Principality of Liechtenstein (FL) |
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| Emigration to America (volume 1) | |
First Part: Emigration in the 19th Century
Prologue
I. Liechtenstein in the 19th
Century
II. Emigration Policy in the
19th Century
III. America Beckons
Immigrants
IV. The American Civil War
V. The Prairie is Settled
VI. The Second Wave of
Immigrants (1880-1884)
VII. Liechtensteiners in
America
Second Part: Emigration in the 20th Century
VIII. Emigration until the
First World War
IX. Jobs and Good Wages Tempt
Many to Emigrate
X. Emigration after the Second
World War
XI. Emigration to Canada
XII. Emigration to South
America
Epilouge
Register of the Liechtenstein
Emigrants to North and South America
First Part: Emigration in the 19th Century
Prologue
We don't know the exact beginning of the emigration from Liechtenstein to America. The earliest emigrant we are aware of is Joseph Batliner from Schellenberg. There are, however, no documents in Liechtenstein regarding his leaving. In America, by contrast, we see him marrying in 1835 and two years later purchasing a 70-acre parcel of land near Floyds Knobs, Indiana. This property became the cornerstone of the Batliner farm, and today his descendants are still farming the land.
I. Liechtenstein in the 19th Century
In the 19th century the Principality of Liechtenstein was a poor peasant country, the inhabitants of which repeatedly suffered from the flooding of the Rhine River which too often induced widespread famine. The Princes of Liechtenstein resided in Vienna, Austria, and governed their subjects through an appointed administrator. The people possessed practically no rights, and therefore by mid-century dissatisfaction was running rampant. In 1848, when revolutions swept through France and Germany, demands for democratic rights were heard also in Liechtenstein. The Prince met some of the demands, but soon thereafter rescinded them. At long last, the Constitution of 1862 brought relief from the existing form of absolute government.
II. Emigration Policy in the 19th Century
Parallel to the gradual liberalization of the political system
in Liechtenstein came a relaxation of the government's emigration
policy. During the first half of the 19th century emigration was,
for all practical purposes, forbidden. Anyone who determined to
emigrate in spite of the existing regulations required a permit
from the Prince's administrator and had to pay to the state and
local governments a 15 per cent departure tax on his or her
property. Furthermore, the emigrants lost their Liechtenstein
citizenship. In 1843 the prohibition of emigration was somewhat
relaxed, but the required emigration permit, the departure tax
and the loss of citizenship remained in place. In connection with
a generally more lenient policy of the princely government, the
departure tax was finally abolished in 1848.
In 1846 the Rhine River had flooded the Liechtenstein
countryside, and the ensuing famine led to the departure to
America of about 250 people. This was the first big wave of
Liechtenstein emigration which lasted from 1848 to 1855 and
represented the departure of about 3 per cent of the total
population at the time.
III. America Beckons Immigrants
The stream of emigration from Europe to America had started
much earlier. Between 1816 and 1819, immediately after the
Napoleon Wars, the United States saw the first big wave of
immigrants from Europe with about 100'000 coming to its shores.
These arrivals were mainly attracted by a large expanse of
fertile soil awaiting settlement but also were inspired by the
promise of Çlife, liberty and the pursuit of happinessÈ
guaranteed by the American Declaration of Independence. Others, a
little later, were attracted to the gold rush in California or
were enticed by newspaper reports and advertising as well as by
letters from friends and relatives already living in America.
At that time it was a difficult undertaking to travel to America.
In the 1850s, the journey just from Liechtenstein to the port of
Le Havre in France could take up to forty days, and the voyage on
a sailing vessel from Le Havre to, say, New Orleans added
approximately seventy more days.
On April 7, 1851, the first large group of emigrants from
Liechtenstein landed at New Orleans on the sailing vessel
Lexington, and on May 7, 1852, the Jersey arrived with fifty
Liechtensteiners on board. Most all of them continued their
journey up the Mississipi River to Dubuque, Iowa.
IV. The American Civil War
The Civil War of 1861-1865 brought about a significant
slowdown of immigrants coming to America.
