In the two generations before World War I, Germany emerged as Europe's foremost industrial power. The basic facts of increasing industrial output, lengthening railroad lines, urbanization, and rising exports are well known. Behind those facts, in the historical shadows, stand millions of anonymous men and women: the workers who actually put down the railroad ties, hacked out the coal, sewed the shirt collars, printed the books, or carried the bricks that made Germany a great nation. This book contains translated selections from the autobiographies of nineteen of those now-forgotten millions. The thirteen men and six women who speak from these pages afford an intimate firsthand look at how massive social and economic changes are reflected on a personal level in the everyday lives of workers. Although some of these autobiographies are familiar to specialists in German labor history, they are virtually unknown and inaccessible to the broader audience they deserve. This book provides translations that are at once useful, interesting, and entertaining to a wide range of historians, students, and general readers.
The German Worker Working-Class Autobiographies from the Age of Industrialization
About the Book
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
A Note about Currencies
Introduction
Karl Fischer, Railroad Excavator
Ottilie Baader, Seamstress
Franz Bergg, Apprentice Waiter
Wenzel Holek, Brickyard Worker
Adelheid Popp, Factory Worker
Doris Viersbeck, Cook and House Maid
Nikolaus Osterroth, Clay Miner
Franz Rehbein, Farm Worker
A City Man on a Farm
Moritz Bromme, Woodworker and Metalworker
A Barmaid
Otto Krille, Factory Worker
Ernst Schuchardt, Workhouse Weaver
Ludwig Turek, Child Tobacco Worker
Max Lotz, Coal Miner
Frau Hoffmann, Retired Maid
Eugen May, Turner
Aurelia Roth, Glass Grinder
Fritz Pauk, Cigar Maker
Suggestions for Further Reading in English
Index