of
Muscatine County Iowa
1911
| History of Muscatine County Iowa 1911 | |
Source: History of Muscatine County Iowa, Volume I, 1911, pages 271-272
THE GERMAN PRESS OF MUSCATINE COUNTY. The first German newspaper published in Muscatine county, the "Zeitung," was established at Muscatine in 1857 by Carl Rotteck. His father was the author of "Rotteck's History of the World." Editor Rotteck had been a lawyer in the grand duchy of Baden, Germany. He took an active part in the revolution for freedom in 1848 and was finally--like so many other heroes of that time--forced to flee to the United States for safety. He came to Muscatine in the early '50s, and tried farming in this vicinity for several years. He failed to make a success of this vocation, and then opened a shoe store in town. This venture also proving unsuccessful, he started the first German newspaper. He published the "Zeitung," a small German weekly, for a period of over a year. It was a republican paper. However, he did not succeed in this new enterprise, and in 1858 he removed with his family and printing office to Keokuk, Iowa.
It seems rather strange, that from that time up to 1874, covering a period of about sixteen years, with so many German settlers in this community, no German newspaper should have been published here. But this was a fact, nevertheless.
In 1874 a new German weekly, the "Deutsche Zeitung," a four-page nine-column paper, was established at Muscatine by J. W. Weippiert, an able journalist from Wurttemberg, Germany, and was continued by him with success until the spring of 1879, when his son, G. W. Weippiert, a graduate of the State University of Madison, Wisconsin, succeeded his father in the proprietorship of the paper, which favored democratic principles.
In the fall of 1881 G. W. Weippiert sold the "Deutsche Zeitung" to Rev. Gass (a German Lutheran minister) and Herman S. Stoltzenan. They changed the name of the paper to "Die Wacht am Mississippi." The former was a native of Switzerland, the latter of Hanover, Germany. Prior to forming this partnership, they had become acquainted with each other while engaged in digging up Indian mounds at Cook's Point near Davenport, Iowa, in search of ancient relics. In one of these mounds they discovered the famous "elephant tablets," which were presented to the Academy of Science and which, during several years, were the objects of intense discussion in scientific circles of the country. The firm of Gass & Stoltzenan was one of short duration, however, as Mr. Stoltzenan, after a few months had elapsed, bought Rev. Gass' interests in the "Wacht am Mississippi" and conducted the paper successfully on his own account. It was a democratic weekly.
August 1, 1889, another German paper, "Der Correspondent," was established by Henry Heinz, a native of Davenport, Iowa, who has had an almost continuous experience in German newspaper work since 1870, at which time he entered the printing office of the "Daily Der Demokrat" as an apprentice at that place. Although two German papers were now published at Muscatine, by close attention to business Mr. Heinz made a success of his venture, conducting the enterprise for a period of about eighteen years. The "Correspondent" pursued an independent democratic policy.
In December, 1896, Frank Koeckeritz, a native of Berlin, Germany, who had conducted a jewelry store here, bought and took control of the "Wacht am Mississippi." He changed the name of the paper to "Deutscher Anzeiger," and continued the publication for six months, to June 4, 1897, when he sold the paper to Gustav Weis. Mr. Weis was born in Freiburg, Baden, Germany, but came to Muscatine in early youth with his parents and mastered the "art preservative of all arts" in the office of the "Wacht am Mississippi." He made a success of the "Anzeiger," which was also a democratic paper, and conducted the same for a period of ten years.
May 1, 1907, the two German papers, the "Anzeiger," published by Gustav Weis, and the "Correspondent," published by Henry Heinz, were consolidated, the former names of both papers being eliminated and the name of "Muscatine Herold" being substituted for the new and enlarged German weekly publication, now managed by The Muscatine Herold Association, Messrs. Heinz & Weis. The consolidation proved to be a good move, but at the end of the first year, on May 1, 1908, Mr. Weis, on account of illness and other business matters, sold his interest in the "Muscatine Herold," which has always been a democratic paper, to his partner, Mr. Heinz, who continued the publication on his own account in a successful manner and is still publishing the "Herold" at this time, May 1, 1911, to the satisfaction of his steadily increasing list of subscribers and enterprising advertisers. The "Muscatine Herold" is a neatly printed six-column, twelve-page paper, and now the only German publication in Muscatine county.
In conclusion, it might be proper to state in this connection, that the German press of the United States has had an important mission to perform in times gone by, and its days of usefulness are not over yet. The sturdy German emigrant, as he entered this "land of the free and home of the brave," had but little knowledge of the English language, and in the German paper here he found a true friend, adviser and instructor, not only at the time of his arrival, but also in after years, when he could read English, but not readily. The German press of the country has, in the main, ever been fair-minded, conservative, loyal and a great and benevolent factor in the upbuilding of this grand republic. For the good cause of suffering humanity, it has always labored in a quiet, but decisive manner. It has been instrumental in promulgating the spirit of true liberty as enunciated in the United States constitution. The German-American press will continue to champion the just cause of a liberal Americanism.
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