The Heimatklänge and the Danube Swabians in Milwaukee

Name: The Heimatklänge and the Danube Swabians in Milwaukee
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Author: Julia Anderlé de Sylor
ISBN: 978-3-631-85145-6

Anderlé de Sylor, Julia

The Heimatklänge and the Danube Swabians in Milwaukee

A Model of Holistic Integration for a Displaced German Community

by Julia Anderlé de Sylor (Author)

German Studies

Series: Studies in the New Humanities / Studien zu Neuen Geisteswissenschaften, Volume 1

Summary

For over 300 years, Danube Swabians had maintained their German dialect and culture in Hungary and Yugoslavia. The events after WWII, including expulsion from their homes and ethnic persecution, radically destabilized this minority’s conception of Heimat. Written specifically for the Danube Swabians in Milwaukee, the Heimatklänge newsletters　provide insight into the challenges and successes of a Catholic immigrant community in America. This study seeks to define Structured Grounded Theory, which was informed by Charmaz Constructivist Grounded Theory (2006). The method examined parish newsletters for a German immigrant community and developed a Model of Holistic Integration, which identifies the parishioners’ past trauma and immigrant challenges and seeks innovative strategies to reconcile the two.

Excerpt

Cover
Title
Copyright
About the author
About the book
This eBook can be cited
Abstract
Acknowledgments
Contents
1. Introduction
1.1. Context and Historical Background
1.1.1. Milwaukee and the Danube Swabians
1.1.2. The Parishioners
1.1.3. Milwaukee and St. Michael’s Parish
1.1.4. Father Joseph Kentenich and Schönstatt
1.1.5. The Question of Heimat
1.2. The Heimatklänge Newsletters
1.2.1. About the Heimatklänge Newsletters
1.2.2. The Seelsorgsbrief: The Pastoral Letters
1.2.3. Catechesis and Theological Articles
1.2.4. The Tatsachenberichte: The Parishioner’s Refugee Testimonies
1.2.5. Articles on Other Topics
1.2.6. Literacy of the Danube Swabians and the Refugee Testimonies
1.3. Expectations and Mission of the Heimatklänge
1.3.1. Parishioners’ Expectations
1.3.2. Editorial Line and Theoretical Categories
2. Literature Review
2.0. Introduction
2.1. Trauma
2.1.1. Stress vs. Trauma
2.1.2. Factors that Contribute to the Development of PTSD
2.1.2.1. Event Factors
2.1.2.2. Exposure and Intensity
2.1.3. PTS Symptoms
2.1.3.1. Intrusive Memories: Reexperiencing Trauma
2.1.3.2. Avoidance Behaviors
2.1.4. Victim Portrayals vs. Resiliency
2.2. Acculturative Stressors
2.2.1. Link between Past and Contemporary Experiences
2.2.2. Acculturative Stress Models
2.2.2.1. Berry’s Adaptation
2.2.2.2. Berry’s Acculturative Stress Model
2.3. Developing Resiliency
2.3.1. Frankl and Logotherapy
2.3.2. Structured Writing Therapy and the Refugee Narratives
2.4. Conclusion
3. Methodology
3.0. Introduction
3.0.1. Grounded Theory
3.0.2. Building on Constructivist Grounded Theory
3.0.3. Structured Grounded Theory
3.1. Identifying the Model of Holistic Integration
3.1.1. Initial Sampling [READ]
3.1.2. First and Second Reading of Newsletters [READ & CODE]
3.1.3. Third Reading and Coding of the Newsletters [READ & CODE]
3.1.4. Theoretical Sampling of Primary and Secondary Sources [READ]
3.1.5. Uncovering a Model [GROUP & DEFINE]
3.1.5.1. Word Search Frequency
3.1.5.2. Definitions of Heimat
3.1.5.3. A Model of Holistic Integration
3.2. Developing the Model
3.2.1. Close Reading, Theoretical, and Analytical Coding [GROUP & CODE]
3.2.2. Analysis of the Refugee Narratives [CODE, FILTER, & CODE]
3.2.3. Developing the Model [READ & DEFINE]
3.2.3.1. Theoretical Sampling of Primary and Secondary Sources
