On June 26, 2026, Dr. Joan Naomi Steiner, author of "A German Bohemian Immigration", visited the National Library of the CR.
A simple family history research project evolved into a detailed examination of a significant German Bohemian immigration to Calumet County in eastern Wisconsin for author Joan Naomi Steiner, PhD. Highlighted by scores of family names that populate northeastern Wisconsin to this day, A German Bohemian Immigration provides context to a wealth of information compiled from sources in Germany and the Czech Republic.
The area of western Bohemia, located in today’s Czech Republic, in which these families resided saw an end to feudalism at roughly the same time as Wisconsin earned statehood in 1848. These changes brought about high hopes for a better life on both sides of the Atlantic, leading to a steady stream of German Bohemian emigrants that lasted for several decades.
Dr. Steiner donated three language versions (English, German and Czech) of her book to our institution's collections. Thanks in part to them, it will be possible to better research our shared Czech-German past.
Her website germanbohemianwisconsin.com is a database of findings and a repository for rare and invaluable sources.
