The term Dreissiger (German ''Dreißiger'') (Thirtiers) refers to liberal

intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and Human self-reflection, reflection about the nature of reality, especially the nature of society and proposed solutions for its normative problems. Coming from the wor ...

s who left

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and came to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in the 1830s to escape

political repression Political repression is the act of a state entity controlling a citizenry by force for political reasons, particularly for the purpose of restricting or preventing the citizenry's ability to take part in the political life of a society, thereby ...

. In a broader sense, it refers to immigrants from across Germany, and including members of every social and economic class, who

immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

to the US during this period. The French

July Revolution The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution (), Second French Revolution, or ("Three Glorious ays), was a second French Revolution after French Revolution, the first of 1789–99. It led to the overthrow of King Cha ...

of 1830, the

Hambacher Fest The Hambacher Festival was a German national democratic festival celebrated from 27 May to 30 May 1832 at Hambach Castle, near Neustadt an der Weinstraße, in present-day Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The event was disguised as a nonpolitical co ...

of 1832 and the failure of the

Frankfurter Wachensturm The Frankfurter Wachensturm (German: charge of the Frankfurt guard house) on 3 April 1833 was a failed attempt to start a revolution in Germany. Events About 50 students attacked the soldiers and policemen of the Frankfurt Police offices ''Haup ...

of 1833 were followed by restrictions on

press freedom Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic media, especially published materials, should be considered a right to be exerc ...

and

academic freedom Academic freedom is the right of a teacher to instruct and the right of a student to learn in an academic setting unhampered by outside interference. It may also include the right of academics to engage in social and political criticism. Academic ...

. At the instigation of the chancellor of the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

, Prince Metternich, the ''Central Federal Bureau of Investigations'' () was set up after the revolt against the reign in the

Free City of Frankfurt Frankfurt was a major city of the Holy Roman Empire, being the seat of imperial elections since 885 and the city for Coronation of the Holy Roman emperor, imperial coronations from 1562 (previously in Free Imperial City of Aachen) until 1792. F ...

by the

States of the German Confederation The states of the German Confederation were member states of the German Confederation, from 20 June 1815 until 24 August 1866. On the whole, its territory nearly coincided with that remaining in the Holy Roman Empire at the outbreak of the Fren ...

dominated through the

Austrian monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ( composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it ...

. Leaders including Paul Follenius and Friedrich Münch organized the Giessen Emigration Society to help Germans move to a "new and free Germany in the great North American Republic." The Dreissiger were generally more cautious than the later forty-eighters, who immigrated to the US after the failed European

revolutions of 1848 The revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the springtime of the peoples or the springtime of nations, were a series of revolutions throughout Europe over the course of more than one year, from 1848 to 1849. It remains the most widespre ...

. The more liberal of the Dreissiger formed societies dedicated to supporting equality and justice, but the more conservative Catholic Germans were uncomfortable with this activism.

Notable German Dreissiger in the US

* Paul Follen (1799–1844), attorney and farmer, founder of the ''Giessen Emigration Society'' () * Friedrich Münch (1799-1881), pastor, vintner, politician and author * Gustav Bunsen (1804–1836), surgeon, leader of the

, killed in action in the Texas War of Independence * Theodor Engelmann (1808–1889), lawyer, journalist and newspaper publisher * Gustav Koerner (1809–1896), attorney and judge, Brig. General, diplomat and statesman, journalist *

Ferdinand Lindheimer Ferdinand Jacob Lindheimer (May 21, 1801 – December 2, 1879) was a German Texan botanist who spent his working life on the American frontier. In 1936, Recorded Texas Historic Landmark number 1590 was placed on Lindheimer's grave. Biography Ear ...

(1801–1879),

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

(''Father of Texas Botany''), journalist and newspaper publisher

References

{{reflist, 1, refs= {{cite book , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tC9d4JVvefIC&pg=PA144 , page=144 , title=Ohio: the history of a people , author=Andrew Robert Lee Cayton , publisher=Ohio State University Press , year=2002 , ISBN=0-8142-0899-1 {{cite book , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LQFKJiiaE6IC&pg=PA9 , page=9 , title=St. Louis Germans, 1850-1920: the nature of an immigrant community and its relation to the assimilation process , author=Audrey L. Olson , publisher=Ayer Publishing , year=1980 , ISBN=0-405-13447-9 {{cite web , url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/pnd01 , title=Dreissiger , publisher= Texas State Historical Association , accessdate=2010-10-25 1830s in the German Confederation German-American history German diaspora in the United States Liberalism in the United States