German language newspapers in the United States
In the period from the 1830s until the First World War there were dozens of German language newspapers in the United States.
Although the first German immigrants had arrived by 1700, most German-language newspapers flourished during the era of mass immigration from Germany that began in the 1820s.[1]
Germans were the first non-English speakers to publish newspapers in the U.S., and by 1890, there were over 1,000 German language newspapers being published in the United States.[1]
The first German language paper was Die Philadelphische Zeitung, published by Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia beginning in 1732; it failed after a year.[1] In 1739, Christopher Sauer established Der Hoch-Deutsche Pennsylvanische Geschicht-Schreiber, later known as Die Germantauner Zeitung.[2] It was one of the most influential pre-Revolutionary weekly newspapers in the colonies.[2] By 1802, Pennsylvanian Germans published newspapers not only in Philadelphia, but also in Lancaster, Reading, Easton, Harrisburg, York, and Norristown.[1] The oldest German Catholic newspaper, the Cincinnati Archdiocese's Der Wahrheitsfreund, began publishing in 1837.[3][4] By 1881, it was one of five German papers in the Cincinnati market.[5]
The newspapers were hit by two rounds of closure due to sudden drops in advertising revenue. As the U.S. entered World War I, many advertisers stopped placing advertisements in German newspapers. Later, with the onset of Prohibition in 1920, the remaining newspapers faded as immigrants aged and died.[1]
Local and regional newspapers by state
Illinois
- Arbeiter-Zeitung, Chicago, 1877–1931
- Illinois Staats-Zeitung, Chicago, 1848–1922
- Belleviller Zeitung, Belleville
Iowa
- Ostfriesische Nachrichten, Dubuque, 1881–1971
Maryland
- Baltimore Wecker, Baltimore, 1851–1877
- Der Deutsche Correspondent, Baltimore
Missouri
- Anzeiger des Westens, St. Louis, 1835–1898
- Westliche Post, St. Louis, 1857–1938
New York
- Neue Volkszeitung, New York City, 1932–1949
- New Yorker Volkszeitung, New York City, 1878–1932
- New Yorker Staats-Zeitung, New York City, 1834–present
- Der Volksfreund, Buffalo, 1838–1943
North Dakota
- Der Staats Anzeiger, Bismarck, 1906–1945
Ohio
- Cincinnati Freie Presse, Cincinnati
- Cincinnati Volksblatt, Cincinnati
- Cincinnati Volksfreund, Cincinnati, 1850–1908
- Hochwächter, Cincinnati
- Der Wahrheitsfreund, Cincinnati, 1837–1907
- Ohio Waisenfreund
Pennsylvania
- Die Germantauner Zeitung, 1739
- Philadelphia Demokrat, Philadelphia, 1838–1918
- Philadelphische Staatsbote, Philadelphia
- Die Philadelphische Zeitung, Philadelphia, 1732
- Hiwwe wie Driwwe, Kutztown/Ober-Olm, 1997
South Dakota
- Dakota Freie Presse, Yankton
Wisconsin
- Manitowoc Post, Manitowoc, 1881–1924
- Milwaukee Herold, Milwaukee, 1860–1931
- Der Nord-Westen, Manitowoc, 1860–1909
National newspapers
- Amerika, 1877–1902
- Der Ruf, distributed to German POWs across the United States during World War II
See also
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 Grohsgal, Leah Weinry. "Chronicling America’s Historic German Newspapers and the Growth of the American Ethnic Press". neh.gov. National Endowment for the Humanities. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
- 1 2 "A History of Pennsylvania Newspapers". libraries.psu.edu. The Pennsylvania State University. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
- ↑ McCann, Mary Agnes (1920). "The Most Reverend John Baptist Purcell, D.D., Archbishop of Cincinnati (1800-1883)". The Catholic Historical Review (American Catholic Historical Association) 6: 183. ISSN 0008-8080. JSTOR 25011687.
- ↑ Clark, S. J. (1912). Cincinnati, the Queen City, 1788-1912, Volume 2. The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company. p. 12.
- ↑ "A Word About the Enquirer". The Cincinnati Enquirer 39 (293). October 20, 1881. p. 4. (subscription required (help)).
External links
- "Chronicling America" from the Library of Congress offers full-text digital access to 24 German-language newspaper titles—over 150,000 pages, with more added annually.]