Missouri Germans Consortium

We the undersigned, together with many of our most respected friends and fellow citizens, have decided to leave Germany and to seek our new homeland in the states of North America…

The Call and declaration of the subject of mass emigration from German to the North American free states was published in the spring of 1833 at the publishing house of J.Rickers in Giessen. This small pamphlet established the Giessen Emigration Society, whose plan was to establish a German State.  What they did settle was Missouri.

Then came ” The first edition of our “Call and Declaration concerning an emigration en masse from Germany to the North American States” that appeared in March of this year with J.Ricker in Giessen has rapidly sold out, and we have been frequently asked to make a new edition which we requite here….. the general plan for the particular emigration society established at Giessen, with which we will pass to our new Fatherland without fail in May 1834…. Giessen, July, 1833″

Follenius and Muench chose 500 applicants according to their professions and invited them to the general assembly on September 1, 1833 in Friedberg. At this occasion the statutes were accepted unanimously and an executive committee was chosen under the helm of Paul Follenius.

Read the Original

The original “Call and Declaration” has been translated by Dr. Steven Rowan of the University of Missouri, and published by Rolf and Ulla Schmidt of Bremen, Germany in order to help us understand the thoughts and original ideas of the Giessen Emigration Society. This booklet, in German and English, can be purchased in the U.S. for $15 ($10+$5 postage) Visit our Shop for more information.