The History of German Trachten (Traditional Dress)

What is Trachten?

‘Trachten’ is a traditional fashion style, popularly known as ‘Dirndl’ (women’s dresses) and ‘Lederhosen’ (men’s leather pants). The best known Trachten comes from Bavaria and is associated with Oktoberfest. What most people don’t know, however, is that there are many forms of Trachten that historically vary by geographic region, social status and occasion.

Trachten began in the 15th Century

Traditional Trachten dress dates back to the 15th Century. It developed out of the clothing worn by farmers and their wives in rural agricultural areas and was a special form of fashion used to express regional, religious and social status. Different styles of Trachten were worn according to circumstances (mourning, festive, everyday), to express wealth, professional occupation or personal status. 

Trachten from Northern Hesse (Source: folk costume.blogspot.com)

Regional Trachten

Regional Trachten differed greatly. For instance, in Hessen (Hesse in English), women wore black Trachten with colorful appliqué. The Huguenots in the area wore Trachten that was even more colorful, based on their special trade privileges (wissen.de). In Northern Germany, the women wore Trachten dominated by black and white contrasts, flowers and natural tones. In Bavaria, women wore Dirndl dresses, velour hats and fringed scarves. Men wore leather trousers, vests, ‘Janker’ jackets and stockings.  In Brandenburg, by contrast, women wore a simple red wool skirt with a white apron, black bodice and white ruffle collar. In some areas of Germany, Trachten was meant to express extreme magnificence: In the Schwälmer-Eder area, women wore up to fifteen petticoats on top of each other! (wissen.de)

Trachten also traditionally delineated class differences: civil servants wore ‘Amtstracht’; normal workers wore ‘Berufstracht’; guild-member craftsmen wore ‘Zunfttracht’.

Traditional Trachten Upper Bavaria (Source: folkscostume.blogspot.com)

German Identity Through Trachten Dress

The idea of Trachten as form of national ‘Volkstracht’ (national dress) dates back to the end of the 18th and early 19th centuries. König Ludwig’s wedding ceremony to Princess Therese in 1810 included children in different Trachten outfits representing different parts of Bavaria. By the second half of the 19th century, Trachten enthusiast groups had formed around the country to preserve and maintain Trachten traditions in lieu of the increasing migration of countryside residents to the industrialized cities. Trachten became a symbol for the idealized romantic country lifestyle. The Dirndl, originally a simple Alpine dress style, was reconfigured as a practical clothing style for city women.

Lower Franconia Trachten (Source: folks costume.blogspot.com)

In the 1930’s, Hilter latched on to the idea of Trachten as a form of Arian identity and prohibited Jews from wearing the traditional dress. Through the National Socialists, Trachten became politically loaded as a symbol in propagating Arian identity. 

Trachten Today

The Sound of Music was helpful in reestablishing a positive connotation for Trachten around the world in the early 1960’s. The film elevated Trachten to its original positive reputation as a romantic form of traditional dress. 

A modern Interpretation of Trachten from the Black Forest (personal photo)

Mainly worn in Bavaria, Trachten is fashionable in other parts of the country only on special occasions or to celebrate Oktoberfest. However certain aspects of Trachten have become indispensable to the modern German ‘look,’ whether worn with jeans or as a substitute for a men’s suit. Almost every German city offers some form of Trachten shop, and the fashion is popular with Germans and tourists from around the world. 

Sources:

www.wikipedia.org

www.wissen.de

www.galatea-ziss.de

Caspar David Friedrich: Germany’s Most Famous Romantic Painter

This year marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of Caspar David Friedrich (5 September, 1774 – 7 May, 1840), who is considered Germany’s most important painter during the Romantic Period. His work influenced other famous Romantic painters like J.M.W. Turner and John Constable of England. Later, Expressionist painter Edvard Munch of Norway and Max Ernst of Germany were influenced by his work. Friedrich’s work was also highly regarded by the 20th Century Surrealists, including Italian artist Giorgio de Chirico and American painter Mark Rothko.

Rocky Ravine in the Elbe Sandstone, Source: Wikipedia

What was the Romantic Period?

The Romantic Period was a period of great intellectual and cultural achievement that spanned the late 18th and early 19th centuries. German Romanticism was then a current of thought founded upon a refusal of modernity and material prosperity. In other words, German Romanticists were disenchanted with the development of society. They longed for an idyllic past, a life in the countryside, and a return to traditional and rural values. They were expressing their disillusionment with a society that they saw as over-materialistic. The Romantic movement was expressed in literature, music and the visual arts.

