Barbara,
Perfect instructions!
Do you know what information is contained on the document that we would order?
Thanks
Chris
Chris.
Hello Chris,
I have not ordered anything from the archives, but I have a translation
of the Forward on the Osnabrück list. This was done by Fred Rump from our
list and it explains what may be included on the records. I would imagine
that the records from Hannover and Wolfenbüttel would have similiar
information.
Barbara
Among the most significant social-historical phenonema of the 19th
century was the emigration wave from German lands toward North
America. The following directory attempts to encompass this
emigration for the period of 1825 to 1870 for the then extant
Landdrosteibezirk (regional administration) of Osnabrück which is
composed out of the present Counties of Osnabrück, Emsland and
Grafschaft Bentheim as well as the city of Osnabrück. The attempt to
cull data out of the archive is obviously on a best effort basis and
there is no way of knowing how many people emigrated without first
obtaining permission. Estimates vary but illegal emigration could be
as numerous as the legal ones.
Under emigration this document refers not only to the 'classical' use
of the word where emigration meant to go overseas, but also any
migration from the Kingdom of Hannover (since 1866, the Prussian
province of Hannover) to another European state or German state. The
given goal of destination may not have corresponded with the actual
goal quoted in the documents.
The source documents without exception were the files maintained by
the Lower Saxon State Archives in Osnabrück. Specifically the mid-
level (Landdrostei) and lower level regional (Ämter, Vogteien)
administrative districts as well as those documents held by the
archive from the various city archives (for example, Osnabrück,
Bramsche, Lingen, Neuenhaus & Quakenbrück).
The schema (classification) is ordered based upon the administrative
districts used in the second half of the 19th century by the
Landdrostei region of Osnabrück and encompasses next to the four
independent cities of Lingen, Melle, Osnabrück and Quakenbrück the
various Ämter (districts) which were in turn devided up into
Kirchspiele (parishes). Within the parishes the emigrants are listed
alphabetically. The source references about any individual emigrant
are further ordered along the following schema: (1) Name and place of
residence, (2) date of birth or age and a birthplace if other then
the place of residence, (3) occupation, (4) name of the parents, (5)
family members also emigrating with reference as to their
relationship such as wife, brother, daughter, son etc., (6) religious
affiliation, (7) goal of emigration, (8) emigrations timing,
mentioned is the exact date but sometimes only the year an emigration
pass, a consent agreement was issued or the year the home residence
was vacated, (9) value of possessions, (10) comments, here follows an
abbreviated explanation giving the reasons of emigration for example
via references to family status or economical situations.
Archivist Herbert Budde did the analysis of the documents. He had
completed this task in 1982. Data entry was accomplished using
various available labor resources. The primary destination goal of
the emigrants leaving the area of Osnabrück was the USA with the most
often given city destinations being: Baltimore, Cincinnati, New York
and St. Louis. The city of Milwaukee, as well as the state of
Wisconsin, appear noticeably seldom in the sources even though this
area was a main destination of German emigration to America. People
from Osnabrück also emigrated to Argentina, Australia and Brazil. One
even finds individuals going to Chile, Cuba and the Dutch East/West
Indies. The Netherlands without question dominates the number of
emigrants within the European state system. One needs to remember
though that the often mentioned goal of Amsterdam was not necessarily
a final destination point for the folks going there. It may well have
been nothing but an interim stop over for people going somewhere
overseas. The difficulties and dangers of an overseas emigration in
the 19th century can not be overemphasized - in the beginning it was
on sailboats and later on steamers. The most common explanation of
the 'why' of emigration that is revealed by the documents is the hope
for a 'better life'. By itself this indicates that the predominant
emigration push comes from the lowest and underprivileged social
strata of society who would dare all to achieve their goal especially
for their children. In the emigrant records of the people from
Osnabrück the most common occupations listed are maid, male and
female farm servants or day laborers. We can therefore assume that
the majority of the emigrants were landless and dependent workers in
a largely agrarian society. On the other hand we also find many
craftsmen and laborers. To complete the scenario there were
sculptors, men of the cloth, gymnasts and literary types who also
made their way overseas.
Literature (selection):
Aengenvoort, Anne: Migration - Siedlungsbildung - Akkulturation. Die
Auswanderung Nordwestdeutscher nach Ohio 1830 - 1914, Stuttgart 1999.
Bölsker-Schlicht, Franz: Von Schledehausen in die Neue Welt. Die
Nordamerika-Auswanderung im 19. Jahrhundert. In: Schelenburg -
Kirchspiel - Landgemeinde. 900 Jahre Schledehausen, Bissendorf 1990,
S. 341 - 362. Eiynck, Andreas: Emsländische Auswanderer in die
Niederlande (17. - 19. Jahrhundert). In: Osnabrücker Mitteilungen
103, 1998, S. 125 - 156. Harger, Swenna u. Loren Lemmen: Auswanderung
aus der Grafschaft Bentheim nach Nordamerika, Nordhorn 1996. Hinze,
Konrad: Auswanderungen nach Amerika aus dem Kirchspiel Belm. In:
Heimat-Jahrbuch für Osnabrück-Stadt und -Land, Osnabrück 1975.
Holtmann, A.: Aus den nördlichen Niederlanden und dem deutschen
Nordwesten nach Nordamerika. Motive und Reiseerfahrungen der
Auswanderer im 19. Jahrhundert. In: Rondom Eems en Dollard,
Groningen, Leer 1992, S. 433 - 449. Kamphoefner, Walter D., Peter
Marschalck u. Birgit Nolte-Schuster: Von Heuerleuten und Farmern. Die
Auswanderung aus dem Osnabrücker Land nach Nordamerika im 19.
Jahrhundert (Begleitband zur gleichnamigen Ausstellung des
Landschaftsverbandes Osnabrücker Land e.V. und der Stadt
Quakenbrück), Bramsche 1999. Rolf, Hubert K.: Auswanderer nach
Nordamerika. In: Geschichte zwischen den Feldern (Beiträge zur
Geschichte Georgsmarienhüttes und seiner Stadtteile Bd. 3),
Georgsmarienhütte 1997, S. 69 - 74. Tenfelde, Walter: Auswanderungen
und Auswanderer aus dem ehemaligen Kreise Lingen nach Nordamerika,
Lingen 1993. Thörner, Udo: Spurensuche - Auswanderer aus dem
Osnabrücker Land in den USA. In: Osnabrücker Land 1998, Heimat-
Jahrbuch, S. 263 - 276. Voort, Heinrich: Die ersten Amerika-
Auswanderer aus dem Flecken Bentheim. In: Jahrbuch des Heimatvereins
der Grafschaft Bentheim 1981, Nordhorn 1980.
Translated by W. Fred Rump
Feb. 25, 2003