Molly Krasel
Dr. Coronado
English 226
9 December 2014
Grand and Grandiose: America
in 1848 from a German Immigrant's Perspective
Germany
in 1848 was a political hotpot. Not yet a unified nation, Germany roiled with
hunger strikes, an increasingly large population, economic disasters, and aristocratic
unease. The poverty and turmoil people faced in the German states during the
Revolutions of 1848 influenced many to emigrate, and many of them chose America
for a new home (Levine 25-34). One such immigrant was John O. Kröhnke. His diaries,
of which only four of eight original volumes remain, describe in Old German his
family’s journey from the German state of Holstein to Sheboygan, Wisconsin.
Though not much is known about Kröhnke, including his age, job, and reason for
leaving Germany, his diary suggest he is “a man of some sufficient amount of
education…and with a fair amount of means with which to establish a new home.
His religious outlook is that of a devout German-Luthern” (J.P.M.). Unusually,
this description does not match the German immigrant typical of this time, as
the “well-to-do strata, who had always constituted a minority of the emigrants,
made up a still smaller proportion during the post-1845 era” (Levine 17). Kröhnke
could be of lower class and simply have amassed enough money to make his way in
America, but as he does not give this information, it is not know. His diaries
do, however, detail day-to-day travel events as well as the family’s new life
on their Sheboygan farm.
There are many pieces of
information missing from these diaries, in part due to the physical lack of
four volumes, but also due to potential errors in translation. As the diaries
were written by Kröhnke in Old German, to be accessible to the public they had
to be translated. Though the first volume of the diary contains an
introduction, the introduction is signed only with initials and leaves no clue
as to who made the initial transition from Old German to Modern German for the
first volume or then translated the first volume from Modern German to English
or when these works were translated. Even within the English transcripts, there
are errors in spelling and syntax, German words abound, and many words and
phrases have been crossed out and replaced with clearer alternatives by
translators also unknown. Many of these errors do not inhibit The Kröhnke Diaries’ readability;
however, because of them, analysis of this text may not sync up with Kröhnke’s
original document. Despite the errors and mystery in its translations, The John O. Kröhnke Diaries should be a
part of American literature canon because Kröhnke defines America in 1848 by
contrasting it to his German experiences and echoing calls of the American
Dream.
A key focus of Kröhnke’s impression
of America is modes of transportation, and his description of American
steamboats shows a juxtaposition between fear and awe. Once he enters New York,
the majority of his remaining trip is via river travel. Of the first steamboat he
travels on, Kröhnke says: “It seems to me that America is more advanced than
Europe. I will say that even England does not have such pompous ships. The
realty can not be explained and I am unable to describe what I have seen as it
does deserve to be discribed. The ship has a monstrous length…” (Kröhnke 1:23).
In this statement, Kröhnke both praises American innovation and condemns it. He
says that America seems more advanced than not just a single country but the
entire continent of Europe and that it “deserves to be described,” though he
seems to feel he is unable to do it justice. These statements reflect the
grandness of America, but also the grandiosity; not only is the steamboat more
advanced and deserving of description, it’s also “pompous” and “monstrous.” The
steamboat is big, but perhaps it is too
big, too showy. Although Kröhnke feels he is not able to describe the
steamboat to what he feels it deserves, he paints a complex picture of America:
advanced but ostentatious, deserving but disturbing.
Krönke’s
view of steamboats also reflect the danger of America in 1848. Later in his
trip, he describes his experience on another steamboat: “We did not hesitate to
intrust ourselve to the boat. Later, however, we recognized the engine was old
and worked out. The steam excaped through cracks and wet rags had to be but
into this cracks to stop the steam getting through those cracks…[this] gave us
some feer and we were desperately awaiting the end of the trip” (Kröhnke 1:36-37).
The machine that had so impressed Kröhnke was not without its flaws. The engine
of this steamboat is so worked through that the boat may give out at any
minute. Though it is an impressive invention, the steamboat has its dangers.
Frank Wicks, a mechanical engineering professor at Union College in Schenectady
and member of the Steamship Historical Society of America writes in a short pamphlet
that due to the composition of their engines, steamboats were prone to
devastating explosions (47). Wicks also writes that the steamboat has been
described as “America’s first great invention” (45). Though adapted from
British design, the successful invention of the steamboat is chiefly American
and thus may serve as a symbol of America. As Kröhnke has described the
steamboat as awesome and worthy of praise, he also shows it as dangerous and a
source of fear, a reflection on the America he is to become a part of.
