Between the Pages : German American Identity Formation in Late 19th Century Milwaukee using the Germania Newspaper

Abstract

65 p.Newspaper analysis can offer insight into communities, their world views, and how the companies perceived them. Germania served as one of those newspapers for a community of German Americans in Milwaukee from the late 19th century. A newspaper company titled Germania Wöchenliche was bought by George Brumder in 1873, creating one of Wisconsin’s most popular German-language newspapers leading into the 20th century. Located in downtown Milwaukee, the Germania publishing company building was a staple in printing news regarding national and international affairs, while also–with less emphasis–reporting on local events happening in Wisconsin. The publishing company would enjoy an ever-increasing German American population, quoted by Robert C. Nesbit stating how, "In 1850, Wisconsin had 38,064 German-born in a total population of 305,391. […] In 1870, with a population of 1,054,670 and 364,448 foreign-born, the percentage was 34.6. [...] By 1880, the foreign-born population in Wisconsin was approximately one-third of the total population"1 The German American community was large enough in Milwaukee for the city to earn the nick-name Deutsch Athen, translated as German Athens. Milwaukee received that name from the German immigrants arriving in Milwaukee at the time.2 It was not as if George Brumder’s work was insignificant either, as he would eventually buy out all the local newspapers in Milwaukee and grow Germania into one of the biggest German language newspapers in the 1890s