNER

Greetings, Friends 5th. Antje Petty has been active, too, eager for news about our renova- working with a fourth-grade teacher tion project, which will convert the and Readers! at Elm Lawn Elementary School fourth floor of the University Club in Middleton to develop teaching on the UW Library Mall into the new he fall semester is more than materials on Mecklenburg-German home of the MKI. Things are moving halfway over, and frost was immigrants who settled in the area, along—slowly—but we have reached on the pumpkins in time which will use the new Pope Farm the very final planning stages. Stay Tfor Hallowe’en. The MKI continues Conservancy as their focal point. tuned especially for information to forge ahead, and since our last In addition, she and Lori Bessler of about the schedule. We realize that Newsletter our presence has been the Wisconsin Historical Society your generosity has made you stake- felt in many corners of the state and have continued the series of geneal- holders in this undertaking, and we beyond. In July, for example, Kevin ogy workshops that was so popular are deeply grateful. And we are all Kurdylo joined the Pommerscher last spring, holding two more—on very pleased that things are progress- Verein of Marathon County in a cer- October 20 and 27. Cora Lee Kluge ing. emony to unveil a memorial marker has also been occupied, giving a pre- Meanwhile, we are now looking honoring early Pomeranian settlers sentation on the Milwaukee German forward to the end of the year—and of the area; and he met with mem- Theater at the German Studies As- the beginning of the new one. We bers of the Sauk City Freethinkers to sociation conference in Milwaukee, wish you all the best and hope you discuss their history and to explore another concerning the work of the will work hard, be successful, and possibilities of their collaborating MKI to the Board of the Wisconsin stay in touch! with the MKI. In July the MKI also Humanities Council, a third one on put in an appearance at the German the role of the Forty-eighters in the -Cora Lee and Mark Fest of Milwaukee, thanks to the Civil War to a group at the Waunakee assistance of a number of Friends Public Library, and a fourth one on who volunteered their time to take aspects of German immigration to on a shift or two; and we extend our the Pommerscher Verein of Mara- appreciation to them and especially thon County. We are delighted to be to Ed Langer, who was responsible part of the UW’s outreach mission, for making the arrangements. and we thank all of the groups we Meanwhile, Mark Louden was in have visited for their warm welcome. Germany for several months during Meanwhile, we know you are the summer, teaching three courses on German-American topics at the University of Freiburg. So far this fall, Mark has given a Board of Directors, Friends of the Max Kade Institute presentation on the topic of “The Hans Bernet Monroe Gary Gisselman Wausau German Presence in Wisconsin” Elizabeth Greene Treasurer, Madison at the Trinity Historical Society in Charles James Vice President, Madison Freistadt, sharing highlights from the James Kleinschmidt President, Fitchburg UW course he taught last spring on Cora Lee Kluge ex officio, Madison Edward Langer Hales Corners the same subject, and he will present Mark Louden, ex officio, Sun Prairie a second talk on this topic later in Antje Petty ex officio, Fitchburg November in Lebanon. In addition, John Pustejovsky Secretary, Whitefish Bay Mark will speak about Amish music Karyl Rommelfanger Manitowoc Johannes Strohschänk Eau Claire at a meeting of the German Interest Luanne von Schneidemesser Madison Group in Janesville on November Pamela Tesch Oconomowoc

3 Pommerscher Verein Unveils Immigrant Memorial Marker Kevin Kurdylo Photos courtesy of the Pommerscher Verein Central Wisconsin. Verein the Pommerscher of courtesy Photos

n July 15, 2012, a ceremony marker features a narrative about the of original immigrant settlers and was held in the Town of Pomeranian settlement of central nearly 400 commemorative bricks Berlin, Marathon County, Wisconsin; the other shows a map financed by descendant families. The OWisconsin, to unveil a granite marker of the Kingdom of Prussia, identify- Verein plans to compile a collec- commemorating the Pomeranian ing the provinces from which large tion of stories about the immigrants immigrants who settled in the area groups of the immigrants originated, whose names adorn the site. starting in 1855. Organized by the as well as a map of Wisconsin, high- In a time of rapid change and Pommerscher Verein Central Wis- lighting the counties of Marathon concern for the future, we are grati- consin, a heritage group that studies and Lincoln where so many Pomera- fied to know that local organizations the history, culture, and Low German nian immigrants settled—often in such as the Pommerscher Verein of (or Platt) language known to their towns with names like Stettin, Ham- Central Wisconsin are committed ancestors, the celebration included burg, and Berlin. Here, in a land- to the important task of keeping our singing, dancing, speeches, and even scape reminiscent of their homeland, history alive. a release of pigeons as the monument they established communities that was unveiled. The songs included a were predominantly German—their version of “On Wisconsin” and “You neighbors spoke German, newspa- Are My Sunshine” in Platt, as well as pers were printed in German, and “Das Pommernlied,” which was writ- church services were held in Ger- ten in 1850. man. This marker recognizes the The six-foot-tall marker is made of struggles and accomplishments of the red granite quarried locally, at a site settlers, and it reminds us how they where several of the original settlers helped to shape who we are today. and their immediate descendants Surrounding the monument are found employment. One side of the 149 tiles engraved with the names