Kröhnke’s assessment of American trains
demonstrates this expectation of fear. When his party stops to look at a rail,
he says, “This railroad is not as good as the railroad I knew in Holstein
(Germany) however it is not so bad that a trip would be connected with danger,
as we were told in Holstein” (Kröhnke 1:33a). Kröhnke says he was told that
American railroads were dangerous, and that the railroads in Germany are
superior. Kröhnke at this point does not actually ride the train; rather, they
take to the water again: “In spite of the fact that we could have made the trip
in 36 hours going by train, we were glad to have chosen the Chanal-trip,
because the trip was much more interesting” (1:33a). Kröhnke defines trains as
the superior transportation system for Germans, but for America, it is the
waterways. If Germany is defined by trains and America steamboat, that Kröhnke
states the “Chanal-trip…was much more interesting” may suggest by proxy that
America is more interesting as well. By comparison to his homeland, Kröhnke
both defines what is American and elevates it to a point of admiration, again
presenting the duality of American identity.
Kröhnke’s depictions of America are
not limited to his perceptions of technology; his observations of American
museums call back to the idea of the American Dream: that America is a land
where anyone can make it if they work hard, and that sorrow is sparse. While
waiting in New York, Kröhnke and his friend visit a museum, one exhibit of
which he describes as such:
They
had placed i sick person in a bed. A crying woman was sitting in fron of the
bed and a young girl in the age of 13-15 was sitting at a little table reading
a book. When I saw this group a funny odd feeling arose in me. I though: Was it
possible that the people of this country were so lucky and happy that they had
to show these kinds of pictures to explain what sorrow ment?...I thing this
exhibited group was not poor enough, because they still had cloth and food.
(Kröhnke 1:26)
Kröhnke wonders though “was it possible,” suggesting
that he may have doubted the fortune of America, but this disturbing image clearly
echoes the idea of the American Dream and seems to validate it. Kröhnke’s words
imply he thinks both that the people of America are too “happy and lucky” to
know the meaning of sorrow and that they do not truly understand it anyway,
because the people in the exhibit are “not poor enough” by Kröhnke’s standards,
and he has fled from a war-torn pre-Germany. The sight gives him a “funny odd
feeling” in addition to these thoughts, further exemplifying the conflicting
view of America through immigrant eyes: it is a place of hope and danger.
Despite the picture Kröhnke paints
of America, he still desires to be a part of it. He writes, “We went inside
[the boat] without any permission and did not hesitate to go around wherever we
wanted. This seems to be the way Americans live. They do not hesitate to do
things” (Kröhnke 1:23). Through his description of the steamboat, Kröhnke
labels America as pompous and then contributes to that statement directly by
saying that Americans “do not hesitate” and don’t “ask for permission.” This
suggests that Americans have a sense of entitlement to match their over-the-top
creations, a stereotype that persists still today. However, Kröhnke stacks his
statements in an interesting way: he does not first criticize the “American
way.” He first says, “We did this,” then “Americans do this.” This ordering
suggests that though Kröhnke may scrutinize what he perceives as the American
way of living, he also wishes to be a part of it. Through Kröhnke’s immigrant
eyes, America is again both criticized and raised up, something to be examined
closely as well as modeled.
In 1848, America is still wild—some
states are still territories; traveling is dangerous and uncertain. Through the
first portion of volume one of The
Kröhnke Diaries, German immigrant John Kröhnke depicts different aspects of
his journey from New York to Wisconsin. His assessment of transportation,
tourist attractions, and behaviors of America present a contrasting viewpoint
of a growing nation: pompous yet impressive, hopeful yet dangerous. Though it
suffers from translation errors and missing information, Kröhnke’s diary
entries paint a picture of America in 1848 in direct comparison to a nation
still developing: they tell the story of a family looking for a new life in a
land where dreams are rumored to come true. From an outsider’s perspective, The Kröhnke Diaries portray an
invaluable picture of American history as it happens.
Works Cited
Kröhnke, John O. The
John O. Kröhnke Diaries. 4 vols. N.p., n.p. 1848-1885. Print.
Levine, Bruce. The
Spirit of 1848: German Immigrants, Labor Conflict, and the Coming of the Civil
War. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1992. Print.
M., J.P. Introduction. The John O. Kröhnke Diaries. By John O. Kröhnke. 4 vols. N.p., n.p.
1848-1885. Print.
Wicks, Frank. “Pressure's On. (Cover Story).” Mechanical
Engineering 129.10 (2007): 44-48. Academic Search Complete. Web. 4
Dec. 2014.
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