Good Bye Bayern - Grüß Gott America

Submitted 3Aug2005 by Carolyn Marquardt. This exhibition is now closed, but the website has the whole story. This is the history of Bavarian emigration to America since 1683. You can also find the information in English and German on the very extensive web site. The 48 page guidebook including photos can be downloaded or printed as an Adobe pdf file from this web site. The 320 page catalog can also be ordered online. The website provides a broad overview of the exhibition including photographs not shown in Europe before. The exhibition and the website are provided by the Haus der Bayerische Geschichte (Center of Bavarian History). The website provides a guided tour of the exhibit and shows the motives for leaving Bavaria, their farewells, jouney and arrival in America.The web site: Good Bye Bayern - Grüß Gott America. There are biographies of 21 emigrants. Links are provided to other sites with related topics on migration. There are also downloadable essays by renowned historians and a handout for teachers (in German) to download and print. Information and a map are included for travel to Aschaffenburg. Dozens of E-cards are available to send, some with similar views of their new home America that the emigrants might have sent home to Bavaria.
The exhibition in Aschaffenburg included original artifacts, biographies, interviews, music and other sound-examples to enable the visitor to follow the trail of the emigrants. It covers more than 300 years, from Franz-Daniel Pastorius from Sommerhausen near Würzburg, the founder of Germantown in 1683, who is commemorated by a bronze monument, to the greencard that is required today for the immigration into the United States.
The link for this web site is also on the Gauverband Nordamerika links page under Information: Customs and Culture.