How Did Caspar David Friedrich’s Work Embody Romanticism?

Friedrich was a painter who used landscape painting to create an intense and emotional focus on nature. His paintings were often filled with religious allegory, but the focus of his work was on the spirituality of nature over religion. For this reason his work was often not well understood or well received while he was alive.  

One technique that Friedrich used was the depiction of a person from behind (Rückenfigur), seen to be contemplating a view. This technique was quite new at the time and encouraged the viewer to take in the sites and share the experience of the depicted figure. His style of depiction was Neo-classical, meaning realistic in its portrayal of subject. But his landscapes were also full of feeling and mood. Critics refer to his atmospheric landscape painting style as ‘romantische Stimmungslandschaft’, where geographical features such as rock coasts, forests and mountain scenes express religious themes as metaphors. As Friedrich wrote: ‘The artist should paint not only what he sees before him, but also what he sees within him.’

Wanderer Above a Sea of Fog, Source: Wikipedia

How Has Friedrich’s Legacy Survived?

As Friedrich aged, his painting became darker and reflected his own growing pessimism and fear of death. He fell out of popularity until the Nazis resurrected his reputation as a part of German Nationalism. It took until the 1970’s before Friedrich’s reputation could be relieved of the Nazi tarnish. Today his works are enjoying a Renaissance and sixty of his most famous paintings and sketches are on exhibition in Hamburg to commemorate the anniversary of his birth. 

 https://www.hamburger-kunsthalle.de/caspar-david-friedrich-tickets has more information.

1822. Oil on canvas. 71 x 55 cm (28 x 21.7 in). Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany. (Photo by VCG Wilson/Corbis via Getty Images)

The Solitary Tree, Source: Getty

Sources:

www.twu.edu.:

Caspar David Friedrich and the 20th Century, Alicia Burden, Texas Women’s University

www.wikipedia.org

www.artable.com

The History of the Soft Pretzel

Source: iStock

How it Started

The soft pretzel is not a German invention. No-one knows for sure, but most sources indicate that the pretzel was invented in 610 A.D. by an Italian monk who is said to have created the pretzel (‘pretiola’ in Italian) as a reward for children who learned their prayers. He is said to have made the treats formed into a ‘knot’, with little arms of dough folded over each other, to resemble the crossed arms of the children in prayer (history.com).

Other theories say that pretzels began in a monastery in Southern France, or in Germany, where bakers held hostage invented the ‘Bretzel’ for their captors out of desperation. 

The Catholic Church saw the shape of the pretzel as a symbol for the holy trinity. Since pretzels were made of only flour, water and salt, they were suitable nourishment during Lent, when the consumption of fats and proteins was banned. Before Easter Eggs became popular, it was also common for children to search for hidden pretzels on Easter morning.

The Pretzel in Germany

Pretzels were popular in Southern Germany and many variations, including sweet varieties, were invented. In German-speaking European countries, pretzels were considered a symbol for good luck. They were often given as gifts at weddings as a symbol for ‘tying the knot’. At the beginning of the year, people give each other a ‘Bretzel’ for good luck.

‘Bretzel’ became the emblem of bakers and their guilds in Southern Germany as early as the 12th century. A Pretzel sign above a bakery entrance is a common symbol throughout Germany still today.

Source: Alamy

‘Bretzel’ are eaten with white sausages in Bavaria. In other parts of Germany, they are sliced horizontally and served with sandwich fillings. Some varieties are sweet, like ‘Lebkuchen Bretzel’ (gingerbread pretzels) at Christmas, and different types of dough can be flaky, brittle, soft or crisp. ‘Bretzel’ are often sold at beer festivals and there are even public days devoted to ‘Bretzel’ culture in individual cities throughout the country.

Source: Getty

The Pretzel in America

Swiss German immigrants to Pennsylvania were the first to introduce the pretzel to people in the United States. Julius Sturgis is cited as the first American to open a commercial pretzel bakery in the Central Pennsylvania countryside in 1850.

With time the commercial production of pretzels increased and shifted to hard pretzels, because they could be packed in airtight containers to stay fresh longer than soft varieties. Today Pennsylvania remains the biggest producers of pretzels, with 80% of the 1.2 billion dollar industry in the USA (history.com).

Soft pretzels continue to be popular snacks sold by street vendors in major cities like, Philadelphia, Chicago and New York. And today, pretzels are present in dishes that American forefathers could never have imagined, from ice cream toppings to chocolate candies. Who knows what twists and turns the future holds for the humble pretzel!

