In Search of a Home: Nineteenth-Century Wendish Immigration
In the previous century a large portion of the smallest of the Slavonic nations left their German homeland and migrated to three distant continents. The Wends, or Sorbs, were seeking—what? Fortune? Religious freedom? Land for their children to farm?\ George R. Nielsen, in this revised edition of his classic study of Wendish migration first published in 1977, carefully describes the details of immigration to Australia, Texas, and elsewhere and judiciously weighs the possible explanations for...
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In the previous century a large portion of the smallest of the Slavonic nations left their German homeland and migrated to three distant continents. George R. Nielsen, in this revised edition of his classic study of Wendish migration, carefully describes the details of immigration and weighs the possible explanations for the exodus, the settlement, and acculturation patterns that resulted.The earliest emigrants traveled to Australia, but despite efforts to encourage unity, they were unsuccessful, and no single, large Wendish settlement was formed. The largest number migrated to Texas, where at Serbin, under the leadership of pastor Jan Kilian, they formed a Wendish community, retaining their own language in church, school, and home. Local agricultural conditions, however, proved too poor to sustain many people, so the Wends of Texas also scattered and eventually lost most of their ethnic distinctiveness. Smaller numbers of Wends migrated to Canada, Nebraska, and South Africa. These Wends generally settled among Germans and were absorbed by the local German communities.This work promises to continue as the standard reference on the overseas resettlement of these distinctive people. Southwestern Historical Quarterly One of the many contributions that Nielsen makes in the book is to demonstrate the complexity of the motives impelling a group of people to immigrate to another land. . . . Nielsen has carefully researched a complex topic, and his book will aid in filling in the mosaic of American and Australian immigration.
\ Southwestern Historical QuarterlyOne of the many contributions that Nielsen makes in the book is to demonstrate the complexity of the motives impelling a group of people to immigrate to another land. . . . Nielsen has carefully researched a complex topic, and his book will aid in filling in the mosaic of American and Australian immigration.\ \
