Potato Germans

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show This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in German. (May 2019) Click [show] for important translation instructions. Machine translation like DeepL or Google Translate is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 6,522 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary Content in this edit is translated from the existing German Wikipedia article at [[:de:]]; see its history for attribution. You should also add the template {{Translated page}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Memorial stone for the German immigrants at Frederiks churchyard southwest of Viborg, Denmark

The Potato Germans (Kartoffeltyskere) were a group of German families who settled in the heathlands of central Jutland in Denmark during the mid-1700s.^[1][2] The term is sometimes also extended to their descendants.

History[]

The German immigrants moved to central Jutland when King Frederick V of Denmark promised 20 years of tax freedom, soil, livestock, money, and freedom from military service, for anyone who would cultivate the Jutlandic heaths. The settlers were mostly from Hesse and the Palatinate in modern-day Germany as well as from Austria. Men, women, and children included, 965 individuals spread across 265 families first arrived between 1759-63.

The majority settled on Alheden in the southernmost part of Fjends and the northernmost part of Lysgård in central Jutland. This comprises the site of the towns of Frederiks, Grønhøj, Havredal, and Karup.^[3] Much of this land was difficult to cultivate because of how much heather the soil contained, but after it was burned the area became better suited for the cultivation of potatoes.^[4]

The situation was difficult for the families. Many of settlers were craftsmen with little knowledge of farming. Most of the settlers subsequently left, with many moving back to Germany, but 59 of the families stayed on Alheden for more than a year.^[5]

Surnames[]

The Potato German settlers introduced a number of new surnames to Denmark. Though still rare in the country as a whole, many people living near Alheden still carry these surnames.^[6]

See also[]

• History of Denmark#Changes in the agricultural economy
• North Schleswig Germans

References[]

Bibliography[]

• Valdemar Andersen (1970) Den jyske hedekolonisation (Aarhus: Universitetsforlaget. Skrifter udgivet af Jysk Selskab for Historie, Number 24) ISBN 9788750402213

External links[]

• "Bemærkninger over Alheden og dens Colonier, af Fr. C. Carstens, Præst paa Colonien. Viborg, 1839. 137 S. 8." (Historisk Tidsskrift, 1. række, Bind 1; 1840)
• Ejlif Bøgebjerg: "Den danske Regering og de tyske Kolonisters Indkaldelse 1759—65" (Historie/Jyske Samlinger, 5. række, Bind 1; 1932)
• P. M. Rørsig: "Fra Alhedens første Kolonisation" (Historie/Jyske Samlinger, 4. række, Bind 5; 1925)
• Fridlev Skrubbeltrang (anmeldelse af): "Valdemar Andersen: Den jyske hedekolonisation. Skrifter udgivet af Jysk Selskab for Historie 24. Universitetsforlaget i Århus, 1970" (Historisk Tidsskrift, 12. række, Bind 5; 1971)

Coordinates: 56°22′30″N 9°04′33″E / 56.375137°N 9.075851°E / 56.375137; 9.075851

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