Celtic Germans: The Rise and Fall of Ann Arbor's Swabians - Softcover

Wieland, George F.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0615978339 ISBN 13: 9780615978338

Publisher: Wieland, 2014

Synopsis

Barbarian Germans mingled with Celts to combine their genes, their psychologies, and their cultures, creating the Swabians. In Ann Arbor, Germanic conscientiousness helped the Swabians replace most Americans downtown and on nearby farms. The Swabians also overcame Puritanical hatreds of Christmas and musical entertainments on Sabbath afternoons. Celtic spirituality blossomed until the feisty individualism of the Swabians splintered their community. Wieland shows how this inability to join together led to Swabian defeats. Carry Nation and others won the hundred-year fight against the German and the Celtic love of alcohol. In the latter half of the twentieth century, the University of Michigan expanded enormously, bringing many students who could vote at age 18 and many new staff members who disagreed with German politics. During the 1970s, radicals took over Ann Arbor and instituted the famed $5 fine for marijuana and other changes. Still, many individual Swabians in Ann Arbor today stubbornly display their Celtic and German ways of thinking and feeling. The book includes 160 illustrations and many personal interviews. There are over 300 references in German and English for further reading. the book contains over 400 pages with a full index. This is the first English account of the Swabians and their strange psychological makeup. For an overview of the book, go to: http://www.celticgerman.com

About this title

About the Author

George F Wieland holds a B.A. in psychology from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in combined psychology and sociology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He has taught and conducted research at Michigan, Vanderbilt, and Guy's Hospital Meical School in London, England. He has written several books on hospital and organizational cultures, a book on the life of a Swabian (Bessarabian Knight), as well as articles about Ann Arbor Swabians that have been adapted for several chapers of this book. Originally from New York City, he has observed the local scene while living in Ann arbor for over twenty years. He often visits his relatives in Swabia.

Review

"...an important study of an ethnic community."

"...well researched work that will be of interest to generalreaders, genealogists, and those interested in the history of German Americans."

"traces the lives of Swabians who arrived in the nineteenthand twentieth centuries, examines their interaction with Americans, outlinessuccesses as farmers and business owners, explains cultural adjustments duringtwo world wars, and evaluates the community's decline owning to social andeconomic changes during the second half of the twentieth century."

Yearbook of German-AmericanStudies Vol. 50, 2015

Edition details

• Publisher: Wieland
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0615978339
• ISBN 13: 9780615978338
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 406