3.2.3.1.1. Theoretical Sampling
3.2.3.1.2. Kentenich’s Definition of Heimatlosigkeit and Heimat (1951)
3.2.3.1.3. Understanding Heimatlosigkeit: Further Sampling of Primary and Secondary Sources
3.2.3.2. Developing the Model: 7 Framework Categories
3.3. Developing Analysis Procedure and Structure
3.3.1. Definition of Framework Coding
3.3.2. Application of Framework and Theoretical Coding [CODE]
3.3.3. Analysis and Structure of Chapters 4 and 5 [FILTER, GROUP, CODE, & DEFINE]
3.3.3.1. Exploring Breadth: Working through Quotations and Codes
3.3.3.1.1. Filtering and Comparing Codes
3.3.3.1.2. Identifying In-Vivo Codes
3.3.3.1.3. Constant Comparison of Codes
3.3.3.1.4. Moving from In-Vivo Codes to Framework Grouping
3.3.3.2. Defining: Moving from the Codes to a Definition
3.4. Revising Methodology for New Contexts
3.4.1. Analysis of Chapters 6 and 7
3.4.1.1. Selection of Relevant Quotations and Passages [FILTER & GROUP]
3.4.1.2. Framework Coding of Excerpts [CODE]
3.4.1.3. Filtering Codes According to the Framework Categories [GROUP]
3.4.1.4. Initial Structure for the Beheimatung Chapters [DEFINE]
3.4.2. Revising within the Model: Beheimatungsprozess [READ, GROUP, CODE, & DEFINE]
4. Breaking Down Heimat: Uncovering the Root of Heimatlosigkeit and Past Trauma
4.0. Introduction
4.1. Heimatlosigkeit Framework Categories
4.1.1. Subcategory: Geographical Breaks in Attachment
4.1.1.1. Definition
4.1.1.2. In-Vivo Codes and Framework Grouping of Geographical Breaks in Attachment
4.1.1.3. Specific Quotes from the Heimatklänge Demonstrating Breaks in Geographical Attachments
4.1.2. Subcategory: Material Breaks in Attachment
4.1.2.1. Definition
4.1.2.2. In-Vivo Codes and Framework Grouping of Material Breaks in Attachment
4.1.2.3. Specific Quotes from the Heimatklänge Demonstrating Breaks in Material Attachments
4.1.3. Subcategory: Physical Breaks in Attachment
4.1.3.1. Definition
4.1.3.2. In-Vivo Codes and Framework Grouping of Physical Breaks in Attachment
4.1.3.3. Specific Quotes from the Heimatklänge Demonstrating Breaks in Physical Attachments
4.1.4. Subcategory: Social Breaks in Attachment
4.1.4.1. Definition
4.1.4.2. In-Vivo Codes and Specific Examples of Social Breaks in Attachment
4.1.4.3. Specific Quotes from the Heimatklänge Demonstrating Breaks in Social Attachments
4.1.5. Subcategory: Cultural Breaks in Attachment
4.1.5.1. Definition
4.1.5.2. In-Vivo Codes and Specific Examples of Cultural Breaks in Attachment
4.1.5.3. Specific Quotes from the Heimatklänge Demonstrating Breaks in Cultural Attachments
4.1.6. Subcategory: Emotional/Psychological Breaks in Attachment
4.1.6.1. Definition
4.1.6.2. In-Vivo Codes and Specific Examples of Emotional/Psychological Breaks in Attachment
4.1.6.3. Specific Quotes from the Heimatklänge Demonstrating Emotional/Psychological Breaks in Attachment
4.1.7. Subcategory: Religious Breaks in Attachment
4.1.7.1. Definition
4.1.7.2. In-Vivo Codes and Specific Examples of Religious Breaks in Attachment
4.1.7.3. Specific Quotes from the Heimatklänge Demonstrating Breaks in Religious Attachments
4.1.8. Subcategory: The Intensity Factor, or General Breaks in Attachment Pertaining to “Not/Leid”
4.1.8.1. Definition
4.1.8.2. In-Vivo Codes and Framework Grouping of Intensity of Breaks in Attachment
4.1.8.3. Explanation of the Intensity Category and Specific Quotes from the Heimatklänge
4.1.8.3.1. Summary of Previous Seven Categories
4.1.8.3.2. Creation of an Eighth Category: Amplification/“Not”/“Leid”
4.1.8.3.3. Defining Heimatlosigkeit
4.1.8.3.4. Linguistic Parallels: The Superlative
4.2. Discussion: Interplay of Categories
