Belonging, Migration, and Profession in the German-Danish Border Region in the 1830s

ABSTRACT

Migration in the early 19^th century was governed not only by the state, but also by regional and local actors. The article discusses the migration of professionals to the German-Danish border region in the first half of the 19^th century. Using a case study of a migrant teacher, I will analyze how state, regional, and local actors as well as migrants themselves negotiated belonging. I apply the sociological concept of belonging to historical processes, demonstrating that in the context of legal and political debates in the early and mid-19^th century, the construction of belonging was shaped along different axes, such as local membership or professional affiliation. The article emphasizes the diversity of actors in the negotiation of belonging and analyzes one migrant's perspective on it.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

ORCID

Levke Harders http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5004-6686

Notes

1 Unfortunately, historical studies are rarely teamwork. I am therefore all the more indebted to Jasmin Weber for transcriptions and to Stephan Schlottke for research support, to Jochen Kemner for pointing out Anthias's texts to me, and to Adam Bresnahan, Margit Fauser, Anne Friedrichs, Dorit Schneider, and Veronika Springmann as well as to the anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful comments. Thank you!

2 It is important to note that Anthias, Pfaff-Czarnecka, and Yuval-Davis distinguish between belonging and identity. Identity “caters to dichotomous characterisations of the social while belonging rather highlights its situatedness and the multiplicity of parameters forging commonality, mutuality and attachments” (Pfaff-Czarnecka 2011, 203; emphasis in the original).

3 All translations by the author unless otherwise noted.

4 See documents in Schleswig-Holstein's State Archives (Landesarchiv Schleswig-Holstein): Dept. 11 No 3369, 3370, 3374, 3380, 3389, and 12444; Dept. 49 No 452; Dept. 59.3 No 107 and 339; Dept. 65.2 No 188 and 189; Dept. 80 No 5251 and 5253.

5 A couple of years later, the king enacted a new law compiling the various rulings on foreigners and paupers (Patent 1842).

6 At least in my sample, which includes about 400 petitions for naturalization in Schleswig and Holstein between 1800 and 1866. The project also includes petitions from French Alsace; for more information visit https://belonging.hypotheses.org.

Additional information

Funding

This article is part of the research project “Narratives of Foreignness and Belonging: Migration as a Discursive Process in Western European Border Regions (1815–1871),” funded by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (http://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/290461930).