For a play on the 1870s we are writing we looking for information on German accents, specifically the accent from Hesse. WE're
researching/writing a one-woman show dealing with Gold Rush women and a few in particular who came from Germany (province of Hesse, ) in the 1860's to dance in the gold fields as Hurdy-Gurdy dancers. We would like to find CDs or whatever of someone with an accent from this region, if possible. Or if anyone knows for certain the differences between the accents of the regions and whether we should be worried about
presenting that exact accent, this would be valuable information too. I understand that in German, the Hessian dialect was considered almost unrecognizable to the other native speakers; this would lead me to believe that in learning English, the Hessian accent would be different, too. Anyone out there have knowledge on this subject?

Richard Wright