A Preview of German Place Names and Connections: From Leipsic to Winesburg
When I first wrote about German Place Names in the USA and Canada more than five months ago, I realized that the topic was far more vast than I had originally thought. Since then, as I have continued to work on the subject, I have learned why most online lists of German, Austrian, Swiss, etc. place names in North America are so inadequate, and how truly complex the topic also is from a historical viewpoint. But it is a fascinating subject, and I’ll share much more about it in the near future.
An advertisement for the “Delaware Saengerbund” in the May 16, 1914 edition of the Wilmington Lokal-Anzeiger und Wilmington Freie Presse. PHOTO: Library of Congress/Univ. of Delaware Library
For now I want to preview some of the hidden gems and fascinating facts I have discovered over the last five-plus months – that were not mentioned in my first post. Even after usually spending at least some time each day working on the 50 US states and Canada, I’ve barely covered about half the states, but most of Canada, and all of The Bahamas (Yes, “Nassau” is a German name!) My new odd discoveries include the influence of postal officials on German and other place names in the US, usually by altering a town’s name by denying it or misspelling it, sometimes intentionally. See some German-language examples below.
Before we move ahead, here’s a request that I’ll also include in the forthcoming German Way toponym guide: If you know of a German/Austrian/Swiss place name or connection we missed in this post or in Part 1, please let us know.
Beyond German Place Names
As my research progressed, one thing became obvious: Yes, there are a lot of German place names in North America, but many places with non-German names experienced major German immigration in the past. Cincinnati, Davenport, Detroit, Oshkosh, Milwaukee, and San Antonio are not German names, but those American cities were gathering places for German-speaking pioneers. Even if their Germanic history has mostly faded into obscurity today, at one time these US cities had German-language newspapers, Turners (and Turnhallen), German-owned beer breweries, German choruses (Sängerbünde), and other aspects of German-speaking groups trying to hold on to their homeland’s culture.
With few exceptions, US towns with German names are (or were) small, rural communities, far smaller than their namesakes in Europe. Some are ghost towns or “former towns” today. Yes, there were immigrants who went to the big cities, but they usually had an Indian-inspired name (Milwaukee) or some other non-German source (Cincinnati), rarely a German name. Of the many Berlins scattered across the United States, only two have a population over 9,000: Berlin, Connecticut (pop. 19,800) and Berlin, New Hampshire (pop. 10,000), both pronounced BUR-lin. Most American Berlins are much smaller. (Canada’s former Berlin, which is a large city, now calls itself Kitchener.) The same goes for all the Bernes, Bremens, Dresdens, Hamburgs, Munichs, and Stuttgarts in the US.
Now let’s take a look at three German place names in America that just happen to begin with L.
Leipsic
This odd spelling of Leipzig in Saxony, Germany graces several small communities in the US. According to Wikipedia, “Leipsic is a former English and very rare former French spelling for the German city of Leipzig.” (Apparently it is also a surname. Brendan Leipsic is a Canadian pro ice hockey player.) The hamlet in Saskatchewan, Canada is correctly spelled Leipzig. The largest US Leipsic (pop. 2,022) is in Ohio, which also has a West Leipsic. Delaware’s Leipsic (pop. 205) is near Dover on the Leipsic River. Leipsic, Indiana had a post office with that name between 1852 and 1980.
Lucerne
This toponym proves that things are not always what they seem. I must confess that I did not know that lucerne is another (British) English word for alfalfa. But in trying to pin down the true origin of the name of places in the US named Lucerne, I discovered that some places named Lucerne are named for the Swiss city and canton (known as Luzern in German), but not all. The Northern California town of Lucerne, near Clear Lake, was named for the Swiss city, but the community in western San Bernardino County known as Lucerne Valley was named for the alfalfa that is grown there. On the other hand, the Iowa and Michigan communities known as Luzerne bring up even more spelling issues, being an odd mishmash of German and English – but they are named for the Swiss city.
Luxemburg versus Luxembourg
Very few American community names are for a country rather than a city, but there are three towns in three states named Luxemburg. Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin each have a Luxemburg. To its credit, the largest Luxemburg (pop. 2,591, in Wisconsin) requested the name “Luxembourg” when it applied for a post office in 1880, and the village (official state nomenclature) was known by that properly spelled name until, for some reason, in 1924 the postmark changed to the current “Luxemburg” and remains so today. In September 1994, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Luxembourg during World War II, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg sent three copies of a stone memorial, one to each US Luxemburg. An official delegation from Luxembourg attended in person, in a lovely gesture of appreciation for the US soldiers who helped liberate Luxembourg. Each town now proudly has its memorial on display in a public place.