4.2.1. Organic vs. Mechanistic Thinking, Applied to Analysis of Categories
4.2.2. Examples of Connections between Heimatlosigkeit Categories
4.2.3. “Unverdaute Stücke”
4.2.4. Defining and Assessing Trauma
4.3. Conclusion—Deconstructing Heimat: Breaks in Attachments, Heimatlosigkeit
4.3.1. Summary and Reflection on the Heimatlosigkeit Subcategories
4.3.2. Concluding Thoughts
5. Tensions between alte vs. neue Heimat, Identifying Acculturative Stressors
5.0. Introduction
5.1. Coding from a Quantitative Perspective and Findings
5.2. Alte vs. neue Heimat Framework Categories
5.2.1. Subcategory: Geographical Tensions in Attachments
5.2.1.1. Definition
5.2.1.2. In-Vivo Codes and Framework Grouping
5.2.1.3. Specific Quotes from the Heimatklänge Demonstrating Breaks in Geographical Attachments
5.2.1.3.1. Geographical Tension: Separation from “das Land unserer Väter”
5.2.1.3.2. Conclusion: Themes in Geographical Tensions
5.2.2. Subcategory: Material Tensions in Attachments
5.2.2.1. Definition
5.2.2.2. In-Vivo Codes and Framework Grouping
5.2.2.3. Specific Quotes: Economic Struggles and the Price of Success
5.2.2.3.1. Economic Struggles
5.2.2.3.2. The Price of Success: External Progress, Value and Progress Measured in Material Attachments
5.2.3. Subcategory: Physical Tensions in Attachments
5.2.3.1. Definition
5.2.3.2. In-Vivo Codes and Framework Grouping
5.2.3.3. Specific Quotes
5.2.3.3.1. Modern Culture’s Emphasis on Physical Health
5.2.3.3.2. Influence of Material Goods on the Physical Senses
5.2.4. Subcategory: Social Tensions in Attachments
5.2.4.1. Definition
5.2.4.2. In-Vivo Codes and Brief Examples
5.2.4.3. Specific Quotes
5.2.4.3.1. Challenges of the neue Heimat for the Youth and Elderly
5.2.4.3.2. Tensions between the alte and neue Heimat: Differences in Social and Community Structures
5.2.5. Subcategory: Cultural Tensions in Attachments
5.2.5.1. Definition
5.2.5.2. In-Vivo Codes and Framework Grouping
5.2.5.3. Specific Quotes
5.2.5.3.1. Positive and Negative Sides of German Culture and Character
5.2.5.3.2. Navigating Difficult Choices: Facing External Pressures to Adapt to American Culture and Holding on to One’s Own Culture
5.2.6. Subcategory: Emotional Tensions in Attachments
5.2.6.1. Definition
5.2.6.2. In-Vivo Codes and Framework Grouping
5.2.6.3. Specific Quotes
5.2.7. Subcategory: Religious Tensions in Attachments
5.2.7.1. Definition
5.2.7.2. In-Vivo Codes and Framework Grouping
5.2.7.3. Specific Quotes
5.3. Conclusion
5.3.1. Interplay of Categories
5.3.2. Conclusion
6. Beheimatung, Addressing Past Breaks in Attachment, Instances of Heimatlosigkeit
6.0. Introduction
6.0.1. Beheimatung Anchor
6.0.2. Shift in Perspective
6.0.3. Sendungsmission
6.1. Beheimatung Anchor: Holding onto Attachments in the Face of Difficult Experiences
6.1.1. Case Study: Adam Birmily and “In Gottes Namen”
6.1.2. Analysis of Birmily’s Case Study
6.1.2.1. Analytical and Theoretical Coding of “In Gottes Namen”
6.1.2.2. Summary of Emerging Hypotheses
6.1.3. Analysis of Birmily Testimony
6.1.3.1. Examples of Beheimatung Anchors
6.1.3.2. Religious Strengthening of Attachments in Birmily’s “In Gottes Namen”: The Personal Motto
6.1.3.3. Verse-Refrain Structure in the Refugee Testimonies
6.1.4. Theoretical Sampling: Viktor Frankl’s Logotherapy and Beheimatung
6.2. Shift in Perspective: Reexamining Past Trauma
6.2.1. Traumatic Nature of Parishioners’ Past Experiences
6.2.2. Unverdaute Stücke
6.2.3. A Shift in Perspective: Processing the Unverdaute Stücke
6.3. The Refugees’ Sendungsmission
6.3.1. Value to Self: Processing unverdaute Stücke and Developing Confidence for the Future
6.3.2. Value to Family: Sharing Fruits of Beheimatung with Family
