In Austria, in and around the time of 1652, probably more than one hundred thousand Austrians decided to leave, mostly for Germany. Northern Bavarian was the destination of many, as it was Protestant in its outlook, and it had vacant land. Within the "Blankenbaker" or Planckenbühler family, five men left. None of these men had land in Austria. From the time of their departure, shortly after the edict of Ferdinand III, it would seem that religion played a role in the decision making. But it would be hard to discount economics as a motivation.
In fact, one of the individuals moved far beyond where it was necessary to find a farm, and even settled in an area under the jurisdiction of the (Catholic) Bishops of Speyer. This is the ancestor of the American Blankenbakers; however, all of the records for him seem to be found in the Protestant church books.
At the time of this exodus from Austria, there were other migrations. One of the major ones was from Switzerland to the lands on both sides of the Rhine River. Many of these people were Anabaptists, a Protestant group which gave rise to the Mennonites and the Amish. Again, the German rulers with the vacant land urged emigration into their principalities. And in Switzerland, the Swiss Reformed Church, along with the city fathers, wanted to get the Anabaptists out of Switzerland. Again, there was a push-pull situation. [One aspect of this gave rise to the Germanna Colonies, even though the Germanna Colony members were not Anabaptists.]
There was an exodus from southwestern Germany about seventy-five years later. This exodus was almost entirely economic in its roots, with the exception of the Anabaptists, who, in Germany, were severely restricted in their religious practices. Even then, there were economic factors, since in Germany they were not allowed to own land.
From 1618 to 1718, there was turmoil in Europe, with a vast destruction in Germany. People were on the move within Europe to escape from some condition where they lived. Toward the end of the seventeenth century, populations were being rebuilt and competition for the resources was keen. Many of the people who had moved had not established themselves. All together these were the people who were willing to listen to the recruiters from the east and from across the Atlantic Ocean. Initially the most success was enjoyed by the recruiters from the east. The thought of an ocean voyage was discouraging.
Klaus Wust spoke on these migration patterns in Europe at a Germanna seminar. I tried to identify Germanna people who had migrated within Europe and found several. It now appears that I undercounted.
Of course, our German origins were always a myth because there was no Germany. In the territory it occupies now, there was a collection of principalities, some very small and some very large. But even more than this, we collectively have roots in Austria and Switzerland.
(06 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.