As for other US towns that honor a German-speaking country, there is a Germania in Wisconsin, a Switzerland in Florida, and a Little Switzerland in North Carolina. As for German regions, there are places named Franconia, Franken, and New Franken in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The German region of Westphalia (Westfalen), famous for its ham and the Treaty of Westphalia (1648), is honored by that place name in seven states: Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, and Texas.
Other Name Categories
RIVERS
Places named for German or European rivers.
- Danube, New York: Named after the Danube (die Donau), the second-longest river in Europe (after the Volga). The Danube begins in Germany’s Black Forest and flows through Germany, Austria, Hungary, and several other nations on its way to the Black Sea.
- Rhine, Georgia: Named after the Rhine River (der Rhein) that flows from Switzerland through Austria and Lake Constance, along the French-German border, and on through Germany to the North Sea via the Netherlands.
- Weser, Texas: Actually named for a ship, but the ship was named for the river in Germany – which (with the Werra) is the longest river wholly in Germany. The Weser flows from Thuringia past Hameln and Minden to Bremen, Bremerhaven, and the North Sea.
PEOPLE
Places named for notable German-speaking people.
- Bach, Michigan: Not named for Johann Sebastian Bach! A ghost town today, Bach was founded by, and named for, the German-American Christian Frederick Bach, born on March 18. 1854, the son of Christian and Christina Bach, who came from Germany. This is a good example of how a first impression may be the wrong one.
- Bismarck, North Dakota: The most famous US place named after the Prussian chancellor Otto von Bismarck. Originally called “Missouri Crossing” by the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1804–1806, and later “Edwinton,” the city was dubbed Bismarck by the Northern Pacific Railway in 1873. Ten years later Bismarck became the capital of the Dakota Territory, and the state capital in 1889. There are at least seven other US communities named Bismarck.
- De Kalb/DeKalb: Several towns and counties in several US states are named after Baron Johann de Kalb (1721-1780), a Bavarian-born former officer in the French Army, who fought for the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. Most of them are misspelled as a single word: “DeKalb”
- Humboldt: Many towns, counties, and geographic features in the US are named for the noted German explorer and naturalist Alexander von Humboldt. Both California and Nevada have a Humboldt County. Humboldt, Minnesota (pop. 44) is a wide spot in the road (see photo below) in Kittson County, only seven miles south of the Canadian border (Manitoba). Humboldt, Nebraska (pop. 810), incorporated in 1873, is a community in Richardson County. There are too many other examples to list here.
- Steuben, Ohio: Like the much larger Steubenville in Ohio, the name honors the Prussian Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, George Washington’s military adviser.
- Uhland, Texas: Named for the German poet Ludwig Uhland (1787-1862).
- Windthorst, Texas: Named for the German Catholic statesman (and political opponent of Otto von Bismarck) Ludwig Windthorst (1812-1891).
The population of Humboldt, Minnesota along US 75 is currently 44, a decline of 17 since this photo was taken. PHOTO: Wikimedia Commons
GERMAN-LANGUAGE NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS
Most people are surprised to learn that at one time in the United States there were hundreds of newspapers published in German all across the nation, even in Washington, DC, the national capital. As mentioned in Chronicling America’s Historic German Newspapers and the Growth of the American Ethnic Press: “In fact, the first foreign-language newspaper in the United States was in German — Die Philadelphische Zeitung, begun by Benjamin Franklin in 1732 in his Philadelphia printing shop. While this paper folded after only a few issues, German immigrants to Pennsylvania established numerous popular German publications in the eighteenth century. By 1802, German newspapers were published in Philadelphia, Lancaster, Reading, Easton, Harrisburg, York, and Norristown — and that was just in Pennsylvania!”
Were it not for two world wars, there might still be many German-language and German cultural influences in the US today. But as it is, few German-language newspapers survived the First World War, and the second one killed off the few that were left. By the 1960s and 1970s, the German press in America was kaputt. Today only a very few still exist, mostly online. In our forthcoming toponym guide we will list former daily, weekly, and monthly newspapers and periodicals that were published in German in each state.
