During many years Sauerwein carried on his battle against what he termed German hyper-nationalism, and this battle was mainly fought from Norway — a country that became his second homeland. He felt unsafe in Germany and described his sojourns in Norway as an exile of his own choice. Moreover, in Norway, he had access to a free press and by the turn of the previous century, he was often given space in Norwegian publications to reports of the conditions in Lithuania and Lusatia.