4 PAGES FROM THE PAST

Ein deutscher Osage-Häuptling (A German Osage Chief) Translated by Kevin Kurdylo

ermans in Europe have long is never given (at the end of the story “When I was fourteen, my father been fascinated with Native we find the initials “R. M.,” which took a new homestead in southern American culture, due in might stand for Robert Matt), and we Kansas. After moving there I saw Glarge part to the 19th-century works are asked, “Who knows whether in nothing more of my Indian friends of Karl May, arguably one of the the state of Kansas today there is not for many years. Our homestead was best-selling German authors of all a reader who remembers the occur- fifteen miles southwest of Indepen- time. It is now known that May never rence?” There are details in the story dence, on the old Abilene trail, on visited the places so vividly described that could probably be verified with a small stream, which carries the in his stories; instead he exercised his enough time and effort. impressive name Zwiebelcreek (On- imagination and relied upon travel The story begins: “When my ion Creek). [Note: This appears to narratives and accounts of encoun- parents emigrated from Germany to be in Montgomery County, Kansas.] ters with Native Americans written America, I was about four years old. This land had formerly been part of by others to create fabulous adven- Because we were extremely poor, my the Osage reservation; the govern- tures set in America’s Wild West, parents continued further west, my ment bought it from the Indians including tales involving a German father looking to nourish his family and opened it for settlers. How such immigrant named Old Shatterhand. from the hunt until we could enjoy a government purchase is accom- The following is a summary of a our first harvest from the land. We plished, I do not want to describe in different story-titled “Ein deutscher established ourselves near an Indian depth, but would only mention here Osage-Häuptling”-which appeared reservation and in our daily dealings that a majority of the Indians were in the September 1890 issue of Das we had the best of relationships with dissatisfied, because they had been Evangelische Magazin, edited by these half-civilized natives. deceived and cheated. With their C. A. Thomas and Robert Matt and “As a young boy I came in contact great and feared chieftain Big Hill Joe published in Cleveland, Ohio, by with young Indians daily, from whom they went on the warpath, spreading Lauer und Mattill. Like the tales of I learned to set traps and use weap- panic and alarm among the scattered Karl May, this one involves a German ons. But of greatest value to me was settlers, some of whom knew noth- immigrant, and it claims to be a true learning the language of the Osage ing about Indians except what they account, though specific details, such Indians and the Shawnees, so that I had learned from stories. About 300 as when the events occurred, are not could communicate with members of settlers fled to Independence, where provided. In the first paragraph we both tribes fluently. Nothing pleased a militia company was formed to are told that most stories about the the Indians more than when they met provide protection. experiences of white settlers have no a White who could understand their “Among the few settlers who were basis in fact and should be dismissed language, and they did their best to not frightened away was my father. as Quatsch (rubbish). But here, we instruct me. When I was twelve years He sought instead to protect his are assured, is a story whose veracity old, I could use a bow and arrow, a homestead, and thus we remained is vouched for; it deals with the lives gun, and traps as well as any Indian on our property. I myself could not of early settlers in Kansas and is told my age, and I was proficient in their conceive of any danger, for as well by a man who himself lived through language. For these reasons I was acquainted as I was with Indian life, I the events: “Wir lassen den Mann popular with all Indians and was had never seen them on the warpath. selbst reden” (We let the man speak protected by them when they met me Our nearest neighbor lived a mile for himself). The identity of this man on the hunt or while trapping. away from us. He was called Bäcker

