The First Class of Fulbrighters - Fulbright-Kommission

Tonsor with grandson in 2003
Stephen John Tonsor was born in Jerseyville, Illinois in 1923. He
received an A.B. degree from the University of Illinois in 1948,
and a Ph.D. in 1955. Tonsor spent his Fulbright year at the Universität
München. Upon returning to the U.S. he became of Professor
of History at the University of Michigan (1954-74). Tonsor
was a senior visiting research fellow at the Hoover Institution
(1972-73), Consultant to the Presidents Council of Economic
Advisors (1969-72) and has been an Associate of the North Central
Association since 1971, among other positions. He has been the
editor of the quarterly review Modern Age since 1970 and has
published the book Tradition and Reform in Education.
WHEN I SAW THE POSTER inviting applications for
the Fulbright program in Germany, I thought that would
be a very interesting experience. Although I had two years
of high school German, when I went to the German
department to complete the application I was told, “You
can’t speak German.” I told them I needed the form and to
write something. It must have been good enough because I
was accepted. I joined 250 new Fulbright students and we
sailed from New York to Genoa, Italy.
After our train ride from there to the holiday resort of
Bad Honnef am Rhein, we were sent to a Gymnasium where
a woman began speaking to us in German. She said, “If you
know German like the mother tongue, go to the first corner.”
Next she said, “If you can understand what I am saying
go to the second corner.” Then she switched to English
and said, “If you have ever taken German, go to the third
corner.” (That was me.) Finally she said, “If you have never
taken German go to the fourth corner.” The vast majority of
students went there, presumably singers, artists, writers,
and listen in the crowded lecture hall where Franz Schnabel 2
lectured and where every seat was filled and listeners
spilled out into the aisles was a defining experience.
To attend the smaller and less well attended lectures of
Berthold Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg 3 was both extraordinary
and humbling. Professor von der Leyden was an
occasional guest in our house.
The year we were in Germany my wife’s stepfather
was vice-president of the American Academy in Rome. He
made it possible for me to see the fantastic collections of
the Antikensammlung, which, except for a few choice pieces,
was stored away in attics. Other than that, we were able to
see the great collections of art only on later visits to
Munich.
MY YEAR IN GERMANY enabled me to finish my
doctoral dissertation, which I probably would have done
anyway, but more importantly it enabled me to understand
both pre-NS Germany and the new Germany which was
being created before my eyes. My ancestors came from Germany
in the 19th century; the Tonsors from Fürstenberg in
the 1850s, the Schmidts from Basel and Saxony Gotha in
the 1860s and the Blazers from Westphalia in the 1870s.
My return to Germany was a voyage of discovery in which
I reclaimed an important part of myself.
Developing a Taste for Travel
by John Webster
1) Rogation Days: Days of prayer, and formerly also of fasting, instituted by the
Church to appease God’s anger at man’s transgressions, to ask protection in calamities,
and to obtain a good and bountiful harvest 2) Franz Schnabel (1887-1966),
professor of history. Forced out of the Technische Universität Karlsruhe in 1936 for
opposing the Nazis. Professor of history in Munich 1947-1962 3) Son of Claus
Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, who was executed as part of the plot to assassinate
Adolf Hitler.
and others who were happy to be in Germany but had no
German language skills.
AFTER THREE WEEKS of language instruction
we were all off to a good start. Our next adventure was a
walk to Königswinter, the next town where they were having
a wine festival. I was amazed to see people enjoying the
wine spouting out of the village fountain.
When I arrived in München, half the buildings
remained destroyed from the war. Housing was scarce. The
student housing office at the Universität Munich gave me a
list of families who were willing to rent a room. I ventured
on a streetcar to find housing and found a family with a son
my age. The parents wanted me to speak English to their
son to help him with his university studies. The family
lived in a second floor cold-water flat with a kitchen, and a
single sink and single toilet in the hall. When I wanted to
bathe, I went out to the public baths. The parents slept in
one room and I shared a room with their son. A featherbed
kept me warm during the cold winter months.