To understand why our ancestors might have made the decision to emigrate, we must understand some of the broader currents and events in Europe. Events did not happen at the same time in all of the countries of Europe. I will use the case of Austria to illustrate my remarks.
Prior to Martin Luther, several individuals had seen the desirability of reform in the Christian church in Europe, though in the person of Martin Luther these ideas came across most strongly. In some countries, the impact was immediate, but in other counties there was a delay. In Austria, reform did not come for about thirty years, until an outsider did missionary work. Starting in 1750, Austria rapidly became fertile ground for reform measures. In villages such as Gresten, the villages demanded, and got, the use of the church for the "protestors". The majority of Austria was Protestant in 1575. In Gresten, the home village of some of our Germanna people, it was almost one hundred percent.
A counter reformation was launched in Austria about 1577. But the religious question became entangled in a larger conflict which resulted in a "Farmer's War" toward the end of the century. Thousands of farmers throughout Austria rose up in revolt, but the better equipped, and better trained, forces of the emperor defeated the farmers, on whom a great loss of life was inflicted. Several farmers, some from the village of Gresten, were executed after the war; however, the church in Gresten remained Protestant.
The Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, whose base was in Austria, felt that it was a disgrace to have Protestants in the empire, and especially in Austria. Out of such considerations, the Thirty Years' War commenced in 1618, and encompassed not only Austria, but what is now Germany as well. Initially, it was a religious war, but it ended as a political war. In 1630, Protestant churches were banned in Austria. People still retained an identity as Protestants (Lutherans), but the only church for them to attend was the Catholic Church.
A very important consideration was what the war did to Germany. Many lives were lost; in some areas the final population was one-third of the prewar levels. Southwest Germany was especially hard hit. In the north of Bavaria, by the end of the war, there were more than one hundred known farms, of which only three were occupied. The rulers of these principalities were hit hard. While most managed to escape with their lives, their income fell drastically, because of sharply reduced tax collections. (There was almost no one left from whom to collect taxes!)
The war ended in 1648, with no clear winners. It was hard to return to normalcy because of a labor shortage. Draft animals were scarce. Feeding even the reduced population was difficult, and for a few years the concentration was on getting enough to eat.
In Austria, in 1652, Ferdinand III declared that one must either convert to Catholicism or leave the country. He was not prepared for the large number who wanted to leave. In fact, he dearly needed the people to remain in Austria to help rebuild the country. So he set up many roadblocks to prevent emigration, but he did not change his philosophy.
(04 Sep 01)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.