Early History of the Southwest through the Eyes of German-Speaking Jesuit Missionaries

Dr. Albrecht Classen is University Distinguished Professor of German Studies at the University of Arizona. He has published close to 70 scholarly books on medieval and early modern literature, culture, history, and mentality, and he is also an expert on eighteenth-century Jesuit missionary literature in the Southwest.

Who would have thought that the early history of Sonora and Arizona was so deeply influenced by the arrival and long-term presence of German-speaking Jesuit missionaries during the 18th century? Prof. Classen offers a highly engaging study of these brave and intelligent men who had dedicated their adult lives to missionary activities in that semi-arid desert and who wrote extensive reports and sometimes maintained a large correspondence (Segesser) with their families back home. On the basis of those documents (in German!) Prof. Classen gives us a most vivid picture of how these European missionaries confronted the New World, how they coped in the cacti-filled desert, and how they reached out to the native population. This book truly opens a new chapter in the history of the Southwest, demonstrating, from an unexpected perspective, the deep impact of German speakers on 18th-c. Sonora.

• Chapter 1: German-Speaking Jesuit Missionaries in the Southwest: Global Perspectives of a Local Phenomenon in the Eighteenth Century— An IntroductionChapter 2: Major German Jesuit Writers and Their Biographies: A Global History from Individualized PerspectivesChapter 3: Padre Eusebio Kino — the Pioneer: Discovery, Encounters, and the Establishment of the Kino Missionary NetworkChapter 4: Joseph Stoecklein’s Welt-Bott: A Jesuit Missionary’s Collection of Global Reports for a German AudienceChapter 5: An Encyclopedic Approach to the Early History of Sonora: The Pimería Alta as Viewed by Ignaz Pfefferkorn; A German Scientist and Anthropologist Missionary in the New WorldChapter 6: Joseph Och’s Travel Reports: An Autobiographical PerspectiveChapter 7: The Personal Perspective: Letters by the Swiss Jesuit Philipp Segesser: A Missionary’s Correspondence with His Family