Settling Schweizer: Scenes of an Immigrant Community

Oswald Kummer and Fido

Oswald Kummer sits in a haystack with the faithful family dog, Fido.

Schweizer, located in southwest Simpson County, Kentucky, was chiefly settled by German immigrants in the mid-1890s. Christian and Friederike Kummer emigrated from Germany to Minnesota in 1882, and permanently settled in Schweizer in 1889. The families of the area were particularly close, bound by language, religion, and customs.

Oswald Kummer, the son of Christian and Friederike, was two years old when his family immigrated to the United States. Only nine when his family settled in Schweizer, Oswald remained there until his death. In 1906, Oswald, then 24, acquired a camera and unofficially became the community chronicler. His glass plate negatives became part of the Kentucky Library & Museum collection in 1989.

An exhibit of 87 photographs and artifacts from the Kummer collection will be on display in the Kentucky Library and Museum from May 26 through August 31, 2010.

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8 Responses to Settling Schweizer: Scenes of an Immigrant Community

  1. reminds me of the faithful dog whose master left him for sometime while he sat waiting for him hungry and died in the end

  2. Those photos just speak volumes about the condition and lives of immigrants at that time. Just the one above, for example- Kummer looks with a mixture of weathering and resolve. I just have to wonder… what was the dog looking at? 🙂

  3. Thanks for taking the time to talk about this, I feel strongly about it and I benefit from learning about this topic. Please, as you gain facts, please add to this blog with new information. I have found it extremely useful.

  4. reminds me of the faithful dog whose master left him for sometime while he sat waiting for him hungry and died in the end

  5. this one’s classic. even before, people are migrating..it becomes a whole lot bigger now..everyone migrates everywhere..

  6. This post is interesting and really catch my attention. I will surely be back here very often.Thanks for sharing. Keep bogging.

  7. I never knew that the Germans settled in KY then moved toward MN. Thanks for the post.