Sources:

www.wikipedia.org

www.pretzel.com

www.history.com

Advent in Germany

Advent in Germany is considered by many as magical, wholesome and traditional. The four weeks leading up to Christmas include so much seasonal cheer; Christmas markets, Nikolaus festivals (December 6th), ‘Plätzchen backen’ (baking Christmas cookies), ‘Glühwein trinken’ (drinking mulled wine), and singing Christmas carols to name a few.

This month the Palatinate blog will look at two seasonal German traditions are very popular in the United States; the Advent calendar and the Advent wreath.

The Advent Calendar Today in the USA

Advent calendars have been a tradition in US households for decades. Traditionally, Americans celebrate the countdown to Christmas with calendars that open to reveal a small treat: a Bible verse, a small toy or a piece of chocolate. In recent years, US retailers have become creative…and more commercial, too. 

Today there are Advent calendars with personal care products, jewelry or food items and more. According to NPR, Saks Fifth Avenue sold 18 types of calendars with prices ranging from $65 to $3500 in 2022. Aldi puts its calendars on the market by November 1 in one shipment, meaning supplies are quickly grabbed up by the public. Advent calendars are big business…

But how did the Advent calendars get here? The answer is in their religious roots that date back to Germany in the fourth century.

The German History of the Advent Calendar

Advent is celebrated in most Christian churches and runs for four weeks beginning on the Sunday closest to the feast day of St. Andrew the Apostle (November 30). Scholars believe Advent, which means ‘arrival’ in Latin, became explicitly linked to Christmas in the Middle Ages. 

Advent calendars have their roots in the 19th century, when German Protestants starting taking creative steps to mark the days leading up to Christmas by making a chalk mark on walls or doors or by lighting candles. The first known handmade Advent calendar dates from 1851. German publisher Gerhard Lang is touted as the inventor of the printed Advent calendar in the early 1900s. He created the first calendar with doors in the 1920s.

By the 1930s Advent calendars were in high demand in Germany. This practice stopped during WWII, when the Nazis banned the printing of illustrated calendars. After the war, chocolate-filled calendars appeared in the ‘50s and were commercially produced by the early 1970s.

Today, similar to in the United States, there are Advent calendars on the German market that offer a wide array of products and prices. Most families have, however, a traditional printed calendar somewhere at home to keep the old tradition of the Advent calendar alive. 

As NPR quotes Marcia Mogelonsky, Director at the marketing research firm Mintel, ‘We all need the gift of time. And this is a way of slowing us down.’

The Advent Wreath and its Symbolism

Advent wreathes are perhaps less well-known than Advent calendars in the United States, but are an important tradition in Germany.

An Advent wreath is an evergreen wreath with four candles. One candle is lit on each of the four Sundays leading up to Christmas. Advent wreathes have a Christian heritage and originated among German Lutherans in the 16th century. 

According to Wikipedia, the first Advent wreath is accredited to a German Luther Seminary pastor from Hamburg who, in 1839, built a wooden ring with 24 small red candles and four large white candles to help the children in his mission school remember when Christmas was coming. The custom was adopted by Protestant churches and eventually the Roman Catholic Church as well. By the 1930s, Advent wreathes had also spread to America. Eventually even the Eastern Orthodox Church adapted the Advent wreath to have six candles in accordance with their Christmas traditions. 

In Christian religion, Advent wreathes are round to symbolize God’s infinite love. The evergreen represents the hope of eternal life. The candles stand for the light of God coming through the birth of Jesus. In a more secular sense, the four candles are also said to stand for hope, peace, joy and love. The liturgical colors of vestments during the Christmas season are violet (or blue) and rose. Hence the candles on Advent wreathes are often in these colors. Sometimes Advent wreathes have four red candles. In the UK, red candles are linked to special readings that are based on Bible stories.

Eine Schöne Adventszeit!

Unlike Anglophones, Germans don’t wish people merry Christmas before Christmas Eve. Instead they wish each other ‘Happy Advent’ (Schöne oder Frohe Adventszeit!), because the entire time of Advent is cherished for its specialness, joy and thoughtfulness toward others.  

The Palatinate DAR wishes you a wonderful Advent!

Sources:

www.npr.org: Advent Calendars Explained, November 6, 2023

www.wikipedia.org: History of the Advent Wreath

www.the germanway.org: Advent Customs

Photos: Advent calendars from Alpen Schatz, wreath photo from iStock, Advent greeting from Annelis Art

German Halloween and Thanksgiving

Although Germany does not celebrate either of these American fall holidays, there are traditions here that partially share their background.