5 our hiding place we could clearly see the hideously painted faces of the Indians in the room. They immediately began to help themselves to the useful items: spoons, forks, tinware, bedding, and clothing. Up to then none had sought our hiding place; their whole attention was directed toward the robbery. I believe we would have remained completely undis- covered except for a chance betrayal. and had three children. When news to dry them in the sun. The room below was completely came of the Indian outbreak, Bäcker “It might have been around nine filled with Indians who had suddenly brought his whole family and all his o’clock when we started back to the become silent; wanting to get a better cattle to our house, wishing to stay house, but we hadn’t gone far before view, I crept further forward on the with us until the danger was past. we became aware of a troop of riders board, to where the opening was On the day after their arrival three in the distance; they were driving larger. Unfortunately the board gave more families arrived, and now the many cattle before them and heading way and flipped, and before I knew it, men undertook the serious work of right toward us. My two comrades the board and I fell onto the heads of converting our house into a fortress broke out in wails and fled toward the Indians. to defend their families. Including the house. As they ran, the war cry “The uproar was tremendous. the children from these other fami- of the Indians clearly told me we Knives, pistols, and rifles were lies, we numbered a full dozen all had been discovered. An attempt to grabbed, and a heathen roar filled the together, and before long we began to flee would have been in vain, as the air. During this commotion I man- play at being Indians. Indians were mounted. I ran after the aged to get myself free. Surrounded “A week passed without a real others, and we got into the house and by Indians, I heard these words in Indian being sighted, and the settlers locked the doors and windows. The the Osage language: ‘Kill the pale- began to consider returning to their Bäcker boys were pale with fright, face! Shoot him!’ But I was immedi- homesteads, believing the uproar and I must admit that their appear- ately convinced this was said only to about war had been a false alarm. On ance also made me feel nauseous. frighten me, and there was no real the day before the Bäcker family was “Seeking safety, we crept into the intention to kill me. to depart, I got permission to go with attic, where we found we could see “Despite my precarious situation the two Bäcker boys to their place on through the cracks between the I did not lose my composure, but Onion Creek to check the traps they joists. From there I could see that the recalled from my earlier encounters had laid. My father and Mr. Bäcker Indians had taken all our cattle and that only calm and courageous be- had left early that morning for Inde- our horses. With terrible shouting havior would inspire respect among pendence, allowing us boys also to they rode around the house, swing- the Indians. get an early start. When we arrived at ing their rifles and tomahawks in “I looked the fierce warriors the Bäcker home, we found every- the air. When they began to pound straight in the eye and said, ‘You thing in good order. We got some at the door we could hardly keep the are not Osage, you are cowards! grain from the shed and fed the pigs younger Bäcker still. He trembled The Osage are brave and make no that were rolling about in the brook; with fear and grabbed his head war with women and children. You then we checked the traps and found with both hands, as if his scalp had threaten a boy who knows the Osage, an opossum and two raccoons had already been unfastened. We heard and who knows that they are valiant been caught. We skinned them and the windows rattle and then the door and are his friends!’ I spoke in their nailed the pelts on the barn, in order broke under massive blows. From language and instilled in my words