We know of several Liechtensteiners who served in the Union
Armee, among them Gregor Wohlwend from Schellenberg who was a
Second Lieutenant in the 20th Kansas Infantry and was wounded in
the Battle of Prairie Grove in Arkansas.
V. The Prairie is Settled
After the Civil War the United States Government encouraged
the construction of railroads as a means of lying the country
together and opening up the West. Again, immigrants from
Liechtenstein arrived in mid-America and helped to build these
railroads. There is a letter written in 1881 by Fidel Nutt who,
together with three other Liechtensteiners, participated in the
construction of the rail line between Kansas City and Los
Angeles.
The Homestead Act of 1862 undergirded the drive for settlement of
the vast open areas of the West. It gave every person of age,
whether a U.S.citizen or someone signing a declaration of intent
to become a citizen, the right to acquire 160 acres of free land.
VI. The Second Wave of Immigrants (1880-1884)
At the beginning of the 1880s, all of Europe was shaken by a
major economic crisis which precipitated a giant wave of
emigration to America. Between 1880 and 1884 about two hundred
persons left Liechtenstein for the New World.
This was the era of big business for emigration agencies all over
Europe. Nearly every day they advertised in the
"Liechtensteiner Volksblatt", the only newspaper at
that time in Liechtenstein. The resulting competition among the
agencies led to a steep drop in fares. Between 1865 and the turn
of the century the price of passage to America fall from 300 to
50 Swiss francs. To be sure, at these ridiculously low fares the
emigration agencies were hardly able to offer luxury
accomodations to the passengers. For many the journey on
overcrowded decks became a nightmare, and upon arrival the
American immigration authorities at Castle Garden (1855-1890) and
Ellis Island (after 1890) went strictly by the book and quite
often subjected the weary passengers to annoying inspections.
VII. Liechtensteiners in America
To a great extent, Dubuque, Iowa, became the destination of
choice for the immigrants. When the first Liechtensteiners
arrived during the middle of the 19th century, German language
and culture were still deeply ingrained in the inhabitants of
Dubuque - themselves immigrants who were mostly German speaking -
and therefore made it easy for the new settlers to assimilate in
the community. Besides, Dubuque in the 1850s was a boom town - at
that time the largest city in Iowa - where during the 1850-1860
decade the population increased from 3000 to 15'000. New houses -
businesses and dwellings - were built at an annual rate of 500,
and construction workers were in great demand. Thus, many
Liechtensteiners filled the need for workers in the city,
beginning with the early arrivals in 1845, among them
stonemasons, bricklayers and carpenters. A very close social
network developed among the new Liechtenstein immigrants. Visits
became commonplace; they married among each other and also became
godparents for children of relatives and friends.
For many Liechtensteiners, however, Dubuque served only as a way
station. Although there was plenty of work in the construction
trades, in their hearts these immigrants remained farmers, and in
time they left the city and acquired farms on the rich land
nearby.
The town of Guttenberg, located on the Mississippi some twenty
miles upstream from Dubuque, became another important Iowa
settlement for Liechtensteiners. The first to arrive at
Guttenberg was Leonhard Biedermann from Mauren. During the
decades that followed many more Liechtensteiners came to
Guttenberg, especially immigrants from Mauren as well as the
village of Balzers where the castle of Gutenberg is located.
Extensive research for this book, however, has found no evidence
of any connection between the name of Guttenberg in Iowa and the
Gutenberg castle in Balzers. It could very well have been that
the familiar-sounding name of Guttenberg and similar-looking
countryside and climate were the major attractions for the
Liechtensteiners. By the 1880s Guttenberg seems to have attracted
as many as a hundred Liechtenstein immigrants, not counting their
offspring. In view of the fact that in 1882 the total population
of Guttenberg was only 1076, the Liechtenstein contingent was
substantial.
During the 19th century, Guttenberg and Dubuque were by no means
the only areas attracting Liechtenstein immigrants. The
Triesenbergers decided to settle in Freeport, Illinois, and so
far we have no clue why Xaver and Alois Lampert, the first who
left Triesenberg for America in 1850, chose Freeport as their
destination. It is very interesting that thereafter practically
all Triesenberg emigrants went to Freeport, and the majority of
them a few years later moved on again and joined the exodus west
to Oregon.