The German fall holiday that is often compared to Halloween is called St. Martin’s Day. St. Martin’s Day, which was historically called Old Hallowmass Eve, is the feast day of Saint Martin of Tours. In the church calendar, the holiday of St. Martin is celebrated on November 11th. It coincides with the end of the harvest season and beginning of winter. Part of the tradition includes eating a ‘Martinmas goose’ and drinking the first wine from the season (called ‘mumming’). Children participate in twilight parades, carrying self-made lanterns and singing traditional songs. Their parade is usually led by a group of musicians and a man on a horse who is dressed as a soldier. 

Source: www.german.way

After parading through the neighborhood (usually with their school mates), the children gather and watch how the soldier (Martin of Tours) tears his coat in half with his sword to help a freezing beggar dressed in rags. This act is celebrated as an act of Christian charity. Martin later became a Christian monk and was named the Bishop of Tours.

Source: adobe

Following the sharing of the coat, the children receive a ‘Weck’, or loaf of bread, and are allowed to proceed from house to house with their lanterns, singing traditional songs and receiving sweets as payment. This aspect of the celebration is somewhat similar to American ‘trick or treating’.  The gift of the ‘Weck’  bread has more traditional European roots, however, since a ‘Weck’ loaf was usually given to farmers as payment when they delivered their crops to the church at the end of the harvest season.

Coincidentally, November 11th is also the beginning of ‘Fasching’, or ‘Karneval’. The festivities begin at 11:11 that morning. 

The other fall holiday that is similar to Thanksgiving is called Erntedankfest (harvest celebration).

The celebration of Erntedankfest goes back as far as pagan times. Farmers celebrated and gave thanks for their good fortune and a successful harvest. They would fill a goat’s horn with fruit and grain. The symbol was called a ‘cornucopia’, or horn of plenty, and is today part of our American Thanksgiving tradition. Erntedankfest is usually celebrated around the end of September, following ‘Michaelstag’, or St. Michael’s Day, on the 29th.

Source: edreams

Erntedankfest is largely a religious festival and tends to be a rural event. There are fairs and gatherings featuring lots of food, drink and conviviality. The Catholic and Protestant churches both actively celebrate Erntedankfest, which traditionally starts with a church service.  In many places there is later a parade where a ‘harvest crown’ is awarded to the ‘harvest queen’. Then the parties begin with lots of music, dancing and food. There are also parades for the children, and sometimes there are games.

Source: pitopia

Germans don’t eat turkey for Erntedankfest, and it is not a day for family get-togethers. But it shares the concept of thankfulness for bounty and good fortune. Church-goers donate canned goods to the poor, and left over food from local celebrations is distributed to the needy in the community. 

Source: alamy

Sources:

www.wikipedia.org

www.germanfoods.org

www.german-way.com

German Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest in Munich is the world’s largest folk festival and attracts millions of visitors every year.

What makes the Oktoberfest so special? The answer lies in tradition, greatly aided by the consumption of significant alcohol (beer), very loud ‘oom-pah’ music and colorful Bavarian costumes.

The festivities begin at noon on a Saturday in the second half of September (this year on the 16th) and continue for more than two weeks.

Tradition and Oktoberfest

The Oktoberfest rituals are the same every year. The kick-off takes place in the oldest beer tent when the Mayor taps the first keg and exclaims ‘O’zapft!’ (keg tapped!). A gun salute is fired in the air to the Bavaria statue, and the sale of beer in the tents begins.

Fourteen temporary structures of various sizes and seating up to 2,900 people provide space for food and music. They are packed with picnic tables and benches. Comfort is not especially important because the individual sessions are limited to a couple of hours before the old customers are escorted out and the new visitors flood into the tent.

Prior to the ‘O’zapft,’ the festival tent keepers and breweries have a ceremony for taking over the Theresienwiese grounds, where the festival is held. A colorful procession of horse carriages, wagons decorated with flowers and waitresses holding beer mugs make their way through the streets of Munich to the festival meadow.

The beer served at Oktoberfest comes from one of only six official breweries: Augustiner, Paulaner, Spaten-Franziskaner, Löwenbrau, Hacker-Pschorr and Hofbräu. All are traditional breweries that have been in the same families for generations. 

On the first Sunday of the festival there is another parade through Munich where around 9,000 people dressed in costumes march accompanied by brass orchestras and bands to the festival grounds.

And on the last day of Oktoberfest there is a closing ceremony that includes another gun salute to the Bavaria statue at noon.

How Oktoberfest Got Started

At the beginning of the 19th Century, Andreas Michael Dall’Armi, a member of the Bavarian National Guard, had the idea of creating a unique wedding celebration for the Prince Regent Ludwig of Bavaria (later King Ludwig I) and the princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen. Dall’Armi organized a horse race as part of the wedding festivities.