6 all the pathos I was capable of. chief steal our cattle when no one is “The news spread, with the young “My speech had the desired effect. watching?’ Bäckers making more of it than was The weapons were lowered, and “The chief stepped to the side, called for, and I became famous. grunts of astonishment could be where he spoke for a while with his Whether mockingly, in fun, or in heard. A brawny Indian who towered warriors, then returned and said to earnest, I was given the title of the over the others came forward and me, ‘We leave the ponies and cattle.’ German Osage Chief, and I’ve worn ordered them to make room. As he He fixed me with his piercing black the name to this day with pride. stepped up to me I thought that this eyes and said, ‘The small white Osage Whenever anyone asked me why I must be the great Chief Big Hill Joe goes with us, and we will make him a never learned to speak better English, (der grosse Berg Joseph), and I was great chief.’ I’d usually say because I had learned filled with hope and courage. He “It is hardly necessary to say that I to speak Osage. offered me his hand and said, ‘Small refused the invitation. Several of the “Since then we have had peace white Osage, my warriors will do warriors came up to me and spoke with the Indians. Before long the last you no harm, though we have killed in their language, as it made them Osage will have gone to the happy many men! Where have you learned happy to hear me speak Osage. But hunting grounds, and the place to speak Osage?’ it particularly amused them when I where he once lived will no longer ‘“At the great river,’ I said, pointing could not find the right word and got know his story.” to the north. stuck. Suddenly the chief gave a sign, “Then I told them how I had lived and the wild band was gone. I soon Note for many years among the Osage, discovered that they had taken none Big Hill Joe was known as Pa-I’n- and what brave fighters they were, of the cattle and horses that belonged No-Pa-She (Not Afraid of Longhairs and how, in my father’s house, they to us. Big Hill Joe would not have / Pawnees), also Governor Joe, Star exchanged wampum and ate bread. that said of them. Chief, and Wat-Si Ki-He-Kah. He An Osage, I told him, was never a “I then went into the house and apparently was educated in the Osage common thief, but was always a true found the two Bäckers still in hiding, mission school, but was known to man. almost paralyzed with fear. When I pretend not to understand English. “‘We are also your friends,’ the chief told them that the Indians were gone, There are reports of killings attrib- said. and that we would have to drive our uted to his band dating from between “‘You are not warriors; you have cattle home, they could hardly speak, 1872 and 1880. There are various stolen my father’s horses and cattle. as they believed a miracle had oc- dates given for his death, ranging No Osage does that.’ curred. from as early as 1878 to 1883 and “‘We have stolen no horses here,’ he “An indescribable happiness met even 1903. said. us when we arrived at home on our “But I realized that I was making an horses and driving our cattle, as no impression, so I said: ‘No, not here, one could believe we were still alive. but farther up, and I live there,’ point- Our mothers were crying tears of joy, ing with my hand at the creek. ‘Is this looking at us as if we had just come how the great Chief Big Hill Joe deals back from the grave. with his friends?’ “It took some time to tell the entire “‘There are only noisy rabbits up story. As I finished, the two young there, they hid in their house and did Bäckers professed they had always not come out,’ the chief said mock- looked down on me because I could ingly. not understand English, but they “‘My father has gone to Indepen- now realized that a spoonful of Osage dence; there are only women and was worth more than a whole bowl of children at home. Does the Osage English.

7 Continued from page 1 should survive his illness. The grotto builders were not schooled in archi- tecture or any formal art tradition. At the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth, however, the availability of inexpen- sive concrete made it possible for them to create incredible structures without using blueprints. The birthplace of the grotto move- ment in the Midwest is Saints Peter and Paul Church in West Bend, Iowa, home to the Grotto of the Redemp- tion (http://www.westbendgrotto. com/). This “Mother of all Grottos” The Grotto of the Redemption in West Bend, Iowa, takes up an entire city block and virtually over- whelms the viewer with tons of semi-precious gems, petrified wood, and colored glass. takes up an entire city block and contains nine contiguous grottos that construction in earnest until 1912. grotto. Because Father Dobberstein illustrate the story of the Redemp- His work on the grotto continued was commissioned to construct other tion, from the Fall of Man to the until his death in 1954. Dobberstein smaller grottos for Catholic churches Resurrection. It is said to be the larg- attributed the grotto tradition to and convents in Iowa, Wisconsin, est collection of semiprecious stones, the Middle Ages, when shepherds and Illinois, his handiwork can be minerals, and petrified materials in attending their flocks in the hills seen in many small towns around the the world, valued at $4.3 million. To sought refuge from storms in natural Midwest. be fully appreciated, it should be vis- grottos, or caves. They adorned the While the grotto in West Bend was ited at night as well as during the day. interiors with holy pictures and cru- built to celebrate religion, other ma- The grotto was built by a German- cifixes, placing them over small altars jor grottos incorporated patriotism to born immigrant, Paul Dobberstein, to give the caves the appearance of a reflect the sense of pride that immi- who came to the United States in church sanctuary. grants felt in their new country. The 1893 to study for the priesthood at St. Father Dobberstein had studied Dickeyville Grotto on the grounds of Francis Seminary near Milwaukee. geology, and he knew his rocks and the Holy Ghost Church in south- While there, he suffered a severe case minerals. He learned to embed color- western Wisconsin (http://dickeyvil- of pneumonia. The Grotto of the Re- ful minerals into concrete panels and legrotto.com/grotto.htm) is another demption is the result of his promise then assemble them to form shrines well-known array of grottos, shrines, to build a shrine to honor the Blessed and grottos. Starting in 1912, Matt and gardens. Unlike the Grotto of the Virgin if he should survive, and a Szerensce, a parishioner, assisted Redemption, the one in Dickeyville small stone grotto honoring “Our Father Dobberstein, and he contin- contains extensive quantities of glass Lady of Lourdes,” also attributed to ued working on the grotto until his and ceramics, along with natural Dobberstein, was built at the semi- own death in 1959. Together the men stones and petrified materials, some nary in 1894. made frequent trips to the Black Hills gathered from as far away as the Holy In 1901, now a parish priest at and elsewhere, excavating railroad Land. Imagine a structure 25 feet tall, Saints Peter and Paul Church, Dob- carloads of rocks, minerals, and 30 feet wide, and 25 feet deep embed- berstein began to stockpile mas- precious stones. Father Louis Grev- ded with thousands and thousands of sive amounts of fieldstone, rocks, ing, who was assigned to the parish pieces of sparkling glass and ceram- and boulders, but he did not begin in 1946, also helped complete the ics, shells, marbles, minerals, rocks,

