Why They Fled Their Homeland

Why did Buller/Bullert ancestors leave their homeland?

Historical records document that German-Prussian immigrants left West Prussia and other parts of the Prussian territories in the 1850s due to a mix of heavy economic pressures, rapid population growth, mandatory military service, and limited political freedom. But the most plausible reason why Bullert ancestors left West Prussia for America was the potato famine of 1852.

Farming was a way of life for the Buller/Bullert ancestors and an essential means of survival. When the potato famine spread across Prussia, there were substantial crop failures, economic instability, and the very possibility of starvation.

In 1852, the town of Zempelburg (now Sępólno Krajeńskie, Poland), located in Kreis Flatow within the Prussian province of West Prussia, was severely impacted by the tail end of the European potato blight (Phytophthora infestans). While the catastrophic "Great Famine" of 1845–1852 is most famously associated with Ireland, the water-mold epidemic actually blanketed the entire northern European "potato belt". Because the working-class and rural populations of Prussia had become heavily dependent on the potato as a dietary staple over the preceding century, the crop failures triggered deep economic misery, hunger, and disease.

The 1852 Crisis in Zempelburg & West Prussia

• The Potato Blight's Reach: The blight moved progressively eastward across the Prussian provinces. By 1852, much of the regional potato crop across Prussia had been systematically destroyed or rotted in the ground.
• Compounding Factors: The destruction of the potato crops coincided with broader agricultural hardships in the region. Outbreaks of cattle plague (Rinderpest) devastated livestock, and subsequent food scarcity caused the prices of alternative grains like wheat to skyrocket exponentially.
• Malnutrition and Disease: The prolonged food shortage left the local population physically weakened by hunger. This widespread malnutrition triggered secondary deadly epidemics across the region, most notably typhus and cholera, which thrived among the impoverished and starving communities. Over the course of the broader epidemic, Prussia recorded over 40,000 deaths directly related to the famine and its accompanying illnesses.
• The Push for Emigration: The desperate conditions of 1852 acted as a massive "push factor." Total crop failures and starvation prompted a massive wave of migration out of West Prussia and into the United States, Canada, and Australia. Many family lines from the Flatow/Zempelburg region disappear from local church records in the early 1850s precisely because they fled the economic ruin of the blight.
• Spiritual and Social Anxiety: Local historical accounts from the border regions of West Prussia and Silesia note that the combination of famine and epidemic disease drove deep fear and social unrest through these multi-confessional (Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish) communities.