I think the Prussians were the main reason my family came to the US. ;-)
The 1870's and 1880's were not a happy time for Catholics in Germany.
No, during the Kaiser's "culture war" they were not. What is odd, is that when the Italian masons and socialists stormed Rome, the Kaiser was one of the places that offered to evacuate the Pope. My family left before that, but for similar reasons. Those "old Lutheran's" that were left were pushed out by that time. The resulting religion was (and in many ways still is) a religion of state worship.
It was a very unsettled time. Not even our own times can compare. A tide of red and black revolutions sweeping the globe. Bomb throwers in all major countries blowing up officials, etc.