Personal Suffering Lead The Pen

"Abschied der Auswanderer" (Farewell of the emigrants) is what the mecklenburgian court painter Rudolf Suhrlandt (1781 - 1862) called his pen-and-ink drawing that is in posession of the copper-plate engravings cabinett in the State Museum of Schwerin. With this drawing Suhrlandt created a document of the times that shows the human tragic of the emigrants in the 19th century. The artist recorded the moment of saying goodbye to family, friends and relatives. Worries, sorrows and agitation dominate the small group, after all most of the emigrants would never come back. The Schweriner painter also experienced the painful moments of seperation when his oldest daughter, out of financial problems, decided to emigrate to America with her husband. Neither of them returned. They died during a shipping accident on Lake Michigan in 1858.

Article in the "Mecklenburg Magazin" 1990/9, translation: Daniela Garling

WITNESSES AND DOCUMENTS OF A TRAGIC CHAPTER IN THE HISTORY OF MECKLENBURG

An emigrant: John Brinckmann

On the cemetary in Güstrow the contemplative visitor finds the final resting place of one of the most famous Low German poets - John Brinckmann (born: July 3rd, 1814 in Rostock; died: September 20th, 1870 in Güstrow), one of the 250,000 mecklenburgian emigrants. Most of them never returned...

John Brinckmann spent two and a half years in America

John Brinckmann, one of the most important Low German poets emigrated to America in 1839, after the University of Rostock forced him to drop out of his Law studies. He thought he'd find "freedom's flags" there. After two and a half years however he returned in April, 1842. He wrote about his experiences with the American way of life in both High German and in Low German; most clearly in the "Fastelabendspredigt för Johann, de nah Amerika furt will":

Article in the "Mecklenburg Magazin" 1990/9 by Günther Woese; translation: Daniela Garling

WITNESSES AND DOCUMENTS OF A TRAGIC CHAPTER IN THE HISTORY OF MECKLENBURG

Johannes Gillhoff alias Jürnjakob Swehn

As a writer the Mecklenburger teacher Johannes Gillhoff set up a monument to his emigrated landsman - the epistolary novel "Jürnjakob Swehn, der Amerikafahrer". Both the teacher and the day laborer did not find the fulfilment of their wishes in the Mecklenburg of that time.

Unsparing of Altmecklenburg: Jürnjakob Swehn's fate has been moving readers for decades

In 1917 a book was published in Berlin that became a bestseller soon after. In 1919 already, 100,000 copies had been sold, today it's 550,000.

This book tells the story of a mecklenburger day laborer and his arrival in the United States. He was "one out of many, made his way over there and remained one of a thousand". In his letters to his former teacher Jürnjakob Swehn, that's the fictitious name of the protagonist, is telling about the difficult times of his new start.

Author of this epistolary novel was the teacher, Germanist, critic and writer, editor and publisher of the "Mecklenburger Monatshefte" Johannes Gillhoff (1861 - 1930). Just like his protagonist he also turned his back to his home country. Dissatisfaction was the reason. Neither Gillhaff nor Jürnjakob Swehn, found the fulfillment of their dreams in Mecklenburg. Jürnjakob was driven to cross the ocean by unthinkable misery and Gillhoff wasn't promoted to a higher education authority. Through the eyes of the emigrated day laborer Gillhoff looks back on Altmecklenburg and criticizes the economical, social and political conditions in his home country.

The fascination of the book "Jürnjakob Swehn, der Amerikafahrer" goes back more to language and style than to the contents. It's the first time that "Missingsch" was used to lead the action of a whole novel. An essential component of this novel, it is a hymn in praise of the creative man, is the subtle Low German humor. It is also because of that humor that Johannes Gillhoff's book is still popular today.

Article in "Mecklenburg Magazin" 1990/9 by Hartmut Brun; translation: Daniela Garling