Excerpts from the Foreward written by Dr. Hanns Egon Freund of Munich in January 1991 and translated by Helmut Mueller of Palatine, Illinois:

Letters sent to friends and family in the Eifel district from those who had immigrated to America encouraged what was to become one of the largest mass emigration movements in the world, rivaled only by the Irish emigration during the potato famine.  During the years 1834 to 1911, 140,000 people, almost half of the entire population of the Eifel district, left their homes forever to emigrate to America.

"Why did these emigrants leave the Eifel?  Emphatically, their motivation was not religious persecution [in contrast to the Palatines, south of the Moselle].  Rather, it was the abject poverty of the region, coupled with three consecutive years of failed crops which led, by 1840, to total deprivation and starvation.  Most of these people left because they did not want to die, although mandatory military service in the Prussian Army [three years] and other problems may have played a minor role."

Two letters are known of that greatly influenced the Eifel emigration.  Nikolaus Frett wrote a letter dated "Chicago, August 30, 1841" addressed to "the merchant Marhoffer" at Virneburg.  The letter described excellent conditions at Johnsburg, Illinois and "....emigrants from the towns of Engeln, Wanderath, Hirten, Luxem, Weiler, etc. settled in McHenry County, Illinois, especially Johnsburg."  Johann Fuchs had written previously (his letter is mentioned in Nikolaus Frett's) about Westphalia, Michigan.  "Those who followed him came from Langenfeld and the nearby towns of Langescheid, Jammelshoven and Kolverath.  German settlers in the "Holy Land" of Wisconsin originated from places such as Nitz, Drees, and Bruck."

With letters from friends and family in America as their guide, emigrants from the Eifel region settled at four major destinations:  McHenry County, Illinois, Clinton County, Michigan, eastern Wisconsin including Fond du Lac and Brown Counties, and Lorain County, Ohio.

"The original emigrant records can no longer be found and may have been destroyed during World War II.  Fortunately Dr. Joseph Scheben, an official at the records office in Adenau in the 1930's, took an interest in the old files and created his own catalog.  Dr. Scheben's files are now in the custody of the Institut Für Geschichtliche Landeskunde der Rheinlande an der Universität Bonn....The director of the Institute, Professor Dr. George Dröge, gave the author access to the files in 1982 with the understanding that the information would eventually be made available to the public."