Familien-Atlas der St. Paul Volkszeitung

This fascinating German-language ‘family-atlas’ was issued by the St. Paul-based Volkszeitung Printing & Publishing Company, one of the largest German newspaper publishers in the Midwest (at the time). The contents reflect the priorities of the firm’s customers – primarily agricultural, with an eye on both the Old and New Worlds. The illustrated front cover is also emblematic. A map showing the Mean Annual Rainfall of the U.S. is followed by political maps of America, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa – all created by the Geographical Publishing Company of Chicago. A double-page map of Germany (by George Cram) uses various shades to color ‘different states of the empire’ according to the accompanying legend. A topographical relief map of the Panama Canal and further political maps of Austria-Hungary, the Balkans, Europe, England, and France all reflect serious contemporary concern about the ongoing Great War. Though the maps each show various copyright dates of 1906 – 1912, the atlas includes census data from 1910 (via fold-out chart), as well as a loose sheet noting WWI battle lines as of January 1916. At the time, Germany and its allies largely held the strategic upper hand, though the publisher is careful to note on the back cover that it remains politically independent and supports “with all its might primarily for the interest of German-Americans.” The entry of America into WWI would doom the Volkszeitung – it lost its state printing contacts and the paper’s editor was interned. The owner, Clara Bergmeier, would fall victim to a conman who ‘bought’ the paper on flimsy securities and would ultimately be sentenced to twenty years in prison for fraud.