Die Deutschen von Iowa und deren Errungenschaften (The Germans of Iowa and Their Achievements) is the only book dedicated to the history of German, Swiss, and Austrian settlers across the state. It was written in 1900 by Joseph Eiboeck, editor of Des Moines's German-language newspaper, the Iowa Staats-Anzeiger. Eiboeck's original work, printed in German blackletter font (Fraktur), is available through the Digital Library of the Hathi Trust.
Follow the links below to access alternating transliterations and translations of individual chapters of Eiboeck's work. All pages below are searchable. Genealogists may be particularly interested in Chapter 8, which discusses German Iowans who served in the Union army during the Civil War, and Chapter 22, which covers German settlements throughout the state and contains the names of many 19th-century settlers.
Several individuals have helped to make Die Deutschen von Iowa accessible to a broader audience:
- Every fall since 2014, graduating seniors in the UI Department of German have read and transcribed sections of Eiboeck's work, discovering in the process that they can apply their skills as German majors to the exploration of Iowa history. We are grateful for their engaged contributions to the "German Iowa" project. Click here for a list of student contributors at the University of Iowa.
- We also wish to thank the students of Prof. Heike Bungert of the Universität Münster for their help in transliterating and translating many of the chapters below. Iowa City and Münster students have worked together to produce polished final texts, and we hope that the translation skills gained through this collaboration will continue to serve students in their professional careers on both sides of the Atlantic.
- We would further like to thank Ms. Sonja Thiele for her transliteration of 500+ pages of Die Deutschen von Iowa as part of her generous work on our DIYHistory collection.
- Last, but not least, we're grateful to Ms. Katlyn Rozovics of the University of Iowa for her help in processing and uploading materials in Fall 2017.
Currently (October 2018), the following sections of Eiboeck's work are available:
- Chapters 1-12 and 21-22 are available in transliteration.
- Chapters 1-9 and sections of chapter 22 are available in translation.