8 years later, he wrote, “My health hav- ing failed, I prayed devoutly to Mary amidst the quiet and beauty of the place. Should it be restored, I promised to build sometime, somewhere, a shrine in her honor.” Wagner fulfilled that promise by beginning to build the Rudolph grotto in 1928 and working on it until his death in 1959. Edmund Rybicki began assisting Wagner as a fourth grader and worked until his death in 1991. Like the others, they let the structure develop intuitively as they worked. Although not as flashy as the other This detail of the fishpond at the Rudolph (Wisconsin) Grotto Gardens and Wonder Cave illustrates its two major grottos, it possesses great natural setting, surrounded by trees and vegetation. natural beauty. The Paul and Matilda Wegner Grotto petrified wood—and doorknobs. The this. Wernerus himself wrote, “Many in Cataract, Wisconsin, is a smaller Dickeyville Grotto is even said to reasons urged me to put up ‘Religion grotto built by German Lutheran contain a cross carved by Father Mar- in Stone and Patriotism in Stone.’ The immigrants next to their farmhouse quette’s first Indian convert. main reason why it was done I could (http://www.monroecountyhistory. Father Mathias Wernerus, a not reveal.” org/wegnergrotto.php). The Wegn- German-born priest who served the The St. Phillip Parish Grotto ers were transfixed by a visit to the parish from 1918 until his death in Shrine and Wonder Cave at Ru- Dickeyville Grotto in 1929. When 1931, was the driving force behind the dolph, Wisconsin, is another they returned home, they immediately Dickeyville Grotto. Wernerus began marvelous site worthy of a visit began to work. Built primarily by Paul his work by constructing a Soldiers’ (http://www.rudolphgrotto.org/). until his death in 1937, and thereafter Memorial in 1920 to honor three men It contains almost forty structures, by his wife until her death in 1942, the from the parish who had lost their including grottos and shrines to God Wegner grotto is a stunning sight in lives in World War I. In 1924, he began and country. Unlike the Redemption the middle of an undeveloped natural to expand his vision, aided through or Dickeyville grottos, however, it is landscape. the years by his parishioners and by constructed primarily of native rock The Wegners followed Wernerus’s his cousin, Mary Wernerus. The grotto and is bedecked with mature trees technique of studding concrete with was completed in 1930, and remained and extensive floral gardens. A unique glass and ceramic objects. They began virtually unchanged until 1964, when feature in Rudolph is the Wonder with a decorative fence around the parish priest Father Lambert Marx Cave, an enclosed pathway one-fifth property, ultimately building many added concrete and sandstone Stations of a mile long that contains dozens of more structures, including bird of the Cross. religious statues and plaques. houses, a battleship, and a replica of Many believe that Dobberstein in- This grotto was primarily built by their 50th wedding anniversary cake. fluenced Wernerus, because Wernerus Philip Wagner, who was born in Iowa An ecumenical statement can be seen attended the St. Francis Seminary after and went to Europe to study for the in a mosaic glass church, eight feet by the small grotto there was built, and priesthood. While there, he became twelve feet, which depicts the Lu- both priests’ structures have similar very ill and visited the Our Lady of theran, Catholic, and Jewish religions, features. However, no written records Lourdes shrine in France, a well- or original source materials confirm known healing spot. Recalling the visit Continued on page 15

9 Teaching the U. S. Civil War in Germany Nicole Konopka All photos for this article by students at Bamberg University. Used with permsission. Used University. Bamberg at this articlestudents by for All photos The students from Bamberg University are greeted by “Miss Emma” as they approach the “Confederate Camp” in WalldÜrn.