6.3.2.1. Sendungsmission and the Future: Sharing with Others
6.3.2.2. Sendungsmission in the Present Moment: Tackling Current Tensions
6.4. Conclusion
7. Beheimatung, Addressing Acculturative Stress, Tensions between the alte vs. neue Heimat
7.0. Introduction
7.0.2. Model of Holistic Integration, Beheimatung of Tensions in Attachment
7.0.3. Example of Beheimatungsprozess: Maintenance of Heritage Language in America
7.1. Beheimatung Anchor
7.2. Shift in Perspective
7.3. Sendungsmission
7.4. Beheimatungsprozess in the Immigrant Experience: Findings from Analysis of the Newsletters
7.4.0. Summary of Findings and Appendix C
7.4.1. Discussion of Analysis and Table
7.5. Interplay of Categories
7.6. Conclusion
8. Beheimatung in Faith and Psychology, a Resolution of Breaks and Tensions in Attachment
8.0. Introduction
8.1. Suffering and Meaning
8.2. Practical Applications of Beheimatung: Linking alte Heimat traditions with neue Heimat Practices
8.2.0. Introduction
8.2.1. Beheimatung to a Place: Pilgrimages to the Shrine of Mary, Mother Thrice Admirable
8.2.1.1. Pilgrimages as an Integrative Experience
8.2.1.2. Religious Attachments Foster Physical Attachments
8.2.1.3. The MTA Shrine
8.2.1.4. Original Art in the Heimatklänge
8.2.1.5. Tangible Signs of Catholic Faith
8.2.1.6. Communitas
8.2.1.7. Historical Context of Religious and Geographic Attachments
8.2.1.8. Practical Applications of Beheimatung
8.2.2. Beheimatung in Person: Marian Devotion
8.2.2.1. Covenant of Love
8.2.2.2. Redefining Heimat: Stability in Faith
8.2.3. The Beheimatungsprozess in the Newsletters and Psychology
8.2.3.1. Examples in the Newsletters
8.2.3.1.0. Introduction
8.2.3.1.1. Beheimatung in Religious Attachments
8.2.2.1.2. Shift in Perspective: Discovering Security
8.2.3.1.3. Sendungsmission
8.2.3.1.4. Conclusion
8.2.3.2. Child Development Psychology
8.2.3.2.0. Introduction
8.2.3.2.1. Parental Attachments within Childhood Development
8.2.3.2.2. Infant Calls—Mother Responds
8.2.3.2.3. Developing Secure Attachments and Basic Trust
8.2.3.2.4. Object Constancy and the Process of Separation-Individuation
8.2.3.2.5. Conclusion
8.2.3.3. Similarities between Beheimatung and Psychology
8.2.3.3.0. Introduction
8.2.3.3.1. Beheimatung Anchor: Child Calls—Mother Responds
8.2.3.3.2. Shift in Perspective: Secure Bond Leads to Emotional Security and Stability
8.2.3.3.3. Sendungsmission: Seeking Out New Relationships, Taking on New Challenges
8.2.3.3.4. Conclusion
9. Conclusion
9.1. Model of Holistic Integration
9.2. Synthesis
9.2.1. Findings from Chapter 4: Uncovering the Root of Heimatlosigkeit and Past Trauma
9.2.2. Findings from Chapter 5: Tensions between alte vs. neue Heimat, Identifying Acculturative Stressors
9.2.3. Findings from Chapter 6: Beheimatung, Addressing Past Breaks in Attachment, Instances of Heimatlosigkeit
9.2.4. Findings from Chapter 7: Beheimatung, Addressing Acculturative Stress, Tensions between alte vs. neue Heimat
9.2.5. Findings from Chapter 8: Beheimatung in Faith and Psychology, a Resolution of Breaks and Tensions in Attachment
9.2.5.1. Beheimatung in Religious Attachments: Addressing Questions of Suffering
9.2.5.2. Beheimatung in a Place: Pilgrimages to the MTA Shrine, Milwaukee
9.2.5.3. Beheimatung in a Person: Mary and Child Development Psychology
9.2.6. Conclusion of Chapter Findings
9.3. Directions for Future Research
References
1. Heimatklänge Newsletters
2. Other References
Appendices
Appendix A: Chapter 4 Coding and Analysis
Appendix B: Chapter 5 Coding and Analysis
Appendix C: Chapter 7 Coding and Analysis
Appendix D: Additional Sources
Index of Names
Series Index