We find another settlement of Liechtensteiners in Wabash,
Indiana. Figuring prominently in this bucolic destination was the
Alber family from Mauren. Over a span of two generations a clan
of close relatives chose to emigrate and joined the settlement in
Wabash. The chief architect behind the Alber Wabash settlement
was Philipp Alber who became a very successfull businessman.
Together with his brother-in-law, Frank Anton Rettig, who married
Philipp's sister Magdalena, he established in 1865 the Rettig
& Alber Brewery, one of the most successful breweries in
Indiana at that time.
Another interesting discovery is a somewhat smaller settlement of
emigrants from Ruggell, who went farther west, in the area of
O'Neill, Holt County, Nebraska.
Finally in connection with the emigrantion to America, the
convent at Schellenberg in Liechtenstein remains to be mentioned.
This convent was established by the Sisters of the Precious Blood
of Dayton, Ohio, and was designed to attract young women from
Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein who desired to serve as nuns
in America. In short, this convent was designed to qualify these
young women for their life as nuns in America.
Second Part: Emigration in the 20th Century
VIII. Emigration until the First World War
After 1885 the second wave of 19th century emigration slowed
markedly and was annually limited to an occasional individual or
family. The number increased to ten in 1905 and thirteen in 1906,
but slowed again in 1907. The slowdown coincided with the first
attempt to industrialize Liechtenstein. Following the
establishment of textile factories in the 1880s there occurred in
Liechtenstein a steady increase in economic activity down to the
time of the outbreak of the First World War. In 1912
Liechtenstein had five industrial plants employing approximately
750 people together with about 700 small businesses.
Liechtenstein was not the only country where economic activity
was on the upswing. Other large regions in central Europe
participated in this advance. Consequently emigration from
central Europe eased off while the number of immigrants arriving
in America from less-developed southern and eastern Europe
skyrocketed. In 1905 the number entering the United States soared
beyond the one million mark. Alarmed not only by the huge numbers
but also concerned about their countries of origin, American
authorities began to adopt measures to restrict immigration.
Thus, even though arrivals slowed to a trickle during the First
World War, it was ordered in 1917 that every immigrant be able to
read and write. Furthermore, in accordance with postwar
isolationist sentiment, the United States Congress in 1921
adopted the first immigration quota system.
IX. Jobs and Good Wages Tempt Many to Emigrate
The outbreak of the First World War constituted a serious blow
to Liechtenstein's economy. Because Liechtenstein had a customs
union with Austria, even though it remained neutral during the
war, the Entente allies uniformly curtailed the importation of
raw materials into Liechtenstein. This brought about a partial
closing of industrial plants in the country.
Following the war the Austrian Krone, which was also the official
currency in Liechtenstein, completely collapsed, and with its
failure nearly all the savings in Liechtenstein were lost. Shorty
thereafter Liechtenstein dissolved its customs union with Austria
and signed a postal and customs agreement with Switzerland. Yet
despite this reorientation the economy remained in stagnation. In
1927 another blow struck when the Rhine once again flooded the
land. Then, only a year later massive speculation by the
government-chartered national bank brought enormous losses.
Liechtenstein was threatened with economic ruin. As a
consequence, another significant wave of emigration to America
occured in the 1920s.
Unlike their predecessors in the 19th century, these new
emigrants were seeking urban areas where jobs and income
possibilities were much more plentiful then were those in an
earlier day in rural areas. They were attracted especially to
Chicago and the neighbouring community of Hammond, Indiana.
Smaller Liechtenstein settlements were also formed in
metropolitan Cincinnati, Ohio, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Apart
from these major concentrations, Liechtenstein immigrants began
to settle almost anywhere in the United States.
William Marok is generally believed to be the founding father of
the Liechtenstein settlement in Hammond, Indiana. He emigrated in
1865 to Indianapolis, Indiana, and worked as a newspaper reporter
for the Indianapolis Star. It is not known exactly when he moved
north to Hammond, but by the beginning of the 1920s when the
first postwar Liechtensteiners arrived there, he owned a very
profitable construction company and gave support to the new
arrivals from Liechtenstein.