PLACES WITH NON-GERMAN NAMES SETTLED BY GERMAN-SPEAKERS
Not all places where German immigrants settled or were numerous have German names. Such places include the following:
- Aleman, Texas: After bearing the names Pleasant Point and Piggtown, sometime after 1907 the name was changed to Aleman, Spanish for “German” (actually alemán, with an accent mark), apparently inspired by Mexican railroad workers who noticed all the Germans there.
- Castroville, Texas: Named for Henri Castro (1786-1865) who obtained a land grant and brought in settlers from Alsace. About 20 miles west of downtown San Antonio. Castroville is known today for its Alsatian-Texan architecture, people, and culture.
- Cincinnati, Ohio: When Cincinnati was founded in 1788, the new inhabitants were primarily of English and Scottish heritage (many from New England). But by the 1850s it was difficult to find a city in the United States that was more German than Cincinnati. Most of the German immigrants lived in an area called Over-the-Rhine. The term “Over-the-Rhine” is a light-hearted reference to the Miami and Erie Canal as the Rhine of Ohio. From 1845 to 1919 there were at least seven German-language newspapers published in Cincinnati.
- Davenport, Iowa: Once called “the most German city, not only in the State, but in all the Middle West, the center of all German activities in the State,” Davenport was established in 1836 by Antoine LeClaire and named after his good friend Colonel George Davenport. But the first settlers of Davenport were mostly Germans. In the 1850s, Germans made up Davenport’s largest immigrant group. By 1858, more than one-fifth of Davenport’s nearly 11,000 residence were German, many of whom lived in the city’s “Hamburg” neighborhood.
- Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Although the name “Milwaukee” comes from the Algonquian word millioke, meaning “good,” “beautiful,” and “pleasant land,” the city has been heavily influenced by German-speaking and other immigrants from its earliest days. Milwaukee’s German element is still present today. The city celebrates its German culture by hosting a German Fest in July and an Oktoberfest. Turner Hall, housing the German athletic club, built in 1882, is still standing today. German beer brewers helped Milwaukee earn the nicknames “Beer City” and “Brew Town.” Milwaukee was once home to four of the world’s largest beer breweries (Schlitz, Blatz, Pabst, and Miller).
- Omaha, Nebraska: The German community in Omaha was largely responsible for founding its once-thriving beer industry, including the Metz, Krug, Falstaff, and Storz breweries. Fred Astaire’s Austrian father, Fritz Austerlitz, worked at the Storz Brewery. The Omaha house at 2326 South 10th Street, where Fred was born, still stands.
- San Antonio, Texas: The German Texas Hill Country surrounds San Antonio. Don’t let its Hispanic name fool you. San Antonio was once home to a sizable German-speaking population, much of it in the “King William Historic District.”
- Wilmington, Delaware: The Delaware Sängerbund (DSB) is a German American club with about a thousand members in Newark, Delaware. The DSB (“Singers Alliance”) was founded in March 1853 by 16 German men as a singing society. It soon became an important social club for the members and their families and newly arriving immigrants. The club had a meeting facility in Wilmington, Delaware known as the “German Hall” from 1883 until 1965, and it is still active today.
POST OFFICE FLUBS AND FUMBLES
Small town postmasters and other postal officials in the United States have played a little appreciated but significant role in the history of naming hamlets, towns, and cities across the US, including those with German names. In their insistence on simplicity, avoiding duplication, or just plain carelessness, postal officials have distorted many German place names. Besides Luxemburg mentioned above, here are two more examples:
- Von Ormy, Texas: Postmaster Branson Bywater relocated the post office near the new rail depot and renamed the community “Von Ormy,” misspelling the name of the Austrian Count von Ormay, who had briefly settled in the area and purchased a local mansion still known today as “Von Ormy Castle.”
- Winesburg, Ohio: Originally founded in 1829 as Weinsberg, after Weinsberg in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, the spelling was changed to “Winesburg” by postal authorities in 1833, making the wine English and changing the Berg (mountain) into a Burg (castle). Most Americans can’t hear any difference between -berg and -burg in place names.
I hope you enjoyed this preview of German place names and connections in North America.
– HF
Re. -berg and -burg in place names, I wouldn’t say that Americans can’t hear the difference. It’s just that Americans don’t usually make any distinction between the two when pronouncing them in English — they use one pronunciation (which doesn’t correspond to the German pronunciation of either word) for both. If Americans heard the two pronounced in German, they’d likely be able to hear that there’s a difference.