←26 | 27→

1. Introduction

Abstract: Chapter 1 provides background information about the St. Michael’s parishioners, their pastor Father Joseph Kentenich, and the parish newsletters, the Heimatklänge.

For over 300 years, Danube Swabians were able to maintain their German dialect and culture despite their status as an ethnic minority in Hungary and Yugoslavia. The events after World War II, including expulsion from their homes and ethnic persecution, radically destabilized this minority’s conception of Heimat. Most were displaced from their home villages either eastward to Soviet labor camps or westward, as displaced persons, before many migrated to America.

In Milwaukee, many Catholic Danube Swabians attended St. Michael’s parish, a German parish led by the Pallotine father and Schönstatt Movement founder, Father Joseph Kentenich. Kentenich noticed the deep trauma many parishioners had experienced, yet pushed aside, in face of the challenges they faced as immigrants in Milwaukee. To help support the parishioners, Kentenich and the pastoral staff developed the Heimatklänge (1962–1964)—a unique collection of newsletters with a variety of articles, pastoral letters, catechesis, refugee testimonies, and jokes. As a whole, these German newsletters provide insight into the challenges and successes of an immigrant community in America.

Keywords: Danube Swabians;Milwaukee;Heimat;Catholic parish initiative;Parish newsletters;Father Josef Kentenich

Heimat cannot be translated into English as simply “home.” For German speakers, it is a term that has been used by poets, politicians, and religious writers throughout the centuries—thereby creating a concept that evokes a variety of connotations, images, and memories. The word Heimat can refer to a physical place, such as one’s birthplace or place of residence (Grimm & Grimm, 1871). It can encompass language, traditions, physical homes or spaces. In poetry, Heimat can also be tinged with loss or nostalgia (“der entrückt nun den gefahren, wie Ulyss nach zwanzig jahren, in der wünsche heimath ruht” (Bürger qtd. in Grimm & Grimm, 1871, p. 52). In Christian tradition, Heimat is regarded as a synonym for heaven, the “ewige Heimat,” it is a pilgrim’s hope, a long-awaited place of rest: “Fremdling bin ich nur im staube, meine Heimat such ich wieder, meine grüne himmelslaube” (Arndt, 1840 qtd. in Grimm & Grimm, 1871, p. 52).

←27 | 28→

For over 300 years, a group of ethnic Germans referred to as the Danube Swabians were able to maintain their language, culture, and Catholic identity in Hungary and Yugoslavia, despite their status as an ethnic minority. The Danube Swabians’ expulsion from their homes and ethnic persecution post-WWII radically destabilized their conception of Heimat. This thesis analyzes a set of Milwaukee parish newsletters, the Heimatklänge. The newsletters are an original collection of articles from the 1960s, a collection of refugee narratives, catechesis, pastoral letters, reflections on the parishioners’ European Heimat, and the new challenges they face in Milwaukee. Many of the parishioners at St. Michael’s Church in Milwaukee were Danube Swabians, refugees from post-WWII Europe. Located in Northwestern Milwaukee, this Catholic parish was founded by German immigrants in 1882. The parish has regularly received incoming immigrant communities, from the Germans in the 19th century, to the Danube Swabians in the 1950s, to South-East Asian and Latino communities at the present moment (“History”). In Milwaukee, they were confronted with many new definitions of Heimat: rather than a small, rural, Catholic, German dialect-speaking village, they found themselves in an ethnically, socially, economically, and culturally diverse Midwestern metropolis.

I developed a new qualitative method of analysis to analyze the St. Michael’s materials. Inspired in part by Charmaz’s Constructivist Grounded Theory, I employed a deductive and inductive qualitative analysis approach to the newsletters. Classic Grounded Theory and Constructivist Grounded Theory both employ a reiterative process of analysis, encouraging researchers to continually switch between coding and comparison, analysis and synthesis. Thus, rather than applying a theory to interpret a set of data, the researcher uncovers a theory from extensive coding and analysis of the data; the theory is built “from the ground up.” The materials on the Milwaukee Danube Swabians included newsletters, index files, letters, homilies, prayers, photographs, and recorded testimonies. I selected the Heimatklänge newsletters (1962) as the main focus of analysis and supplemented this analysis with primary and secondary sources. This study did not strictly follow Constructivist Grounded Theory (CGT); instead, it borrowed and adapted elements from CGT and other qualitative methods as well as developed new strategies for analysis. I call this new approach Structured Grounded Theory. It is a qualitative analysis approach that builds on CGT and simultaneously integrates other qualitative methods, such as dimensional and reflexive thematic analysis.

