Hermanner Volksblatt (Hermann, Mo.)

• 1875–1922
• Newspaper

Historic newspapers carry the language, views and graphic reporting of their time, including racist content. They are shown to teen and adult profiles.

2,129 issues from 1875 to 1922, published in Hermann, Missouri, digitised for Chronicling America.

Eduard Mühl with his family and brother-in-law Karl Strehly were among the many German emigrants to settle in Hermann, Missouri. Mühl and Strehly brought a printing press with them and in 1843 started the first German newspaper in the new town titled the Licht-Freund (“Friend of Light”). Earlier editions of this paper were printed in Cincinnati, Ohio. Mühl published this paper for two short years.

In September of 1845 Mühl and Strehly began publishing the Hermanner Wochenblatt (“Hermann Weekly”). Mühl was a freethinker and his editorials expressed views that sometimes caused controversy among his readers. He was an early and outspoken critic of slavery, a position that took courage as many of his neighbors were slaveholders. Mühl also advocated for the cultivation of grapes and the production of quality wines when the town was facing economic hardships. Education was another of his passions. In his editorials, Mühl spoke out against an attempt to amend the state constitution requiring the exclusive use of English in public schools. In Hermann, school was conducted in both English and German as it furthered the preservation of the town’s identity as a community of German immigrants.

Jacob Graf bought the Hermanner Wochenblatt after Mühl passed away from cholera in 1854. Graf, like Mühl, was an abolitionist and advocated that policy in the paper despite the dangers it entailed. Graf changed the name of the newspaper to the Hermanner Volksblatt (“Hermann’s People’s Paper”).…

Genres

News

Published in

Hermann, Missouri, United States

Language

German

Collection

Chronicling America

Licence or status

None stated by the archive

Rights

The Library of Congress believes that the newspapers in Chronicling America are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions. Newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety.

Credit

Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities

Who can read it

Teens profiles and older (placed by Invisible Network from what the archive says; archives give no ratings)

Archive

Library of Congress