n 2011 many conferences and intercultural exposure and stimulat- battles and the numbers of casualties. exhibitions in both the U.S. and ing conversations. I wanted them to learn from subjec- Germany commemorated the During the summer of 2012, we be- tive individual accounts and from I150th anniversary of the beginning gan to examine the role of Germans fiction to understand more compli- of the American Civil War. Because in the American Civil War. In the cated aspects. Such approaches offer I had taken part in several of these mid-19th century tens of thousands a unique method for immersing the and had been exposed to a great deal of Germans had left their European reader in events that took place 150 of new source material on the topic, homes to settle in the New World. years ago. I decided to teach a class on trans- During the Civil War, many proved Thus, rather than digging a chrono- national history entitled “Germans their loyalty to their adopted home- logical path through historical data, and the American Civil War.” It was land by serving as soldiers. From the I decided to take the “road less trav- part of a series designed especially start, the large numbers of these Ger- eled” and guided students through a to bring together North American mans not only had an impact on the variety of novels, poems, motivation- exchange students and German course of the war, but their actions al songs, and personal statements. students, whose previous topics had also influenced their self-perception We began our journey with the included “German and American as an ethnic group and had repercus- novel Little Women by Louisa May Romanticism” and “The Figure of sions in their respective homelands. Alcott. At first students did not see the Noble Robber in Germany and I wanted my students to realize that a connection between this Ameri- America.” The interaction that took there were more interesting issues to can children’s classic and the topic place proved rewarding in terms of study in this conflict than the dates of of our class. Gradually, however,

10 they discovered that the immigrant for liberty and patriotism. An ad- helpful librarian of the Max Kade experience is as much a part of this ditional link became evident when Institute, who pointed out to me that novel as are Marmee’s goodness and students discovered that Freiligrath Cora Lee Kluge had written about it Amy’s nose. Focusing on Professor was the first German poet to translate in one of the previous MKI Friends Bhaer and the unfortunate Hum- Whitman’s poems into his mother Newsletters (Vol. 18, No. 4, Winter mels allowed students to access the tongue, albeit during his years in 2009). There were several reasons Civil War experience from a different exile in London. students struggled with this story. point of view than those usually cho- Other texts we read included items First, they found the nineteenth- sen, especially since these characters well known to the American students century font challenging to read. are not actively involved in the fight- but new to most of the Germans: Shi- Second, they did not understand ing but nevertheless are affected by loh by Shelby Foote, The Red Badge why a German magazine published the war and its consequences. of Courage by Stephen Crane, and in Leipzig (Saxony) would print such We then moved on to Ferdinand chapters from Gone with the Wind by an American tale. The impact of Freiligrath and Walt Whitman, both Margaret Mitchell, as well as a report German-American mass migration poets and both strong supporters of by Ulysses S. Grant and speeches by on Germany, illustrated by the distri- personal freedom and reform. Since William Lloyd Garrison and Freder- bution of this text in one of the most the class was taught in German and ick Douglass. Examples in German popular print media of the time, in English, the students were encour- consisted mainly of songs and letters was for them a new and fascinating aged to read the poems in their by German-American soldiers. One topic. Finally, students were both original language; and we discovered text of particular interest was the fascinated and somewhat appalled by that Freiligrath’s writings about the adventure story Bill Hammer by Otto the propagandistic nature of the story Revolution of 1848 and Whitman’s Ruppius, published in serial form in and its strong overtones of patriotism about the Civil War were eerily simi- the German magazine Die Garten- and heroism. My students—and in lar in terms of personal drive, irony, laube in 1862. I was introduced to the fact many Germans—are ambiva- and the strongly voiced enthusiasm story by Kevin Kurdylo, the ever- lent about patriotism of any kind, mainly because of its massive abuse in Germany during the first half of the 20th century. But they also could not easily relate to the notion that a German readership would identify with the son of a German immigrant who attempts a death-defying task to save approaching Union troops and his village from the Confederacy: a German-American hero in an American setting during an Ameri- can conflict. Students had a much better understanding once they saw the connection between the 1848 Revolution in the German states, transatlantic migration, and the principles that were defended during the Civil War.

Continued on page 14 Discussion between student and reenactor about music in the Civil War.

