On German-language newspapers in pre-US* America

* Or at least before America officially became the United States of America

David writes here about Sgt. Mom’s intriguing trilogy of books on German settlers in Texas and their influence, cultural and otherwise, on the state of Texas.

I couldn’t possibly do the subject, much less the lovely and erudite Sgt. Mom, any justice on this short notice. So here are just two somewhat surprising facts about a (kind of) related subject, i.e, the German-language press in America:

– In 1732, Benjamin Franklin published the Philadelphische Zeitung, the first German-language newspaper in North America. Unfortunately it only lasted for two issues.

– On July 5 1776, The Pennsylvanischer Staatsbote was the first newspaper to report the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

PS: Some years ago, Sgt. Mom was kind of enough to mail me the recipe for some delicious caramel. I’ve made it several times since then (maybe a bit more often than my waistline can take, but it sure is worth it :)

3 thoughts on “On German-language newspapers in pre-US* America”

  1. Thanks for the additional link, Ralf – and as regards German-language newspapers in the US – one of the main ones in Texas (est. 1852) was the city paper in New Branfels, Texas. They switched over to publishing in English decades ago, but it is still called The Herald-Zeitung. The editor in the early days was Ferdinand Jacob Lindheimer – who also doubled as a naturalist. His plant collections are in insitutions as far away as St. Petersburg, Russia. (New Braunfels was a small town then – people doubled up on jobs!)

  2. Thanks, MD – it has everything a book about the Texas frontier ought to have – Indian raids, Texas Rangers, true love, tragedy, revenge… and cows. Lots of cows!

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