As we know, Davenport has a strong German background. Yet it is different from other traditionally German cities like St. Louis, Cincinnati and Milwaukee. Davenport was deeply shaped by the so-called Forty-Eighters, young German revolutionaries who in 1848 opposed monarchies in Germany, particularly in Schleswig-Holstein, but were defeated and had to leave the country. Most of them were intellectuals who brought with them special gifts and talents which they put to use in Davenport.

What were these gifts and talents? Who were these Forty-Eighters and what had shaped them in Germany before they crossed the ocean?

Ms. Helen Reinold, a graduate of Augustana College and a graduate student at the University of Oldenburg in Germany, has researched this topic during her recent internship with the German American Heritage Center in Davenport.  Ms. Reinold will present her findings to the interested public in a lecture and discussion, entitled The Intellectual Origins of the Davenport Forty-Eighters, at the German American Heritage Center at 712 Second Street in Davenport, on Thursday, June 30, 2011, at 5:30 p.m.  It is free of charge.

You are cordially invited to attend this event. We are looking forward to greeting you among us.

Dr. Egon W. Gerdes, Executive Director, German American Heritage Center