About this page

This page is an HTML version of the thesis I wrote to fullfill my Bachelor of Arts requirement for my degree in German at the University of Minnesota. The idea grew out of my desire to know why my German ancestors would have wanted to leave their homeland, especially after I had the chance to visit Flensburg, where my great-great grandfather and his ancestors were born, because the city of Flensburg is a very beautiful place.

My orgininal intention with this paper was to explore the idea of nationalism as motivational factor in the emigration-decision of Schleswig-Holsteiners after the revolution in 1848. However, very little research has been conducted with regard to emigration motivations of Schleswig-Holsteiners. Therefore this paper concerns itself with showing the development of nationalism among the ethnic Germans of Schleswig-Holstein in the 19th century, with a discussion pointing out the potential of investigating nationalism as a motivation factor.

My adivsor for this project was Dr. Joachim Reppmann, visiting Professor of German at St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota. I owe him a great deal of gratitude and special thanks for keeping me on track with this project, for supporting my idea, and for helping me through those periods of "feeling lost" with the project and not knowing what to do next!

The paper itself is 48 pages long, so I have set the HTML version up by giving each chapter it's own link. Please feel free to contact me with your impressions of the paper, questions, comments, etc. I would love to hear them.

My e-mail address is: bothm001@umn.edu or you may click on my name below.