This approach allowed for examination of Heimat as defined by the various authors of the St. Michael’s newsletters. Heimat is both multi-dimensional and complex: it can be understood by looking at the connections formed by ←28 | 29→individuals and communities—a system of attachments. Whereas neither St. Michael’s nor its parishioners could recreate their alte Heimat in Milwaukee, the newsletters point to an integrated Heimat, one that neither abandons their past heritage, values, and faith, nor rejects American culture or values. Using a blend of psychology, sociology, pedagogy, and theology, I propose a Model Holistic Integration that proposes strategies for the parishioners to face their past “breaks in attachment” (traumatic experiences of WWII) and their current “tensions” as immigrants in Milwaukee, without neglecting or abandoning their religious, cultural, and social heritage as Danube Swabians.

The overarching structure of this thesis adheres closely to the three theoretical categories developed within the Model of Holistic Integration: Heimatlosigkeit, alte vs. neue Heimat, and Beheimatung. Heimat, experiences of loss, tension, and renewal, can be understood through the lens of the seven attachments (geographical, physical, material, social, cultural, emotional, and religious). The model—that is, its genesis and structure—is unpacked in the Methodology Chapter. Chapters 4–7 illustrate applications and examples of the model.

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Literature Review

Chapter 3: Methodology

Chapter 4: Breaking down Heimat, uncovering the roots of Heimatlosigkeit and past trauma

Chapter 5: Tensions between one’s alte vs. neue Heimat, identifying acculturative stressors

Chapter 6: Beheimatung, addressing past breaks in attachment, instances of Heimatlosigkeit

Chapter 7: Beheimatung, addressing acculturative stress, tensions between alte vs. neue Heimat

Chapter 8: Beheimatung in faith and psychology: a resolution of breaks and tensions in attachment

Chapter 9: Conclusion: Discussion, synthesis of model, and potential areas of future inquiry

Appendices A and B: Framework coding and in-vivo codes of Chapter 4 and 5

Appendix C: Framework coding and in-vivo codes of Chapter 7

Appendix D: A list of primary and secondary sources for future research

Additionally, each chapter is structured in a way to guide the reader. A synthesis of the most significant findings can be found within the conclusions of each major section and the conclusions at the end of each chapter.

←29 | 30→

To understand the model and its applications for the St. Michael’s parishioners, it is important to understand their alte Heimat in Europe, their refugee experiences, and their arrival and settlement in Milwaukee. The following section contextualizes the St. Michael’s community, its pastoral leadership, and the Heimatklänge newsletters.

1.1. Context and Historical Background

1.1.1. Milwaukee and the Danube Swabians

In the 1950s and 1960s, the city of Milwaukee experienced an unexpected migration of German speakers, the Danube Swabians. Milwaukee had at the turn of the 20th century been described as the “German Athens” (Everest qtd. in Gommermann, 1975, p. 9) due to both its large German population and rich cultural heritage. By 1890, the state of Wisconsin had experienced three major waves of migration from German-speaking regions, including among others, Prussia, Bavaria, Switzerland, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire (Wisconsin Cartographers’ Guild., 1998, p. 18). German theaters, newsletters, parishes, and schools, which were abundant in Wisconsin (Lucht, 2013), facilitated the arrival and integration of any new immigrants to the state. By the 1950s, however, the city was becoming increasingly diverse: this was not only due to a decrease in German migration (Wisconsin Cartographers’ Guild., 1998, p. 19), but also to other social, economic, and political changes occurring in Milwaukee in the first half of the 20th Century.

The Danube Swabians’ arrival in the city coincided with the expansion of Milwaukee’s German-American community into the suburbs. The challenges and opportunities they encountered upon their arrival and first years in Milwaukee were for the most part similar to those of their predecessors. These German speakers from Central Europe, however, were unique in several ways: unlike earlier German migrations to Wisconsin, the Danube Swabians hailed from different isolated German language enclaves in Eastern Europe. They also had survived WWII and multiple migrations, both involuntary and voluntary, before they settled in Milwaukee.

