#josef bachmeier

[starry-eyed-simmer]

October, 1889

Josef and Clara Bachmeier, both twenty, have married after years of being sweethearts.

The couple is Catholic, making them a minority in Germany. They have managed to secure a voyage to America, where they hope to be able to practice their faith in peace.

Random history fact of the day: Chancellor Bismarck, who was effectively in charge of Germany (or rather Prussia) at this time, led a charge against Catholicism. Many priests and other religious clergy were forced into hiding, imprisoned, or exiled. Therefore, some German Catholics decided to immigrate in order to avoid legal discrimination; most of these settled in communities in the Midwest, which is where the Bachmeiers will eventually end up.