Transoceanic Emigration Forum

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Literatur-Hinweis:

Wilhelm Iwan 'Die Altlutherische Auswanderung um die Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts'.
Herausgegeben vom Johann-Hess-Institut, Breslau.
1943. Eichhornverlag Lothar Kallenberg, Ludwigsburg.

http://archivaria.com/EmigList/

'The Old Lutheran Emigration at the Middle of the 19th Century.'
Emigration Index.

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In view of the latest lively discussion regarding Prussian King Wilhelm III
and his efforts to forcefully unite the Calvinists and Lutherans, it might
be timely to again share the details on the English translation of Pastor
Wilhelm Iwan's in-depth work on the subject.

Elaine Hackbarth Kraft
Cedarburg, Wisconsin, USA

Mailto: erkraft376(at)att.net

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IWAN TRANSLATION

Between 1835 and 1854, thousands of "Old Lutherans" left Prussia for
religious reasons. These included not just Pomeranians, but Silesians,
Saxons, Brandenburgers, etc. An excellent English translation of Pastor
Wilhelm Iwan's massive work on this subject, which he called,
'Die Altlutherische Auswanderung um die Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts',
is now being offered for sale by the Historical Society of Trinity Lutheran
Church of Freistadt.

Pastor Iwan published his findings in 1943, after years of careful research
during a time when he was still able to access pertinent documents in the
various German archives. Of course, the text was entirely in German. Since
then, several attempts have been made to produce an acceptable English
translation. It was only within the last few years that a really good
translation became available.

The director of the Concordia Historical Institute in St. Louis, Missouri,
Dr. August Suelflow, found an exceptional student named Brian Lutz
to do the translation. Dr. Suelflow, himself a direct descendant of an "Old
Lutheran" family and a son of Trinity Lutheran Church of Freistadt, WI,
has since died, and we understand that Mr. Lutz has returned to Germany.
The Concordia Historical Institute did not want to take on the project itself,
but gave permission to publish to the Historical Society in Freistadt.

The English translation of Pastor Iwan's work is now available for purchase.
It has been printed in three separate volumes, which can be bought
individually or as a set. Volume I (approx. 332 pages) covers the forming
of the Union church and the new agenda, reasons for emigration, difficulty
in obtaining permission to emigrate, and details of the emigrations,
especially those of 1839 and 1843. Volume II (approx. 237 pages) covers
personalities of the pastors who led the emigrations, disputes and divisions
in the new homeland, and gives details about families that were divided
because of the emigration. The Lutz translation did not include the final
Chapter XX, which lists the emigrants by name.

Chapter XX (approx. 142 pages) has been carefully reworked from Iwan's
original by the Trinity Historical Society's publication committee. All
surnames are boldface and are given with original spellings, including
umlauts and esszets (ß). Occupations are given in the original German but
are translated in the glossary. This listing shows the year of emigration,
the village of origin, the destination, the ages of family members, and the
wife's maiden name. There is an alphabetical surname index for this
section. The cost is as follows:

Volume I - $25.00
Volume II - 22.00
Chapter XX - 18.00
Entire Set 60.00

Shipping & Handling is $3.00 per book, or $9 for the complete set.
Make check payable to Trinity Historical Society and mail to

Trinity Lutheran Church of Freistadt,
10729 W. Freistadt Road, Mequon, WI 53097,
Attn: Ron Kraft.

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