11 BOOK REVIEW

An Other American Dialect: Pennsylvania German in the American Midwest Joel Stark

Pennsylvania German in the Ameri- other hand, the variation is signifi- can Midwest. By Steven Hartman cant enough to draw overt comments Keiser. Supplement to American from native speakers and can serve as Speech, vol. 86. Durham, NC: Duke an indicator of a person’s origin. For University Press, 2011. example, what MPG speakers call an Eemer is known in PPG as a Kiw- oth the unique position of wel. These two variants for the word Pennsylvania German in the ‘bucket’ illustrate the minor lexical family of Germanic languages disparity that is no more inhibitive Band its rich history on American to mutual intelligibility than the soil make the language an interest- American English regional variants ing topic for scholars and members pop vs. soda. of the general public alike. Spoken Keiser’s thread of emphasis is today primarily—but by no means that the sociolinguistic variation in exclusively—by members of Old Or- Pennsylvania German runs paral- der Amish and Old Order Mennonite lel to patterns found in American communities, Pennsylvania German English, making Pennsylvania Ger- can be heard on family farms across man a “truly American” language. Wisconsin. These data are then the American Midwest. As Steven One of these similarities is illustrated compared to data from two regions Hartman Keiser puts it in his new with the following example: just in the traditional PPG homeland of book, Pennsylvania German in the as speakers of American English Lancaster, Montgomery, and Berks American Midwest, the language has have diagnostic phrases to identify Counties, conclusively illustrating the “outgrown its name.” Its geographic pronunciation traits, such as Park subtle—but noticeable—variation in center is no longer in the fertile val- your car in Harvard Yard, Pennsyl- the language. leys of southeastern Pennsylvania as vania German speakers have their Now in its third century since it was in colonial times. With nearly own stock phrases to differentiate first moving to Ohio, Pennsylvania a quarter-million total speakers, between speakers of MPG and PPG. German is spoken alongside English the majority reside to the west of For instance, a speaker from Pennsyl- in hundreds of speech communi- Pennsylvania in Ohio, Iowa, Indiana, vania is likely to produce a diphthong ties dotting the map from Maine to Wisconsin, and several other states. similar to the English ‘eye’ in the Washington. It is in a state of “stable At its core Keiser’s book is a study phrase drei veisi Weibsleit (‘three bilingualism,” which means speakers of the divergence of Pennsylvania white women’), whereas a Midwest- are acquiring and maintaining both German into two main branches: erner will pronounce the words with English and Pennsylvania German Midwest Pennsylvania German a monophthong much like the vowel without showing preference for one (MPG) and Pennsylvania Pennsylva- in ‘bad.’ Two other salient phonemes over the other. As members of both a nia German (PPG). On the one hand, that separate MPG from PPG include religious community and the greater the differences between the two dia- variations in the pronunciation of /r/ non-sectarian society as a whole, the lects are minor enough that speakers and /l/. Keiser documents this varia- Old Order Amish and Old Order enjoy complete mutual intelligibility, tion with empirical quantitative data Mennonites look to continue main- analogous to that between regional collected in Kalona, Iowa; Holmes varieties of American English. On the County, Ohio; and Grant County, Continued on page 15

12 In Memoriam: Fritz Albert (1922-2012)

Wisconsin’s Department of Agricul- by his perspective, which brought tural Journalism who helped him into focus the relationship between attend a short course on the UW an area’s land and climate, on the campus in 1950. He and his wife one hand, and its settlers and their Ingeborg chose Madison to be the agricultural traditions, on the other. family’s home, and in 1954 they came Thus in no small measure, his legacy to stay. can be seen in our work, such as in Fritz Albert’s influence went far the project that led to our publica- beyond his department and beyond tion entitled Wisconsin German Land the state of Wisconsin. He was in- and Life (2006). We have appreciated volved in founding the Land Tenure Fritz Albert’s encouragement and his Center (now part of the Nelson leadership. And we will miss him. Institute for Environmental Studies); he brought the work of the UW to people throughout the state, exem- plifying the meaning of the Wiscon- sin Idea; and his films on agrarian structures in Latin America were rofessor Fritz A. Albert, used in teaching institutions both in longtime colleague, supporter, this country and abroad. He served and Friend of the Max Kade on the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Task PInstitute, died in Madison on Septem- Force on Cable Communications and ber 16, 2012, at the age of 90. He was the Wisconsin Educational Com- a member of the Department of Agri- munications Board, as well as UW cultural Journalism (now Life Sciences committees for the West European Communication) at the University of Area Studies Program and the Inter- Wisconsin–Madison, an internation- national Studies Program. In 1984 ally acclaimed and award-winning he was awarded the Cross of Merit of photographer and filmmaker, and a the Federal Republic of Germany for respected teacher and mentor of his his work in promoting understand- many students. ing between Germany and the United Born in Mylau (Saxony), Germany, States. And—last but not least—he in 1922, he studied photography in was a member of the MKI’s Execu- Munich after finishing high school tive Committee from 1984 to 1989, and served in the Luftwaffe as a recon- during the Institute’s important early naissance photographer during World years. War II. After the war he became a Fritz Albert maintained his interest photographer for a German agricul- in our activities and his member- tural development agency, where he ship in the Friends. Likewise, the met members of the University of MKI was influenced and inspired

