Being born a third generation American, the connection back to Germany seemed very distant when growing up. Back in North Dakota , as a young child, our family still spoke Deutsch at home and with our neighbors. As a young student, I can remember being disciplined for using some German terms instead of English. This often included a whack on the back of my head, by a rather husky nun, followed by “there’s no such word as ya in the English language.
Throughout my early years of education, the use of German was actively discouraged and slowly it was lost to memory. The chance meeting of an elderly cousin rekindled my interest in learning about my family and ethnic history. Any chance of learning my ethnic heritage was stymied by the fact that all of my great-grandparents emigrated from Russia in the late 1870’s. I could find no connection to Germany .
It was time to take a crash course in Russian to find my German connection. In 1776, Katherine the Great, Czariness of all of Russia , had recently defeated the Turkish Ottomans in the Battle of the Crimmea. This victory gave vast areas of land around the Black Sea to the Russian state. Katherine the Great, who was not Russian, but rather a German Princess, wanted to populate the new land with hard-working industrious people to help secure it against future Turkish raids.
It was only natural that Katherine would look to her former countrymen to fill this need. Katherine authored a great document call “The Katherine Manifesto”. This document created a new German state in the south of Russia .
While the subjects swore allegiance to the Russian Crown, they very much remained true Germans. They were, under the protection of the Manifesto, guaranteed the right to:
Maintain their native language. Practice their ancestral religion. Maintain German schools and churches. Be self-governing. Never be forced to serve in the Russian military.
For the next one hundred years, the Germans became very successful and wealthy by Russian standards. The highest compliment that a Russian could give to a non-German is to tell him that he worked as hard as a German. But, just as it has throughout history, the success of the hard-worker can lead to jealousy by the less successful. This resulted in Alexander II rescinding Katherine’s Manifesto. This attempt to turn the industrious Germans into Russian serfs would not be tolerated. All Germans were to accept Russian Orthodox religion and schools were to be taken over by Russians. German children were to be taught in Russian and all eighteen year-old males were required to serve six years in the Russian military.
The result was a major exodus of Germans from Russia . Many craftsmen and tradesmen returned to the Fatherland. The successful farmers began looking for new farmland suitable for growing grain. This search lead to many Germans from Russia immigrating to the great plains of America and Canada . A large number also immigrated to Australia , South Africa and Argentina . Those that remained behind would suffer unspeakable horror at the hands of the Bolsheviks and later the Soviets.
About fifteen years ago, my family and I visited Germany for the first time. While near the city of Karlsruh on the Rhine River , we found a wonderful country guesthouse that we thoroughly enjoyed. The feeling of being home was overwhelming, and I did not fully understand this. That was until I obtained a book written by Doctor Karl von Stumpf, entitled “The Immigration of Germans to Russia 1776-1832”. In this book was the record of my third and fourth great-grandparents’ immigration from the Rhine valley to South Russia . In the book, it clearly showed that all of my ancestor’s homes were located within twenty miles of Karlsruh.
The realization that I had, in fact, come home, was very fulfilling and the circle was now complete. Since that time, Kay and I have visited Germany many times and have enjoyed the pleasure of staying in the many old country guesthouses in Southern Germany . We have met many distant cousins from what is now Germany , France and Switzerland , and have always been treated like true family. Many have come to stay in America with their “new American cousins”. We have both truly opened our homes and our hearts to each other. I am truly an American of Schwobisch heritage.
When visiting what was called Schwobischland, the areas now known as Western Austria, Northern Switzerland, Northeastern France and Southern Germany , we have enjoyed staying at local guesthouses. During one of these visits, the idea of buying a guesthouse in Germany was born. One other item was born shortly after that, which made the idea of moving to Germany highly unlikely. That was, of course, the birth of our first grandchild, “enkelkind” Andrew. As the number of grandchildren grew, the idea became more distant.
The realization that the dream would never happen, resulted in a change of direction. If we could not buy a German guesthouse, why not build one here, in America ’s heartland, an area settled by German immigrants one hundred and fifty years ago.
We began designing our guesthouse based on the designs that we found in Germany . We combined the best things from several guesthouses that we visited. After spending 2-1/2 years navigating the maze of local and state regulations, we finally received our building permits, allowing us to begin construction.
From the beginning, our plan was to build this guesthouse ourselves. And we did, indeed, completely build our guesthouse—“we” which includes a total family and friends effort. Every person who helped with the building process was asked to sign a wall stud. The result is hundreds of names now enclosed within the walls. These autographed studs include the signatures of many friends and relatives from Germany , France and Canada , in addition to those from a least a dozen states. One special stud stands next to our registration desk. This stud is embossed with the name “Raymond Kessler” and the words “My Body Hurts”. Ray was my brother and friend who helped regularly to build our guesthouse. He was only 49 years old and died of a massive heart attack a week after he signed the stud. The loss of Ray was so deep that, even today, years later, his loss is mourned daily.
While our guesthouse is truly a new, modern building, great pain was taken to create the look and feel of a very old guesthouse. In addition to many German antiques, we have incorporated into our guesthouse, some items from the “old country”. Examples of some of these are the entrance doorway, framed with the oak beams that once were the doorway of a guesthouse built in 1682 in the Black Forest of Baden, Germany. That guesthouse burned five years ago and, through the efforts of a friend, were salvaged and shipped to us via England .
The mantel over the fireplace was constructed from lumber salvaged from a house built in 1838. In addition, the hearth of the fireplace, contains cut stones from the destroyed Dresden Cathedral, a cut section from the Berlin Wall and a cut stone from the Versailles Palace . In addition, there are cut fieldstones from my great-grandparents homesteads, which were, at that time, Dakota Territory . This collection of stones will grow as time passes and our trips continue.
Because we built this guesthouse, the construction period lasted three years. At times it felt like we would never finish it. Fortunately, we have a strong marriage, as do our family and friends, as undertaking this building project taxed those relationships to the max.
We followed the tradition of the old guesthouse keepers by also building all of the guestroom furniture. Using very old photos, we reverse engineered and built what we feel are authentic pieces of furniture that would have been found in old world guesthouses from the 1850’s. The posted beds, along with the pullout step pedestals, are built very high, which was the custom in the “old days”. Remember, central heat did not exist then and the floor and lower areas tended to be much colder during Alpine winters. (Note: each of our guestrooms do have state-of-the-art heat and air conditioning). Our goal was to create the old world atmosphere, not the old-time discomforts. Our great-great grandparents would very much feel at home in our guesthouse.
When you come to visit and stay at our guesthouse, you will be served a true German breakfast (Frűhstűck). These “Frűhstűck’s” are one of the most enjoyable things I look forward to on our trips to Germany . They are very filling and allow guests to meet and socialize with fellow guests and Kay and I, your innkeepers.
Kay and I look forward to your visit and hope that you will enjoy our old world atmosphere and feel a part of our extended family. Hopefully, our dream will become wonderful memories for you.
Franz und Kay