The
THE WALLERN-OSHKOSH CONNECTION
Approximately 10 miles East of Bischofsreut,Bavaria, lies the small village of Wallern, Bohemia (today Volary in Czech) and only about 5 miles from Kushwarda, Schattawa, and Schonau. The remarkable story of Wallern is that 600-700 years ago, German nobles and Churchmen transplanted an entire Alpine village of Germans
here in the wilds of the Bohemian forest. The reason? The local Czech population had not yet discovered the secret of the artificial insemination of large cattle. Why was this so important?
Large cattle were trained to be Oxen, and Oxen were needed for the heavy work of clearing the forests, and most importantly hauling Salt from the Bavarian border to Prague. For hundreds of years Wallern was known throughout the area for it's unusual homes and architectural style, which seemed out of place. There have been several books written about this. One that comes to mind is "Tirol in Boehmerwald, the Story of Wallern" by Bruno Sitter.
Many of the inhabitants of Oshkosh can trace their lineage to the village of Wallern. The Sitter, Fischer, and Kallin families are but a few that left Bohemia in the late 1800s to come to America to make a new home. In 1946 most of the Germans in Wallern were forced to leave, because even though they had resided there for at least 600 years, they were still too German to remain.
