Gottfried Duden
Encyclopedia
Gottfried Duden was a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 emigration writer of the early 19th century. His famous book Bericht über eine Reise nach den westlichen Staaten Nordamerika's ("Report of a journey to the western states of North America") gave romantic and glowing descriptions of the Missouri River valley between St. Louis and Hermann, Missouri. He established a farm near what is now Dutzow, Missouri
Dutzow, Missouri
Dutzow is an unincorporated community in southeastern Warren County, Missouri, United States. It is located on Route 94 about three miles north of Washington in what was referred to as Lake Creek by author Gottfried Duden, whose farm adjoins the early village...

 along the Missouri River
Missouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...

 near Washington, Missouri
Washington, Missouri
Washington is a city on the Missouri River in Franklin County, Missouri, United States. The population was 13,243 at the 2000 census. It is the corn cob pipe capital of the world, with Missouri Meerschaum located in Washington.-Geography:...

. His book on the region, comparing the Missouri River to the Rhine in Germany, and his positive remarks concerning the climate, culture and soils in Missouri led to untold tens of thousands of German immigrants to the area beginning in the 1830s.

Gottfried Duden was born in Remscheid
Remscheid
Remscheid is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is, after Wuppertal and Solingen, the third largest municipality in Bergisches Land, being located on the northern edge of the region, on south side of the Ruhr area....

, Duchy of Berg. A lawyer by profession, he settled in rural Warren County
Warren County, Missouri
Warren County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. Warren County is part of the St. Louis Metro Area and is located west of the city on the north side of the Missouri River. As of 2008, the population was estimated to be 31,214. Its county seat is Warrenton...

 about 50 miles west of St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

, in 1824. He was able to hire others to farm his land while he spent most of his time traveling and writing. He returned to Germany in 1827, and published his "Report" which was first printed in 1829. It praised the virtues of settling in Missouri. Apparently numerous similar books circulated in Germany at that time, but Duden's was especially well known. The result was a flood of German immigrants beginning in the 1830s. By 1860, more than 38,000 Germans had settled in the lower Missouri River valley. German immigrants to Missouri are often called "followers of Duden." Duden died in 1856, and is buried in Bonn, Germany.
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