As many of these German-speaking immigrants were Catholic, they were searching for a Milwaukee Catholic parish that offered homilies and confession in German as well as catechesis for their children (Stadick, p. 8). One of the initiatives of St. Michael’s to support their parishioners was the publication ←30 | 31→of the Heimatklänge newsletter.¹ These newsletters, published from 1962–1964, were created to help support the Danube Swabians in their faith and in their immigrant experience in America. The pastor of the parish, Father Joseph Kentenich, and his staff contributed and encouraged article contributions. The challenges the German-speaking parishioners faced included both internal and external pressures on them as immigrants and refugees, as individuals and families.

1.1.2. The Parishioners

The parishioners at St. Michael’s were a culturally, linguistically, ethnically diverse people. The German parish consisted of a variety of subgroups: the Mutschinger, Apatiner, Gottscheer, Russian Germans, Bavarians, and other German speakers from Hungary (J. Niehaus, 1994). Historians refer to Apatiner, Gottscheer, Mutschinger and other Germans who settled in Central Europe as Danube Swabians.²

The Danube Swabians were from various German regions, such as Swabia, Hessen, and Bavaria. The Hapsburg rulers created an initiative to encourage German farmers to leave their homeland and settle in Magyar lands. By 1699, the Hapsburgs had reclaimed Hungary from the Ottoman Turks (Brian, 2014, p. 7). As a result, much of the land settled by the Turks was now unoccupied. Emperor Charles VI (and later Maria Theresia and Joseph II) invited German peasants to farm the Magyar lands (Radke, 1995, p. 1). Charles also hoped that an increase in German settlers would strengthen the Hapsburg empire politically (Radke, 1995, p. 1–2). Lastly, Charles VI encouraged the resettlement for religious reasons: “Another of Charles’ goals was the spread of Catholicism in ←31 | 32→the largely Protestant and Orthodox area” (Radke, 1995, p. 1–2). According to Werni, most Danube Swabians were Catholic, although approximately 15 % were Protestant (“Das ‘goldene Zeitalter,’ ” p. 76, as cited in Radke, 1995, p. 9).

The Danube Swabians were not an internally homogeneous group. The term “Danube Swabians” is in many ways a misnomer. The name refers to the mode of transportation rather than their origins: the majority of their migration occurred via the Danube River (Gommermann, 1975, p. 195); many of the travelers assembled in Ulm, a city in Swabia, and then travelled down the Danube River in special barges (Brian, 2014, p. 7; Gommermann, 1975, p. 195). Some were Swabian, but not all. Nor did most of the Danube Swabians necessarily live directly near the Danube River: they lived in a linguistic and cultural archipelago across Central Europe. The archipelago consisted of German dialect speakers living in isolated villages throughout the Hapsburg territories (Romania, Hungary, and former Yugoslavia). It is thanks to their agricultural independence, geographical distance, lack of infrastructure (limited or no highways or railroads), German ethnicity, and religion that these German speakers were able to maintain their dialectal and cultural differences (Gommermann, 1975, p. 14–15; 1980, p. 86).

Details

Pages: 318
Year: 2021
ISBN (PDF): 9783631850848
ISBN (ePUB): 9783631851449
ISBN (MOBI): 9783631851456
ISBN (Hardcover): 9783631809891
DOI: 10.3726/b18239
Language: English
Publication date: 2021 (April)
Keywords: German-American Studies Parish Newsletters Catholic Ethnic studies Refugee Pastoral care
Published: Berlin, Bern, Bruxelles, New York, Oxford, Warszawa, Wien, 2021. 318 S., 8 farb. Abb., 48 s/w Abb., 4 Tab.

Biographical notes

Julia Anderlé de Sylor (Author)

Julia Anderlé de Sylor completed her doctoral studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Before returning to the US, the author received a Fulbright scholarship to Germany, where she also obtained a M.A. in French & German studies. Her interests include immigration, nonverbal communication, and heritage studies.

The Heimatklänge and the Danube Swabians in Milwaukee

Summary

Excerpt

Table Of Contents

1. Introduction

1.1. Context and Historical Background

1.1.1. Milwaukee and the Danube Swabians

1.1.2. The Parishioners

Details

Biographical notes

Key Subject Areas