The Highholders of Oshkosh

Many of us have read the stories about the Highholders of Oshkosh. Thanks to Peter Kindermann and Mr. Jungwirth, who wrote the “The Bloody Sixth”, we have learned about the settlement of the Highholders on the Southside of Oshkosh. Naturally, many people want to learn more.

Well, there is more to the story: It goes back to the 1500s, to a region of Europe known as the “Boehmerwald”. The Boehmerwald was a huge unsettled forest, the last unsettled forest in Western Europe. The Boehmerwald lies within the political boundaries of three kingdoms, Bavaria, Bohemia, and Austria.

The part of the Boehmerwald, which concerns the Highholders, is a relatively small part of a huge virgin forest. It begins at the Mountain Dreisessel and a line going north to the village of Phillipsreut, approximately 10 km to the North. From Phillipsreut the line goes about 10 km to the East, out of Bavaria and into Bohemia, to the village of Schattawa. From Schattawa the line goes south to the Austrian border. From this 10 km square area came the thousands of people known as the Highholders to America.

According to church records at St. Vincent Church (the first Church of the Highholders- later came Sacred Heart), the town most mentioned by the newly arriving immigrants was Kushwarda, Bohemia. Kushwarda lies only 1 km from Phillipsreut, Bavaria, and the closest town to Kushwarda was probably Schnellzipf, a Bavarian hamlet approx .5 km from Kushwarda.

Ethnically, the majority of Highholders were Germans, either from Bavaria or from Austria. This is not to say that there was no mixing of German and Slavs, but in most cases, when the two Races mixed, the German culture was the predominant one.

This might seem very confusing to the average reader; how did the Germans get into Bohemia, a Slavic nation? The answer goes back a long way to the year 1128. The new Bohemian King faced an important moment in Bohemian History. Two large neighbors surrounded his kingdom, The Holy Roman Empire to the West and South, and the Polish Kingdom to the North and East. If the new King chose to align himself with Poland, there was a good chance that the Bohemian version of Slavic culture could be gobbled up by the larger number of Poles. If the new King pledged allegiance to the Holy Roman Emperor, there was a chance Bohemian autonomy would survive. The Czech King chose the Holy Roman Empire. German scholars were invited to Prague. Prague became part of the Diocese of Nuremberg.

In 1218, King Premsyl of Bohemia declared the “German Right”: this proclamation declared that any “German” who cleared forestland and made it productive farmland, would receive title to that land “free and clear” This was an attractive incentive for Germans to migrate to Bohemia. The Germans brought their skills in mining, farming, including the concepts of “crop rotation” and “artificial insemination of livestock, and woodworking. Apparently this “Right “ did not apply to the native Czech peasants.

Most of the Highholders then were neighbors long before they came to America. Some one has suggested that the name “Highholders” came from railroad workers who asked some Oshkosh women, where they were going. They replied hoi holdern, or hay cutting. If this is true, then it is very ironic, as the economy of the Highholders in the old countries of Bavaria and Bohemia revolved around the hay crop. This border area is in some places mountainous, and even the level ground is at a considerable altitude. Because of this high altitude, hay was the only crop that did really well in this area. The people built their lives around the hay crop, and even today, when the hay is ready to cut, the entire village pitches in to “make hay”.

Because of this reliance on only one major crop, the people in this area were subjected to times of great suffering. If the winter stayed a little too long, if the rain hit at the wrong time, the entire crop could be destroyed. The story of “Hansel and Gretel” comes from this area, and starvation was always just around the corner.

Just before the Highholders began to come to America, there was a war of German unification. The Prussian Army marched into this area, and destroyed much of the crops of the people, for many this was the last straw, and they began to search for new places to go. Some of the Highholders went to America; others went further east, some to Russia, or Croatia, and some to Hungary.

Later, after the two World Wars, most of the Highholders returned to Germany.