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Between Worlds Never To Return: Historical Novel about the Emigration of the Germans to Texas
Germany in 1844 …
- a country without individual and political freedom or independence,
- a country divided into small kingdoms and principalities,
- a country far behind the developments of a modern democratic state,
- a country with its inhabitants suffering from poverty and misery.
A group of noblemen offers help to all disappointed and desperate
Germans. They advertise for Germans wanting to emigrate to Texas in
the Southwest, where they wish to create a new Germany. Thousands
accept the offer of the “Society for the Protection of German Immigrants
in Texas” and depart for North America.
One of these is the revolutionary Karl Engelbach. To avoid persecution,
he and his son Johann have to leave their small farm in northern Hesse
one night in March of 1844. Father and son are forced to undertake a
dangerous flight through their divided country until they arrive in
Bremen, where they take a ship sailing to Charleston. After their arrival
in South Carolina, there is still a long way to Texas, and the Engelbachs
have to deal with many difficulties to get there. In Texas they join the
other German settlers and continue their journey from the coast into
the heart of the wild, uncivilized Texas, where they and the other
German settlers have to struggle with perilous dangers. Will they
ever reach their Promised Land? Or will the Texas project of the
Noblemen’s Society end in disaster?
Barbara Ortwein combines the story of her fictional characters Johann
and Karl Engelbach with the real story of the actual people involved in
this historical project, which took place in Germany and Texas in 1844
to 1847. Her special focus in this, the first book of her Texas saga, is
Germany in 1844. Through her plot she explains why the Germans of
this time were so keen to leave their country and follow the call of the
Noblemen’s 'Geh mit nach Texas!' ('Come with us to
Texas!') ------------------- At her lectures in many places throughout
Germany she has been rewarded with the
great interest of her German audiences.
The Germans were astonished to hear
about people who had lived in their
communities long ago, but had suddenly
disappeared during the 19th century to
start a new life in another part of the
world. Her readers demanded to know
more of the almost-forgotten stories of
their country folk who emigrated to Texas.
To fulfill their wish Barbara Ortwein
started the sequel “In the Middle of Texas
but Not At The End,” which will appear at
the Leipzig Book Fair in March of 2015.
The idea to translate her first book into
English had been discussed eagerly with
her two translators Lisa Mays and Pamela
Phillips, both teachers at Texas High
Schools and colleagues of Barbara
Ortwein. It now becomes reality.
- a country without individual and political freedom or independence,
- a country divided into small kingdoms and principalities,
- a country far behind the developments of a modern democratic state,
- a country with its inhabitants suffering from poverty and misery.
A group of noblemen offers help to all disappointed and desperate
Germans. They advertise for Germans wanting to emigrate to Texas in
the Southwest, where they wish to create a new Germany. Thousands
accept the offer of the “Society for the Protection of German Immigrants
in Texas” and depart for North America.
One of these is the revolutionary Karl Engelbach. To avoid persecution,
he and his son Johann have to leave their small farm in northern Hesse
one night in March of 1844. Father and son are forced to undertake a
dangerous flight through their divided country until they arrive in
Bremen, where they take a ship sailing to Charleston. After their arrival
in South Carolina, there is still a long way to Texas, and the Engelbachs
have to deal with many difficulties to get there. In Texas they join the
other German settlers and continue their journey from the coast into
the heart of the wild, uncivilized Texas, where they and the other
German settlers have to struggle with perilous dangers. Will they
ever reach their Promised Land? Or will the Texas project of the
Noblemen’s Society end in disaster?
Barbara Ortwein combines the story of her fictional characters Johann
and Karl Engelbach with the real story of the actual people involved in
this historical project, which took place in Germany and Texas in 1844
to 1847. Her special focus in this, the first book of her Texas saga, is
Germany in 1844. Through her plot she explains why the Germans of
this time were so keen to leave their country and follow the call of the
Noblemen’s 'Geh mit nach Texas!' ('Come with us to
Texas!') ------------------- At her lectures in many places throughout
Germany she has been rewarded with the
great interest of her German audiences.
The Germans were astonished to hear
about people who had lived in their
communities long ago, but had suddenly
disappeared during the 19th century to
start a new life in another part of the
world. Her readers demanded to know
more of the almost-forgotten stories of
their country folk who emigrated to Texas.
To fulfill their wish Barbara Ortwein
started the sequel “In the Middle of Texas
but Not At The End,” which will appear at
the Leipzig Book Fair in March of 2015.
The idea to translate her first book into
English had been discussed eagerly with
her two translators Lisa Mays and Pamela
Phillips, both teachers at Texas High
Schools and colleagues of Barbara
Ortwein. It now becomes reality.
504 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 5, 2017
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