13 Continued from page 11 ments as an enjoyable hobby. Our close encounter with the sounds, These are, of course, only a few smells, and tastes of the Civil War, examples of the texts we read in class, however, left a lasting impression on but I strongly believe that accounts us and may best be summed up in such as Bill Hammer invite students the words of one student: “Whatever to see the American Civil War in a one might have thought beforehand, more nuanced way than they could it was nothing compared to what we through mere historical facts or the finally witnessed!” statement that citizens of the German What students took home from states overwhelmingly supported the that trip in particular and the class in Northern cause. general was the knowledge that there The highlight of the course was are many stories to be told about the a visit to a Civil War reenactment Civil War, including about the expe- event here in Germany. We were riences of Germans, and that military given an introduction to the reenact- history and political documents are ment phenomenon by Claire Scott, not the only useful sources for un- an exchange student who herself had derstanding this complex story. participated in Civil War reenact- We continue to discover new ments as a member of Living History materials from that period and thus in Quiet Valley, Pennsylvania. Then continue to spin the tale. My students a dozen of the students and I went are now writing term papers about to Walldürn, a little town in Baden- topics such as the role of military Württemberg, where we marveled at music in the Civil War, the ethnic and mingled with Germans who were faces of heroism, and how fiction reenacting the Battle of South Mills may influence what we know as that took place on April 19, 1862, in facts. They have just begun to dig for Camden Town, North Carolina. answers, and I wonder what they will Reenactments are popular today in still unearth. Germany. Most focus on medieval scenarios and local events, but there A student report with additional is a small but dedicated commu- photos of the visit to the American nity that organizes reenactments of Civil War reenactment at Walldürn, modern foreign battles. These groups Germany, may be viewed here: http:// maintain a low profile and com- www.uni-bamberg.de/amerikanistik/ municate via blogs and mailing lists, exkursionen/a-field-trip-back-in- occasionally sending invitations to time-american-civil-war-reenact- interested outsiders to attend their ment-in-wallduern-germany/ events and learn about a particular Nicole K. Konopka is a lecturer time period through participation. in American Studies at Bamberg The students were fascinated by University in Bavaria, Germany. She the show and wanted to know what harbors a serious fascination/fondness brought participants to the camp in for oddities, especially if they relate to Walldürn. Answers seemed ambigu- German-Americana. ous, and the students concluded that most people had discovered reenact-

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Continued from page 9 sor of anthropology and folklorist at Continued from page 12 Lafayette College. considered at the time to be the three taining the Pennsylvania German This article is adapted from an ear- major German religions, whose legend language in the American Midwest lier version published on the Center reads “One God, one Brotherhood.” well into the foreseeable future. for the Study of Upper Midwestern For those willing to take time to Cultures Web site: http://csumc.wisc. look for adventure, the Midwest Joel R. Stark received his M.A. in edu/?q=node/204 offers many examples of impressive German Linguistics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in Spring religious, folk, and outsider art. At Peyton Smith is a former Vice Chan- 2012. His current studies focus on the major grotto sites, guides conduct cellor at the University of Wisconsin– the sociolinguistics of Pennsylvania organized tours during the summer Madison. He has had a lifelong interest German and other German-language months, and booklets explain the in grottos and other artistic environ- islands in North America. history of the grottos, written by the ments made of concrete. people who built them. For those interested in additional information, The Newsletter of the Friends of the Max Kade Institute for German-American Studies is two scholarly works do an excellent published three times a year at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Submissions are invited job of describing these unusual struc- and should be sent to: tures: Sacred Places and Other Spaces: Kevin Kurdylo A Guide to Grottos and Sculptural Friends of the Max Kade Institute for German-American Studies Environments in the Upper Midwest, 901 University Bay Drive, Madison, WI 53705 by Lisa Stone, a folklorist and cura- Phone: (608) 262-7546 Fax: (608) 265-4640 tor, and Jim Zanzi, an Art Institute [email protected] of Chicago professor; and Dickeyville Grotto: The Vision of Father Mathias mki.wisc.edu Wernerus, by Susan Niles, a profes- maxkade.blogspot.com

15 Friends of the Max Kade Institute Non-Profit Organization for German-American Studies US Postage University of Wisconsin PAID Madison, WI 901 University Bay Drive Permit No. 658 Madison, WI 53705