The race took place after the couple was married on October 12, 1810 on the grounds of what became known as the Theresienwiese, later named for the bride. This marked the beginning of the Oktoberfest. 

Though wars and scourges delayed the establishment of an annual celebration, the placement of a statue of Bavaria, guardian of the Oktoberfest and symbol of the Bavarian state, was unveiled in 1850. Oktoberfest became a regular institution in Munich from then on.

The Mayor tapped the opening barrel for the first time in 1950, adding yet another layer of tradition to the annual proceedings. Today there is an accompanying fun fair for visitors (‘Budenstrasse,’ or strip of booths) plus a ferris wheel and roller coasters for family entertainment. 

How to Have Fun at Oktoberfest

Wearing the costumes are an important part of the fun. Men wear ‘Lederhosen’ (leather shorts) with suspenders and Trachten hats (felt hats with an ornamental tuft of goat hair). Women wear ‘Dirndl’ dresses that are tightly fit above the waist with a flowing skirt bottom and an apron. If a woman ties the bow to her apron on the right, this signifies that she is taken. On the left means she is available. 

When you drink beer at your table, make sure you use the traditional greeting ‘Prost!’ To toast with a neighbor. Always make eye contact with your drinking compatriot!

Food is also a big part of the fun. Eat ‘Hendl’ (spit-roasted chicken), ‘Haxn’ (pork knuckles), ‘Bretzel’ (soft pretzel), ‘Knödel’ (dumplings), ’Würstl’ (sausages) or ‘Brotzeit’ (platters with bread, meats and cheeses).

Before you leave, make sure you buy a souvenir! Buy a ‘Lebkuchen’ (gingerbread) heart, a beer stein, some ‘gebrannte’ Mandeln (sugar-coated roasted almonds) or a felt hat with a tuft.

And enjoy the music! Oom-pah music encourages swaying. If you are really feeling good, join in the iconic ‘Ententanz’ (Chicken Dance), which goes like this:

-Hold your hands next to your ears with the palms facing forward and open and close them four times,

-Tuck your hands under your armpits and flap your elbows four times,

-Straighten your arms and wiggle four times to the music,

-Stand up and clap four times. 

O’zapft!

Sources:

www.germanculture.com

www.frommers.com

www.oktoberfest.de

All photos sourced from Google

German Urban Planning and Climate Change

These days most everyone accepts the premise that global warming is real and poses a threat to the future of the planet. Reports of tragic fires, raging floods and record snowfalls are regular features in newspapers every day.

In an attempt to meet the challenges of our changing world climate, Germany has developed some interesting urban planning methods to help in the off-take of water during flash flooding and to reduce heat in urban areas of intense exposure during periods of extreme dryness.

Here are several highlights.

Sponge Cities

A Sponge City (Schwammstadt) is an urban planning concept that attempts to save as much rain and surface water as possible where it falls instead of channeling it into the canalization system in order to direct it away from source to a centralized collection site. This concept is important during flash flooding, when the the traditional redirection of water to central collection sites results in an overtaxation of the canalization, causing damage. The idea of keeping and using precipitation where it falls has many advantages: It is more efficient; it creates a water resource for urban trees and plantings at source; its evaporation helps to reduce temperatures and thus cool infrastructure, from streets and sidewalks to buildings and public spaces.

Example of porous asphalt

Example of absorbent paving stones

Source: iStock Photos

The sponge system relies on several environmental and agricultural technical features like porous pavements that allow water to seep away, underground or above ground troughs that can retain water, and trenches that can lead water to local collection points or areas of high heat exposure (building surfaces, open paved areas) for cooling. Underground water retention ponds are an additional resource for collecting urban water for use in local hot spots.

Berlin and Hamburg are both innovators in the execution of Sponge City concepts. These cities lend themselves to the development of techniques to retain water locally since Hamburg is located at the ocean and Berlin is surrounded by many lakes and swampy land. Other German cities are also expanding the use of absorbent pavement materials, particularly in areas where flooding occurs regularly (ie., along the Rhine and other rivers, especially those located in steep valleys).

Green Cities

Another contemporary planning concept for fighting global warming in urban environments is to ‘green them up’. This means the planting of trees in open areas along streets, planting rooftops and building facades with bushes and trees, and the creation of constructed wetlands, ponds and open water surfaces throughout the city landscape.

These efforts not only improve the optical quality of life in cities, but also contribute, through evaporation, to cooling during heat phases and the absorption of CO2 to improve air quality for residents. 

