The wide-ranging impact of mid-19^th century German immigrants on American life will be the focus of a conference at Wartburg College, Oct. 20-22.

“Legacy of the Forty-Eighters: Transplanted Ideas and Values in America’s Past and Present” will examine the influence of the refugees who came to the United States (1847-56) amid the failed German democratic revolution of 1848. U.S. and German experts will discuss the Forty-Eighters’ role in the fight against slavery and other contributions to American society.

The Forty-Eighters included statesmen (Carl Schurz, a Civil War general who became secretary of the interior), journalists (Joseph Pulitzer), businessmen (Levi Strauss), and educators (Margarethe Schurz, Carl’s wife, founder of the first U.S. kindergarten), as well as scientists, architects, musicians and artists.

German Americans are the largest ancestry group in the United States. According to the 2000 census, 35.7 percent of all Iowans have German ancestors. Many Forty-Eighters settled in Davenport, Dubuque, the Iowa City area and Altoona, and founded such communities as the Amana Colonies, Schleswig and Holstein.

The public is invited to attend the following events:

• An award ceremony to open the conference with Dr. Karl Fink, a 1963 Wartburg graduate and St. Olaf College professor of German, receiving honorary distinction from the German state of Thuringia, home of the Wartburg Castle, in recognition of his service, Sunday, Oct. 20, at 5:30 p.m., in McCaskey Lyceum.
• Dr. Steven Rowan, a University of Missouri-St. Louis expert on German immigrants, discussing “Mysteries, Secrets and Horror: The Urban Mystery and the Forty-Eighters,” during the annual Kleinfeld Lecture, Sunday, Oct. 20, at 6 p.m. in McCaskey Lyceum.
• Numerous panel presentations, with topics ranging from the Forty-Eighters’ involvement in abolition and the Civil War — including eight prominent Union generals — to “Waverly’s Forgotten Forty-Eighter,” Monday-Tuesday, Oct. 21-22, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. in the Saemann Student Center ballrooms.

The full schedule is at www.wartburg.edu/1848

The conference is coordinated by Dr. Daniel Walther, Kleinfeld Distinguished Professor in German History at Wartburg, and Dr. Joachim “Yogi” Reppman, formerly professor of German at Carleton and St. Olaf colleges and the author of several books on German immigrants.

“We are excited to be hosting this great event at Wartburg College,” Walther said.  “It makes perfect sense considering the historical roots of the college.”

Wartburg was founded in 1852 by missionaries sent to the United States to establish a teaching-training school for German immigrants.