Our German Bohemian Legacy
by
Robert J. Paulson
GBHS Founder
PRESERVING OUR GERMAN BOHEMIAN LEGACY
The purpose of this website is to collect, preserve, and share the historical and cultural legacy of the German speaking immigrants to the United States from Bohemia, then a province of Austria-Hungary. Our hope is that this website will become a place where researchers can fill empty spaces in their family’s genealogy while opening new avenues of inquiry. If they do not find relatives, people might learn more about their ancestral homeland and even find stories about the villages where their ancestors were born. Our German Bohemian legacy also includes the many customs that our ancestors brought to America, including faith, food, music, crafts, and language. We would like to show how these traditions have been transferred to new generations, born in this country, and are still a part of our lives today.
We hope that this website will become a place for sharing information. There are many energetic and industrious fellow researchers who add greatly to our knowledge and understanding of our legacy. We invite you to contact us, offering a platform for you to share your work and gain insights from other scholars. As a common “meeting place,” this site will save many hours of research through sharing information, experiences, traditions, and perhaps even documents.
This is the legacy that our forefathers brought with them when they emigrated from the German Bohemian lands. Now it is our duty to forward this rich heritage to our children and theirs that they may prosper the same way in their inherent characteristic of honor, integrity, and unflagging commitment to their land and their families.