Example of ‘greened’ building

Example of ‘greened’ house roof

Source: iStock Photos

Multiple Use Spaces

Air quality is also a very important component of city-living. A key pro-active concept for reducing CO2 in the inner cities (and thus improving air quality) involves an increased availability of affordable local public transport, footpaths, cycle ways and something called ‘Multiple Use’ spaces. The focus here is on so-called “grey infrastructure”; streets, squares, parking spaces and buildings that could be made more green and where cars, pedestrians, bike riders and children can all co-exist in pedestrian zones with limited traffic. Digital Mobility Stations on site encourage shared use of infrastructure by providing information about the availability of local car sharing and bicycle/moped/cargo bike pick up sites in the vicinity. A secondary benefit of well-planned multiple use spaces is that they create homogeneity among local residents, because they can fulfill most of their shopping and service requirements by foot or nearby. Less driving and traffic congestion thus contribute to a higher quality of life and a harmonious local environment.

Example of a digital Mobility Station

Source: iStock Photos

Summary

As the challenges of global warming continue to affect our environment and how we live, top-of mind awareness and adaptation of new measures to confront change will be increasingly important to maintaining quality of life, in urban areas and non-urban areas alike. 

Sources:

‘How Smart Mixed-Use Environments Can Refine Urban Spaces’, Christian Lehmkuhl, April 11, 2023, www.gensler.com

Wikipedia, ‘Schwammstadt’, www.wikipedia.org

‘Das Konzept der Schwammstadt’, www.sieker.de

John Peter Zenger and Freedom of the Press

John Peter Zenger (Source: Prabook)

Why Was John Peter Zenger Important in Early America?

John Peter Zenger (1697-1746) was a German printer and journalist in New York City. He began printing a newspaper called The New York Weekly Journal in 1773. He was famous for printing opinions that were critical of the New York governor, William Cosby, who arrested Zenger in 1734 and charged him with libel in 1735. Defended by two famous lawyers at his trial, Zenger’s plea established that a statement, even if defamatory, is not libelous if it can be proven true. Thus an important groundwork was laid for freedom of the press that later influenced the creation of the First Amendment.

Early Life

Zenger was the son of German immigrants from the Palatinate. The family moved to New York in 1710 as part of a large group of Palatinates, who were guaranteed apprenticeships by the governor of New York. After the death of his father, John Peter Zenger was bound for eight years as an apprentice to William Bradford, the first printer in New York. He worked as an employee in several printing jobs before founding his own newspaper in 1773. He married twice and had six surviving children with his second wife, who also was instrumental in running his printing business during the time of Zenger’s incarceration in 1734.

The New York Weekly Journal (Source: Cowan’s Auctions)

The Libel Case

William Cosby, the governor of New York, had a vicious quarrel with the colony’s supreme court regarding the amount of his salary. The court ruled against Cosby, so Cosby removed the Chief Justice, Lewis Morris, from office and replaced him with a royalist justice named James Delaney. Supported by members of the Populist Party, Zenger’s newspaper published articles that were critical of the governor’s actions. Cosby called the claims ‘virulent, false and seditious reflections’ (wikipedia) and charged Zenger with libel.

Andrew Hamilton Defending John Peter Zenger at his Trial (Source: Alamy)

Zenger’s first counsel was found to be in contempt of court and removed. After eight months in jail, Zenger finally went to trial with two new defenders, Philadelphia lawyer Andrew Hamilton (later designer of Independence Hall) and New York lawyer William Smith, Sr. Hamilton and Smith made the argument that a statement, even if defamatory, is not libelous if it can be proven true. This is important because, at the time, any information opposed to the government was considered to be a crime.

The judge ordered the jury to convict Zenger, but after only ten minutes they came back with a ‘not guilty’ verdict.  Cheers filled the room (history.org), and afterwards newspaper publishers felt freer to print their honest views. As the American Revolution approached, this  freedom would become ever more vital. 

From the Trial of John Peter Zenger (Source: ZVAB)

Truth Cannot Be Libelous

Governor Morris, a major figure at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, later described the Zenger trial as the ‘germ of American freedom, the morning star of that liberty which subsequently revolutionized America’ (Middle Tennessee State University). Zenger’s victory established that truthful information cannot be libelous. This concept was later incorporated into the law of New York and other states and influenced the eventual creation of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. 

Sources:

wikipedia.org

ushistory.org

mtsu.edu (Middle Tennessee State University, John Vile, 2009)

Frederica de Riedesel: The Most Famous German Female POW in the American Revolution

Who Was Frederica de Riedesel?

