Description
Book SynopsisNew World View: Letters from a German Immigrant Family in Texas, 18541885 is a bilingual and annotated edition of a collection of letters written by a 19
th century German immigrant family in Texas. Christian Friedrich Bergmann and his family belonged to the large wave of German immigrants that came to Texas in the 1850s. Born in April of 1817 in Ebersbach, a small village then located in the Kingdom of Saxony, Bergmann together with his wife Johanna Christiane Luise Bergmann and his three sons, Friedrich, Karl, and Christoph embarked on an overseas journey to America in August of 1854; in November of 1854, they arrived in Texas. The family first resided in San Antonio before later settling on the Guadalupe River near Boerne, where Bergmann bought 320 acres of land and he and his family became farmers and ranchers, as well as active members of their community.
The Bergmann letter collection begins with a detailed description of the sea journey and the many exciting
Table of ContentsContents: German Immigrants to the United States – German Immigration to Texas in the Nineteenth Century – State of Research – The C. F. Bergmann Family: Biographical Background – Importance of the Edition – Limits of Written Communication – Message of the Letters – Study Approaches to Immigrant Letters – Principles of Transcription and Translation – The Sea Journey to America: August to November 1854 – The First Years in San Antonio, Texas: 1854 to 1857 – Farm Life on the Guadalupe River in Texas: 1857 to 1888 – Die Seereise nach Amerika: August bis November 1854 – Die ersten Jahre in San Antonio, Texas: 1854 bis 1857 – Farmleben an der Guadalupe: 1857 bis 1888.
