Symbols+of+the+German+American+48ers


 * Symbols of the German-American 48ers**
 * Original Author: Amanda Bollmann, ENG299 FL10**
 * Revision Author:**

Whether it was crushed, stolen, sold, or rolled into the muddy Mississippi River, a large red granite stone commemorating the 1848 German “freedom fighters” disappeared from its original home in Washington Square Park, Davenport, Iowa, during the anti-German sentiment of WWI (“American” 10). The original stone was erected in 1898 during the fiftieth anniversary celebration of the 1848 Schleswig-Holstein War. The stone was dedicated to the veterans of this war who eventually emigrated from Germany and found their new homes in the developing Middle West America. They came to Davenport in search of intellectual, religious, and political freedom.

...The Forty-Eighters brought something like a wave of spring sunshine...They were mostly high-spirited young people, inspired by fresh ideas which they had failed to realize in the old world, but hoped to realize here; ready to enter upon any activity profitable but also to render life merry and beautiful; and, withal, full of enthusiasm for the great American Republic which was to be their home and the home of their children (Tolzmann iii).

In March of 2008, a new stone was carved and dedicated near the old Washington Square in Davenport, Iowa. ‘Those individuals deserve to be recognized...they came here and made more sacrifices and contributions...they left everything they knew behind, the country they loved. They came for freedom of expression, freedom of religion and from religion’ (Speer). [] The American/Schleswig-Holstein Heritage Society of Walcott, IA [] and The Schuetzenpark Gilde of Davenport, IA [] sponsored the location, placement, engraving, and dedication ceremony for the new stone. The stone may be viewed at its now-permanent location near the “Lady of Germania” statue on Gaines Street (between 2nd and 3rd Streets) in Davenport, Iowa.

The “Lady of Germania” statue was also newly erected near the old Washington Square in Davenport, Iowa. What used to be a thirty-five foot fountain topped with the goddess Germania statue is now an eight-foot bronze replica of the original. The fountain and statue stood in Washington Square since 1876. During the WWI anti-German sentiment, the statue and fountain were removed and sold as scrap iron (“American” 8). In the 1960’s, a YMCA was built over the original Washington Square. In 2006, the German American Heritage Center and the City of Davenport helped to restore a small part of this historical square. An eight-foot bronze replica was unveiled of the goddess Germania, who is ‘an ancient symbol that personified strength, unity and liberty...To many, she represented Germany itself’ (Willard).

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March 24, 1898, Washington Square Park Lady of Germania Statue, Washington Square Park circa 1876 Lady of Germania Statue, Centennial Gateway Park 2006
 * Related Illustrations**

American Schleswig-Holstein Heritage Society and The Schuetzenpark Gilde. “The Davenport Forty Eighters.” Davenport: 2008. Print, Oration. Speer, Mary Louise. "German Freedom Fighters' Memorial Etched in Stone." Quad-City Times 29 March 2008: A1-A2. Print. Online [] The Schuetzenpark Gilde. Davenport, IA. [] Tolzmann, Don Heinrich. //The German-American Forty-Eighters 1848-1998//. Indiana: Indiana University, 1997. Print. Willard, John. “Gateway Germania.” //The Quad-City Times// 16 August 2006. Print. Online [] Willard, John. “The Hunt for Lady of Germania.” //The Quad-City Times// 19 July2005. Print, Online. []
 * Works Cited**

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