Overview

During the Early Settlement Period, German migrants who traveled to Missouri often came because of the lack of economic prospects in their home country, especially a shortage of agricultural land. For many, the venture was not only a way to better their own economic prospects, but also to improve the prospects of those they left behind. These migrants tended to remain fiercely loyal to the culture of their homelands. Often settling among homogenous communities composed of their own countrymen, they adhered to the language of the Old Country and often retained traditions and customs they brought with them. That commitment to cultural retention is reflected today in Missouri in the architectural styles and craftsmanship evidenced in extant buildings they constructed, as well as in the retention of at least some of the dialects they spoke, and in many of their social and cultural institutions.

Historical Context

The mass migration from Germany and the Habsburg Empire entailed a strongly political and social “push” that provided prominent political and religious leaders the incentive to leave for a distant shore. Reactionary governments favored the start of industrialization and the elimination of traditional protections for workers and peasants, frightening many who still clung to some property and compelling them to immigrate before their social and economic position collapsed.

The catalyst for the choice of the state of Missouri came largely from the publication in 1827 of a report by Gottfried Duden, whose lyrical description of Missouri as a destination for Germans to preserve their way of life and to flee economic disaster in Europe, laid the groundwork for mass emigration to Missouri rather than to South America, Australia, or Texas. 

Although many in the German provinces wanted nothing to do with the radicals among them, many of whom were freethinkers who rejected the major religious denominations, the first generation of radical leaders came to be known as “Thirtyers.” Their most notable leader was Friedrich Muench of Dutzow, Missouri, a former Lutheran pastor who led the Giessen Emigration Society that arrived in Warren County in 1838. Muench would be the respected leader of the German reformers until his death in 1881. 

Apart from the Free-Thinkers, religious identity continued to motivate many immigrants. The Evangelical and Reformed Church, the American form of the Prussian Union Church, organized Protestant migrants along the Missouri. Genuine religious emigrations began with the Saxon Lutherans under Bishop Martin Stephan of Dresden, settling in Perry County and south Saint Louis city. After Stephan was ousted, leadership of what would eventually become the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod passed to C. F. W. Walther. In 1844, the German Settlement Society of Philadelphia established the Freethinker community of Hermann on the Missouri River, which published an anti-slavery German-language newspaper. German-speaking Jews of the Ashkanazi tradition emigrated from all the lands of Central and Eastern Europe, establishing synagogues and amalgamating with the general German population in everyday life.