''Journey to New Switzerland'' (original German title: ''Reisebericht der Familie Köpfli & Suppiger nach St. Louis am Mississippi und Gründung von New Switzerland im Staate Illinois'' ursee, 1833 by Joseph Suppiger, Salomon Koepfli, and Kaspar Koepfli is the travel account of member of the two German Swiss families to

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

and the subsequent founding of

New Switzerland New Switzerland is an unincorporated community in Habersham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. History A post office called New Switzerland was established in 1882, and remained in operation until 1889. The community was named after Switzerland ...

, a locality surrounding and including

Highland, Illinois Highland is a city in Madison County, Illinois, United States. The population was 9,991 at the 2020 census. Highland began as a Swiss settlement and derived its name from later German immigrants. Highland is a sister city of Sursee in Switzerlan ...

during 1831-1833. The book covers the families' journey from

Sursee Sursee is a municipality in the district of Sursee in the canton of Lucerne, Switzerland. Sursee is located at the northern end of Lake Sempach, not far from where the ''Sure'' (or ''Suhre'') river exits the lake ("See"), hence the name "Sursee". ...

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

, thence by sea to New York, and on by river to

in the form of a diary kept by Joseph Suppiger, Jr. Letters from New Switzerland to relatives in Switzerland tell about the land and culture encountered as well as the particular area settled: "But you still do not know what a heavenly area we have found in which to settle. ...

t is a T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is deri ...

{{convert, 450, acre, km2, sing=on farm twenty-seven miles east of St. Louis, consisting mostly of woods," purchased for "the exceedingly low price of nineteen hundred dollars cash" (p. 135). The original work concludes with a chapter primarily on the advantages and disadvantages of the area chosen, but also including advice for emigrants and comments on American culture, e.g., Americans, if one can generalize, "are liberal and on the whole possess a good deal of common sense and sagacity as well as a very practical nature acquired in adapting to conditions here" and "Americans customarily greet one another politely, but are not particularly inclined to tip their hats. The males are especially deferential to women. Fathers expend more care on the training of their daughters than on their sons" (p. 196) and negative comments on slavery. The English translation includes additional, explanatory material. The full text of ''Journey to New Switzerland'' (in English) is freely available online in the digital collectio
Swiss Settlers in SW Illinois

Complete title

''Journey to New Switzerland: Travel Account of the Koepfli and Suppiger Family to St. Louis on the Mississippi and the Founding of New Switzerland in the State of Illinois'' by Joseph Suppiger, Salomon Koepfli, and Kaspar Koepfli, translated by Raymond J. Spahn, With Excerpts from Jennie Latzer Kaeser's Translation of Salomon Koepfli's ''Die Geschichte der Ansiedlung von Highland'' (The Story of the Settling of Highland), edited by John C. Abbott, Foreword by Joseph Blake Koepfli. Southern Illinois University Press: Carbondale and Edwardsville.1987. ISBN o-8o93-1313-8.

* Coats, Betty Spindler (comp.) 1983 ''The Swiss on Looking Glass Prairie: A Century and a Half, 1831-1981.'' Freely available online in the digital collectio
Swiss Settlers in SW Illinois
*Schelbert, Leo 1974. ''Swiss in North America''. Balch institute Reading Lists: Philadelphia. ibliography of Swiss in America*Schweizer, Max 1980 ''Neu-Schweizerland: Planung, Gruendung und Entwicklung eineer Schweizerischen Enwanderersiedlung in den Verienigten Staaten von Nordamerika (Madison County, Illinois)''. Zug. * Spahn, Betty A. and Raymond J. Spahn (eds.)1977 ''New Switzerland in Illinois as Described by Two Early Swiss Settlers, Kaspar koepfli, in Spiegel von Amerika, and Johann jacob Eggen, in Aufzeichnungen aus Highlands Gruendungzeit''. Translated by Jennie Latzer Kaeser and Mansfred H. Driesner. Friends of Lovejoy Library, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville: Edwardsville. Freely available online in the digital collectio
Swiss Settlers in SW Illinois
*

Duden The Duden () is a dictionary of the Standard High German language, first published by Konrad Duden in 1880, and later by Bibliographisches Institut GmbH. The Duden is updated regularly with new editions appearing every four or five years. , i ...

, Gottfried 1829 '' Report on a Journey to the Western States of North America''. Elberfeld. *Spahn, Raymond J. 1978 "German Accounts of Early Nineteenth Century Life in Illinois," ''Papers on Language and Literature'' 14 (4): 473-488. Diaries Books about the United States written by foreigners History of Illinois German-American culture in Illinois Swiss-American history Books about immigration to the United States

Complete title

See also