Louis r LudwigAugust Wollenweber (5 December 1807 – 25 July 1888) was a

German-American German Americans (, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. According to the United States Census Bureau's figures from 2022, German Americans make up roughly 41 million people in the US, which is approximately 12% of the pop ...

German-language journalist and a writer of

prose Prose is language that follows the natural flow or rhythm of speech, ordinary grammatical structures, or, in writing, typical conventions and formatting. Thus, prose ranges from informal speaking to formal academic writing. Prose differs most n ...

and poetry in

Pennsylvania Dutch The Pennsylvania Dutch (), also referred to as Pennsylvania Germans, are an ethnic group in Pennsylvania in the United States, Ontario in Canada, and other regions of both nations. They largely originate from the Palatinate (region), Palatina ...

Biography

Germany

As he was orphaned early in life, he was compelled to give up any hope for higher education. He was educated at Speyer for the trade of a

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer (fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * James Printer (1640 ...

. Upon the completion of his term of

apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in ...

ship, he traveled through Germany as a

journeyman A journeyman is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that field as a fully qualified employee ...

worker, finally settling in Homburg and working for the ''Deutsche Tribüne''. He was compelled to emigrate to the United States, via France and the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, in consequence of his being one of the agitators of the " Hambacher Volksfest." The journal he was working on was suppressed by the German Diet as well.

Pennsylvania

After his arrival in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, he was first engaged on J. G. Wesselhöft's ''Schnellpost''. He later founded a new German-language paper, ''Der Freimuethige'' (The Free-Thinker), which lasted only for a short time. He subsequently acquired possession of the '' Demokrat'', the chief German-language newspaper in Philadelphia. In 1853 he sold the ''Demokrat'' to his brother-in-law, John S. Hoffman, and afterward resided in the Lebanon Valley and in Reading. Here he was a frequent correspondent of the German newspapers, and wrote much. He wrote chiefly in ''Hochdeutsch'' (literary or

high German The High German languages (, i.e. ''High German dialects''), or simply High German ( ) – not to be confused with Standard High German which is commonly also called "High German" – comprise the varieties of German spoken south of the Ben ...

), but also did some pieces in

Pennsylvania German The Pennsylvania Dutch (), also referred to as Pennsylvania Germans, are an ethnic group in Pennsylvania in the United States, Ontario in Canada, and other regions of both nations. They largely originate from the Palatinate region of Germany ...

dialect. He loved the Pennsylvania-Germans and their dialect, and they were glad for his book (see the first item in Works below). He was probably the only one of the 19th-century immigrants who deliberately wanted to be counted as a Pennsylvania German, and tried to speak and write, or thought he was speaking and writing, their idiom.

Works

* ''Gemälde aus dem pennsylvanischen Volksleben'' (Sketches of Domestic Life in Pennsylvania), a collection of poems and sketches in the

Pennsylvania German language Pennsylvania Dutch (, or ) or Pennsylvania German is a variety of Palatine German spoken by the Pennsylvania Dutch, including the Amish, Mennonites, Fancy Dutch, and other related groups in the United States and Canada. There are approximate ...

. (Philadelphia, 1869) * ''Treu bis in den Tod'' (Faithful onto death; 1875) * ''Zwei treue Kameraden'' (Two loyal comrades; 1878) * ''Gila, das Indianermädchen oder die wiedergefundenen deutschen Kinder unter den Indianern'' (Gila, the Indian maid or German children found again amidst the Indians), a play * ''Freuden und Leiden in Amerika, oder die Lateiner am Schuylkill Canal'' (Joy and suffering in America or Classical scholars on the Schuylkill Canal), a play * ''General Peter Mühlenberg'', a tale of the revolutionary war * ''Sprache, Sitten und Gebräuche der Deutsch-Pennsylvanier'' (Language, customs and habits of the Pennsylvania Germans) * ''Aus Berks County schwerster Zeit'' (The worst times in Berks County), a tale of the pioneers of

Berks County Berks County (Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Barricks Kaundi'') is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 428,849. The county seat is Reading, the fourth-most populous city in the state. The ...

* ''Die drei gräber auf dem Riethen Kirchhof'' (The three graves in Riethe graveyard) * ''Die erste Mühle am Mühlbach'' (The first mill at Mühlbach)

Notes

References

* This source gives Ixheim (near

Zweibrücken Zweibrücken (; ; , ; literally translated as "Two Bridges") is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Schwarzbach (Blies), Schwarzbach River. Name The name ''Zweibrücken'' means 'two bridges'; older forms of the name include Middl ...

) as his place of birth and Wirth (in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

) as his first place of employment. * This source reports Wesselhöft's journal as ''Die Freipost''. Attribution: *

External links

Gemälde aus dem pennsylvanischen Volksleben
at archive.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Wollenweber, Louis August 1807 births 1888 deaths 19th-century American poets American poets in Pennsylvania Dutch American writers in Pennsylvania Dutch American male poets Emigrants from the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg Immigrants to the United States German revolutionaries German-American culture Pennsylvania Dutch language Poets from Pennsylvania 19th-century American journalists American male journalists Publishers (people) of German-language newspapers in the United States 19th-century American male writers Pennsylvania Dutch people