Citizens in a Strange Land: A Study of German-American Broadsides and Their Meaning for Germans in North America, 1730–1830

Abstract

In Citizens in a Strange Land, leading scholar of German-American history Hermann Wellenreuther provides an introduction to German-language broadsides published in North America before 1830. This book grows out of a larger study at Georg-August University in Göttingen—conducted by Wellenreuther, the late Carola Wessel, Anne von Kamp, and Reimer Eck—which has collected 1,682 German-language broadsides. The Pennsylvania State University Press will also publish a complete bibliography and the Pennsylvania State University Library will host an Internet database containing images of the broadsides. The volume under review here aims to provide an overview of the broadsides in the collection and to place them into the larger historical context. A center insert includes full-color illustrations of some of the most dramatic items in the collection, and numerous black-and-white pictures are interspersed throughout the text. This is a beautifully produced book that is a credit to author and editors alike.The book is divided into four chapters. The first investigates the production and circulation of the broadsides themselves. Wellenreuther looks at both the printers who produced these broadsides and the methods of distribution. Broadsides might be sold by the printers themselves, or more likely by peddlers, local merchants who offered a type of mail-order service, or by sellers working stalls at local fairs. He carefully analyzes the motives for both production and acquisition. The majority of broadsides were produced to advance the interests of the person who commissioned them. They advertised materials for sale, promoted political candidates or platforms, or provided official information. Other broadsides, however, were marketed to consumers and often contained religious texts or images. Wellenreuther acknowledges that the collection is somewhat skewed because some types of broadsides were more likely to survive than others. Religious broadsides were the most likely to survive because they were of special interest to the purchasers and did not deal with time-sensitive information. Other broadsides—like advertisements, funeral notices, military handbills, administrative notices, and medical instructions—were often discarded after the events they involved were no longer relevant.The next three chapters provide an in-depth analysis of selected texts, taken as potential projections of contemporary viewpoints. The second chapter looks at items of secular interest—advertisements for land and various commodities, love poems, house blessings, medical instructions, and educational materials. The third chapter investigates religious broadsides (probably the largest category, as such texts were more likely to survive than others). Religious texts included hymns, devotional texts and poems, prayers, and picture stories. The fourth chapter analyzes political broadsides. In this chapter, which is perhaps the most historiographically significant, Wellenreuther demonstrates convincingly that German Americans, while often pursuing diverse interests, were politically involved and knowledgeable about English constitutional principles. They were dedicated to the Pennsylvania Charter of Privileges and were concerned with preserving a separate cultural identity and independence in local affairs. This chapter includes an interesting section on American broadsides produced by Congress during the American Revolution aimed at Hessian mercenaries serving in the colonies.Meticulously researched, Citizens in a Strange Land provides in-depth analysis of a number of selected broadsides. Intended for an audience of specialists, the volume is best used in conjunction with the larger collection. The book will appeal especially to scholars interested in German American print culture, pietistic religious expression, and German participation in American politics. Along with the companion bibliography, the volume will round out a strong library collection of German American history and literature. Of interest to readers of this journal, the volume includes an investigation of printers connected to the Moravian Church, and many of the religious texts, with their nondenominational appeal, probably were found in Moravian households.