Work and travel in the 19th century?
Louis Rosenthal from Niedermeiser, who attended school in Kassel, shows that it was possible.
This lecture presents a fascinating travelogue about South America that was first published over 150 years ago: *Diesseits und Jenseits der Cordilleren* (1874). It has recently been republished in the “Kasseler Literatur” series.
For three years (1866–1869), the adventurer Louis Rosenthal traveled through South America, always in search of new experiences, encounters, and discoveries. He found work as a gaucho, shepherd, mine operator, surveyor, photographer, art teacher, and shipworker. He came into close contact with European emigrants (including many from Hesse) and the indigenous population. As a contemporary witness, he observed the encroachment of technology (railroads, telegraphy) into the wilderness and experienced political crises and natural disasters firsthand.
Like other 19th-century European travelers to America, he viewed the New World from a colonial perspective. At the same time, openness, an acknowledgment of his own prejudices, humor, and self-deprecating wit characterized the adventurer.
It is worth mentioning in passing that Rosenthal, upon returning to Kassel, developed several lignite seams there and even operated a coal mine in the Druseltal valley—as well as the fact that he later laid the foundation for a family-run movie theater empire in Basel.