Background

Gustav Philipp Koerner was born on November 20, 1809 in Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany where his father, an ardent German patriot, was a bookseller and dealer in works of art.

Education

Gustav received his early instruction in the model school (Musterschule) of Frankfurt and continued his preparation in the Gymnasium. In 1828 he entered the University of Jena to study jurisprudence. Here he joined forthwith the flourishing Burschenschaft, the patriotic student society which aimed at the unity and freedom of Germany, and which had its members in most German universities. Continuing his studies at the universities of Munich and Heidelberg, where he received his doctorate, he returned to Frankfurt.

Career

Korner took part in the revolutionary movements which had broken out in many parts of Germany. In the Frankfurt revolt of 1833 he was wounded, fled to France, and at Havre joined a number of friends who were about to sail for America. They arrived in New York on June 17, 1833, and proceeded at once to St. Louis, then the goal of many German immigrants who were attracted thither by Gottfried Duden's glowing description of Missouri. Körner and his party were, however, keenly disappointed when they discovered that the institution of slavery prevailed in this state. They therefore decided to settle in St. Clair County, Illinois, where a number of their relatives and friends, mostly men and women of education and culture, had already purchased land. This colony, frequently known as the "Latin settlement, " gradually became a cultural center which exerted a decided influence upon the intellectual and political life of the state, and eventually, under the leadership of Körner, upon national politics.

To become acquainted with American law and to improve his English, Körner took a law course at Transylvania University at Lexington. Returning to Belleville, his future permanent residence, he practiced his profession but soon found himself drawn into local and national politics, taking an active part in the campaigns of 1840 and 1844.

In 1845 he was appointed justice of the Illinois supreme court, a post which he held until 1850. After the new constitution of Illinois, adopted in 1848, had made all state offices elective and reduced the salary of supreme court judges to the ridiculously small sum of $1, 200, Körner refused the nomination for the position. In 1852 he was, however, nominated and elected lieutenant governor, which office he occupied until 1856. In the meantime, the growing antislavery movement was engaging Körner's attention.

A close friend of Abraham Lincoln, he took over some of the latter's law cases at Springfield and was consulted occasionally on important matters. Finally, in recognition of the many services which Körner had rendered the Union cause at the beginning of the Civil War, Lincoln, in 1862, appointed him minister to Spain, to succeed Carl Schurz. His chief task in this position was to counteract English and French attempts to bring about a joint recognition of the Confederacy, and to cultivate the traditional friendly relations with Spain. Difficult as his tasks were, Körner, with delicate diplomatic tact and fine understanding of the Spanish national character and culture, succeeded remarkably well. His book on Spain (Aus Spanien, 1867) shows how thoroughly he had studied and appreciated Spanish art, the natural beauties of the country, and the ethnic characteristics of its diverse population.

After his return from Spain (1864) he took little or no interest in active politics for a number of years. When the corruption of the Grant administration was growing more and more intolerable, however, he joined the Liberal Republican movement in 1872 and supported, though reluctantly, Horace Greeley. Again in 1876 he asserted his political independence as well as his steadfast devotion to the principles of the liberal movement by advocating the candidacy of Samuel Tilden against Hayes. Disappointed by the course of events following the election of 1876, he retired from his former active participation in politics and devoted the remaining years of his life almost exclusively to literary work. It was then that he wrote his valuable historical study entitled Das Deutsche Element in den Vereinigten Staaten von Nordamerika (1880).

A keen observer of men, a profound and sympathetic student of American institutions, politics, and life in general, and a man of calm judgment, he was exceptionally qualified to write the history of one of the great constituent parts of the composite American population during a period the greater part of which he had followed as an eye witness. His object was "to show how strongly and to what extent the arrival of the Germans in large numbers since 1818 had influenced this country politically and socially. "

Achievements

• Korner was one of the first to recognize the importance of the ethnic problem in American historiography. He had an essential role in nomination and election Abraham Lincoln for president in 1860.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Memoirs of Gustave Koerner, 1809-1896, Life-sketches Written at the Suggestion of His Children; Volume 1

    (Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We h...)

  • Beleuchtung Des Duden'schen Berichtes Über Die Westlichen Staaten Nordamerika's, Von America Aus (Classic Reprint) (German Edition)

    (Excerpt from Beleuchtung des Duden'schen Berichtes Über d...)

  • The German Element in the Ohio Valley: Ohio, Kentucky & Indiana

    ("German-language edition originally published: Cincinnati...)

  • Das deutsche Element in den Vereinigten Staaten von Nordamerika, 1818-1848

Politics

Though originally a Democrat, like most of the older generation of Germans of this period, he did not hesitate to join the new Republican party, and by his example as well as by his eloquent speeches in the campaign of 1856 he did much to win over his countrymen to the Republican cause.

Views

Quotations: "Our society was open to both Jew and Gentile, and I really should not have been able to tell the religion of most of my friends. "Do right and fear no one, " seems to have been the only religion adopted amongst us. "

Connections

On June 17, 1836, Körner married Sophie Engelmann, with whose family he had come to the United States.

Spouse:

Sophie Engelmann

Friend:

Abraham Lincoln

politician