Am I German?
When I was young we always referred to ourselves as being German because my Dad's family spoke the German language in their home. It never did enter my mind that we should refer to ourselves as Russian or French. Yet my Dad, his father and grandfather were all born in South Russia (now Ukraine). Their ancestors came from Alsace (now France). Alsace was part of the Holy Roman Empire until 1648, was added to France in 1697, and became part of Germany in 1871 when several German-speaking states joined to form the German Empire. This was long after Engelhard Merck had left to help settle the village of Elsass in South Russia. Engelhard was born in Alsace as had his father and grandfather in German-speaking communities.
posted by Ed Merck | 3:05 PM
2 Comments:
Hello Ed!
I'm really enjoying your blog! I have also wondered why we call ourselves German... Last year I studied the history of Alsace in a French class. That region has a long history of being tossed between Germany and France--with residents entrenching themselves in their cultural/linguistic identities. That may be why our ancestors held so strongly to being "German". It was probably an identity they had to assert even before leaving Alsace!
Sara Bruya (granddaughter of Magdalene Merck Rosera)
I just put up another post on the 65th anniversary of the mobilization of Russian-Germans for forced labor in the USSR. This one is on the second draft into the labor army in accordance with GKO Order 1281ss.
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