German-Catholic immigrants shaped life, communities in east-central Wisconsin

A talk tracing the 19th-century emigration of German-speaking Catholics from small villages in the Vulkan Eifel region of what was then Rhenish Prussia to the Holyland area of Wisconsin is set for next month at UW–Madison.

Professor Beth Schlemper of Illinois State University will give the talk, “From the Eifel to the Holyland: The Construction of Identity and Community Life,” at 7 p.m., Thursday, March 13, in Union South.

The Holyland is located primarily in Fond du Lac County and partially in Calumet County. It consists of several rural German-Catholic communities that are connected by religion and place of origin. With names such as Johnsburg, Mount Calvary, Marytown, St. Peter, St. Cloud, St. Anna, St. Joe and Jericho, there is little mystery as to why the district was given its nickname.

Schlemper will discuss motivations for the emigration from Germany, as well as the agricultural and cultural traditions the immigrants carried with them to Wisconsin. As the numbers of German-Catholic immigrants increased in the region east of Lake Winnebago throughout the 19th century, so too did the presence of the Catholic Church and the maintenance of specific religious traditions. For instance, remembrance of the dead prompted many to participate in confession and to attend Mass on All Saints’ or All Souls’ Day.

By analyzing the physical and cultural landscape of both regions, Schlemper will identify the effects of emigration from the Eifel on the construction of identity in east-central Wisconsin today.

Schlemper specializes in historical and cultural geography in the Department of Geography-Geology at Illinois State University, and has conducted fieldwork both in Wisconsin and in the Eifel region, visiting the villages from which the immigrants came.