Frederica Charlotte Louisa de Riedesel was the daughter of Massow, the Prussian Minister of State. She was born in Brandenburg, Germany in 1746. At the age of seventeen, she married Lieutenant Colonel Baron de Riedesel, who was appointed to command the Brunswick forces in British service under General Bourgoyne during the Revolutionary War. 

Frederica de Reidesel (Source: Wikipedia)

Frederica followed her husband with three young children to Canada in 1777. From there she and her children accompanied her husband’s troops through important battles that influenced the outcome of the Revolution, especially Burgoyne’s defeat in the battle at Saratoga, New York. The journal and letters she wrote to her mother describe her travels with the camp. Her son-in-law published the journal shortly after the death of Frederica’s husband in 1801. Today her accounts are considered a key resource for shedding light on what life on the front was like during the Revolution.

A Woman of Admirable Courage and Bravery

As a woman of high social rank, it was unusual that Frederica de Riedesel did not flinch at crossing the ocean with three small children to join her husband in Canada. She is described as having suffered great perils on the journey, which she met with ‘courage…and cheerful resignation’ (AmericanRevolution.org).

Despite the fact that she and her children were often starving, Frederica always unselfishly cared for and nursed the soldiers in the British camp. She wrote:

‘I endeavored to dispel my melancholy by continually attending to the wounded. I made them coffee and tea, and often shared my dinner with them. One day (when) a Canadian officer came creeping into our cellar, and was hardly able to say that he was dying with hunger, I felt happy to offer him my dinner, by eating which he recovered his health and I gained his friendship.’

Scene from the Battle of Saratoga (Source: Friends of Albany History — WordPress.com)

She followed her husband south to Saratoga, where the British were defeated. The British troops under General Gates surrendered themselves as prisoners of war. As a result, the de Riedesels and their children became prisoners from this point on. 

A Female POW with Children Travels to Virginia

After their capitulation in Saratoga, the de Riedesel family was moved south by carriage first to Albany and later Boston. As highly ranked nobles, they were generally greeted with dignity and friendship by families patriotic to both the American and British causes. If fact it is written that they even attended dinner parties and balls in Boston (ibid, above).

By the winter of 1778, though, they were back on the road headed for Virginia. Provisions were poor; the family suffered from the cold and damp on the long journey by carriage. Their reception in Virginia was much less ingratiating than in the North. Frederica wrote:

‘We were very hungry. Seeing much fresh meat in the house where we stopped, I begged the landlady to sell me some. ‘I have,’ quoth she, ‘several sorts of meat…’. I said, ‘let me have some; I will pay you liberally.’ But snapping her fingers, she replied; ‘You shall not have a morsel of it; why have you left your country to slay and rob us of our property? Now that you are our prisoners, it is our turn to vex you.’

The party encountered similar receptions all along the way, until they finally settled in Colle, Virginia after a journey of six hundred and twenty-eight miles. 

The family’s life improved somewhat after that, and in fact they became acquainted with George Washington and others associated with the American cause (Ibid, above). But in August of 1779 they were required to go back to New York, where Frederica’s husband was to be part of an exchange for American prisoners. 

Freedom Returns; A Happy End and A Summary 

At first they travelled to Pennsylvania and then on to New York, where they were pardoned and released from being prisoners of war. The family lived in the very comfortable quarters of the Governor, General Tryon. Also enjoying Tyron’s country estate, the family remained in New York until 1780. In September of 1781 the family returned to Quebec, and in 1783 the family returned, via Great Britain, to Germany.

Baron de Riedesel (Source: Inthewordsofwomen.com)

General Riedesel died in 1800. Frederica made her permanent residence in Berlin until her death in 1808. There she established an asylum for military orphans and an almshouse for the poor in Brunswick. 

There are not many accounts of women who witnessed the battles of the American Revolution firsthand. Frederica’s courage and selfless commitment is today seen as an inspiration for women and an historic confirmation of the important role that women also played in the American War for Independence. 

Sources:

AmericanRevolution.org

encyclopedia.com

wikipedia.com

Further Reading:

Riedesel, Baroness von. Journal and Correspondence of a Tour of Duty 1776-1783. Translated by Marvin L. Brown, Jr. and Marta Huth. Chapter Hill, University of North Carolina, 1965

Riedesel, Mrs. General. Letters and Journals Relating to the War of the American Revolution and the Capture of the German Troops at Saratoga. Translated by William Stone, Albany, 1867

Zeinert, Karen. Those Remarkable Women of the American Revolution. Brookfield, CT. Millbrook Press, 1966

The Hessian Soldiers and the American Revolution

‘He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.’