The establishment of the Liechtenstein settlement in Cincinnati
and vicinity goes back to the 19th century when the Ritters from
Eschen arrived there. In 1880 Andreas Ritter purchased a farm
just across the river in Melbourne, Kentucky, which is still in
the family today and is protected as a national historic site.
The most prominent Liechtensteiner in the Cincinnati area was
Otto Hasler from Eschen who was elected mayor of Elmwood Place, a
suburb of Cincinnati, in 1943, twenty years after his arrival in
America. He remained in that office until his death in 1970.
Emigration slowed during the depression of the 1930s and was
nonexistent during the Second World War.
X. Emigration after the Second World War
After the Second World War emigration to America increased
again. Even though the economy in Liechtenstein was on the
upswing during this period that saw Liechtenstein transformed
from a relatively poor farming community to a prosperous
industrial state, some people felt insecure about the staying
power of the booming economy. But as the local economy continued
to grow and more well-paying jobs became available, people
gradually gained confidence in the future of their country.
Fifteen individuals or families leaving the country in 1948
represented the greatest numer of emigrants after the Second
World War, and thereafter the departures declined to a trickle.
During these years, due to its strong economy, Liechtenstein
changed from a land that saw its people leaving for America to
better themselves to a country where people came from abroad to
improve their livelihood in Liechtenstein.
XI. Emigration to Canada
In the 19th century emigration from Liechtenstein to Canada
was nonexistent. It might have been the harsh climate as well as
the prevalence of the English and French language spoken there.
Emigration to Canada commenced only in the 1920s.
The first emigrants worked on the big wheat farms of the prairies
of Saskatchewan. Later, as more Liechtensteiners arrived, they
moved on to Prince George where they had their own farms and also
worked as lumberjacks and in the mines of the far west in British
Columbia. Prince George became the center of Liechtenstein
emigration to Canada where yet today one can find a Fehr Road and
a Banzer Drive named after two Liechtenstein pioneering families.
Between 1945 and 1957 an additional twenty people emigrated to
Canada. After that immigration slowed markedly.
XII. Emigration to South America
The emigration from Liechtenstein to South America was never
significant. Argentinia with nineteen individuals and Brazil with
thirteen represent the largest number of emigrants to South
America. About half of the emigrants bound for South America
either returned to Liechtenstein between the two world wars or
journeyed to the United States where they settled permanently.
Especially noteworthy in connection with emigration to South
America is Jakob Matt from Bendern who went to Brazil in 1913
where he acquired a substantial amount of wealth. Before he was
to return to Liechtenstein he made an extensive trip through
Brazil where he was unfortunately robbed and beaten by guerillas.
His wounds were so severe that he died several days after the
attack.
There is another group of six young Liechtensteiners to be
mentioned who emigrated to Argentinia in 1920. They led a hard
life working on one ranch or another as common laborers or as
herdsmen on the pampas, only to find each other again working in
a cheese factory in the vicinity of Buenos Aires.
Epilouge
In the register in this book we have the record of about 1050 individuals or families - about 1600 Liechtensteiners altogether - who, principally for economic reasons, emigrated to America. Today, as mentioned before, the roles are reversed. For some time Liechtenstein has been an in-migration rather than an out-migration country.
Register of the Liechtenstein Emigrants to North and South America
In the register, as noted above, we have a total of 1050 cases
of Liechtenstein emigration to North and South America. Any of
these cases might include a single person, a married couple, a
widow or widower with children or whole families. There is only
one entry for each case.
The following symbols and abbreviations are used in the register:
* date of birth
date of death (a alongside a name of child indicates that it died
early in life)
E parents
B profession/job
A year and place of emigration
V spouse
R year of return to Liechtenstein
FB family book
The dates are written the European - or American military - way with the first number indicating the day, the second the month and the third the year.
Any additions, deletions or corrections to the register are welcome. Kindly contact
Norbert Jansen
Mediateam AG
Am Widagraba 1
Postfach 420
FL-9490 Vaduz
Phone +423 232 30 28
Fax +423 232 14 49
e-mail: jansen@mediateam.li
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