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| Format | Book Chapter |
|---|---|
| Author, Analytic | Bungert, Heike |
| Title, Analytic | Regional Diversity in Celebrating Regional Origin: German-American Volksfeste, 1870-1920 |
| Title, Monographic | Regionalism in the Age of Globalism, Volume 2: Forms of Regionalism |
| Place of Publication | Madison, Wis. |
| Publisher | Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures, University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| Date of Publication | 2005 |
| Location in Work | 93-115, ill. |
| Abstract | During the 1870s German Americans began celebrations reflecting their regional origins, the so-called Volksfeste or popular festivals. Volksfeste were adopted from Germany and Switzerland where they were celebrated as manifestations of the spirit of the common people and were designed to maintain rural traditions and to strengthen national feelings. . . . Volksfest organizers equally blended regional, German, American, and German-American themes in a by-and-large successful attempt to create a genuine, regionally colored but still completely German-American ethnicity. . . . Volksfeste and the memories experienced in them helped German Americans face life in a modern, industrialized, American environment. . . ; created identity and were used at the same time to establish distinction. . . ; offered an opportunity to depict the regional varieties of the German nation. . . ; serve[d] as a model for the establishment of a composite, strong American nation. . . ; [allowed] the immigrants to relax and rejuvenate. . . ; [injected] German values like honesty and hard work. . .into American life to counterbalance what was considered excessive American materialsism and bigoted Puritanism. . . ; served charitable goals. . . ; [and] offered Germans the opportunity to meet and organize. While Volksfeste allowed Germans from the same regions with shared dialects to gather and share memories, they also attracted different regional groups and fostered intermingling and the sharing of traditions. |
| Notes | Includes bibliographical notes. |
| Call Number | MKI JF197 R438 2005 and P2011-15 |
| MKI Terms | German Americans/ 19th century/ 20th century/ Ethnic identity/ Festivals/ Societies, etc./ Social life and customs |