-Thomas Jefferson in his list of twenty-seven grievances against King George III included in the Declaration of Independence

Jefferson’s pejorative language was aimed at the 30,000 Hessian soldiers who had been hired by King George III to fight for Britain in the American Revolution. Jefferson used rhetoric that painted the Hessians as brutal, cruel and less than human (David Roos, Why the Germans Fought in the Revolutionary War—for the British, September 14, 2022; www.history.com).

In fact, the Hessians who fought were not blood-thirsty ‘mercenaries’ motivated by greed, according to Friederike Baer, a history professor at Penn State Abington (ibid). According to Baer, the soldiers were ‘auxiliary forces’ contracted by King George in agreements with German rulers who commanded and ‘rented out’ their military forces. 

Hessian Soldiers in Uniform (Source: American Revolution Institute)

The Difference Between Mercenaries and Auxiliary Forces

Mercenaries are individuals who sign on as soldiers to make money as a profession. Auxiliary forces are basically professional armies, raised and trained by local governments who were frequently hired out  to foreign governments to provide income for local rulers.

The hiring of auxiliary armies was not abnormal in the 18th century. Germany at the time was a loose federation of more than 300 states, cities and territories, each with its own ruler and professional army.

When the War of Independence broke out in the spring of 1775, the British quickly realized they couldn’t raise enough troops without the help of auxiliaries. Though the Empress Catherine the Great and the Netherlands both rejected King George’s request to hire troops, several German states were happy to comply. The six territories that signed on included Hessen-Kassel, Hessen-Hanau, Braunschweig, Anhalt-Zerbst, Ansbach-Bayreuth and Waldeck. Over half of all the soldiers were from the Hessen territories, which led to the labeling of all German soldiers as ‘Hessians’.

Hessian Soldiers (Source: Military History Now)

As the Hessians had already successfully fought on the side on the British during the 1760s in the Seven Year War  with France, the partnership suited the British.

The Hessian Army in America

The Hessian Army consisted of well-trained soldiers who were said to have had ‘iron discipline’ (wikipedia). The Hessian males were registered to military service as children, and they had to regularly present themselves for service until they were 30 years old (ibid). Their officers were well educated, and in contrast to many European countries, were promoted on the basis of merit. Soldiers were relatively well-paid and their families were exempt from certain taxes. They fought in their own regiments, using weapons and uniforms that they had manufactured in Germany. In this sense the Hessians had a certain autonomy and fought beside their contractors.

The Hessian army arrived in North America at Staten Island, New York on August 15th, 1776. Their first engagement was less than two weeks later in the Battle of Long Island (wikipedia). They went on to fight in many important battles that year. By 1778, the British mainly used the Hessian troops as garrison and patrol troops. Most of their military contributions were in the Northeast, though they fought as far south as Florida. Oddly, some of the British soldiers didn’t trust the Hessians, because they spoke no English. The British also evidently resented that the Hessians spoke out against executions and plundering. (wikipedia.org)

Hessians Fighting in the American Revolution (Source: britannica.com)

The Hessians Gain the Trust of the Americans

A turning point came for the Hessian troops when they were defeated in a surprise attack by George Washington and his troops on the morning of December 26, 1776 in Trenton, New Jersey. One thousand Hessians were captured. 

Washington’s troops quickly moved the prisoners north and crossed the Delaware at McConkel’s Ferry Inn under terrible winter conditions. The Hessian officers were separated from the soldiers, who were marched to Newtown and later to Philadelphia to be paraded through the streets. One of the officers named Lt. Andreas Wiederholt met with General Washington and willingly admitted the mistakes his troops had made in the battle. This information proved helpful in retaining Trenton and led Washington to change his opinion of the Hessians, claiming they were not the enemy and should be treated humanely. (washingtoncrossingpark.org)

From then on, people started to bring the Hessians food and treated the captives with kindness (ibid). The officers signed a ‘parole’, saying they would not interfere with Washington’s plans. The soldiers were brought to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where they were put to work on farms. The officers were escorted to the Virginia border, where they were essentially released without further recognizance. 

Of the roughly 30,000 Hessians who came to fight in America, about 7,500 died. Of those, about 1,200 died in combat. Disease was the biggest killer (Ibid above). Most of the soldiers returned to their homes in Germany, but between 5,000-6,000 Hessians stayed. Many settled in British-ruled Canada, but others were welcomed by German communities in the Mid-Atlantic states. 

Sources:

www.wikipedia.org

washingtoncrossingpark.org

www.history.com