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Oktober/November 2007
Gallery: In Its Whole Magic: The Art of August Macke
by Kim
“…Without his harmonies whole octaves of color will disappear from German art, and the sounds of the colors remaining will become duller and sharper. He gave a brighter and purer
sound to color than any of us; he gave it the clarity and brightness of his whole being.”
That was how close friend and fellow painter Franz Marc ended his eulogy for August Macke, a German artist who emerged as one of Expressionism’s most significant colorists.
Although not as well known today as contemporaries Marc, Wassily Kandinsky, and Paul Klee, Macke combined everyday subject matter with an avant-garde use of color to make his own unique contribution to German
art. Before he could develop his style to its fullest potential, however, the cataclysmic events that swept across Europe in 1914 cut short his promising life and career.
Born in 1887 in Meschede, Germany, Macke’s father was a building contractor, and his mother came from a farming family. In his early teens, the family moved to Bonn, and by then, he
habitually carried his sketchbook wherever he went, eager to practice drawing. Despite his father’s disapproval, the aspiring artist left high school early to enroll, in 1906, at the Arts and Crafts School and
then the Academy of Fine Arts in Düsseldorf. He found the teaching methods at both, however, too conservative and left in 1908 to study independently.
Around this time, Macke also met his future wife Elizabeth Gerhardt, whom he enthusiastically described to a friend as a “real gypsy of a woman.” He had seen Elizabeth on his way to
school, and to become acquainted, he offered to paint her brother’s portrait. Macke soon became a regular fixture in the Gerhardt home, with Elizabeth permanently replacing her brother as muse. The two married
in 1909, and the union proved highly advantageous. Elizabeth’s uncle, Bernhard Koehler, was a wealthy industrialist. He was also a passionate art collector, and he became Macke’s mentor and patron. Koehler
brought Macke to Paris, where he exposed the young man to artist studios as well as French Impressionism, Fauvism, and Cubism. Seeing the works of artists such as Paul Cezanne, Éduard Manet, and Henri Matisse in
person profoundly influenced the artist’s developing style.
Meeting fellow painter Franz Marc, however, had even greater repercussions for his career. Through Marc, Macke became professionally acquainted with Wassily Kandinsky, the Russian
artist often credited with originating modern abstraction. In 1911, the three joined together to form Der Blaue Reiter, a group that, although short-lived, was fundamental to the development of German
Expressionism and became one of the modern art world’s most influential collaborations…
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In Honor of St. Martin
by Leah Larkin
Elaborately crafted and colorful lanterns light the way as German children honor the memory of the Patron Saint of the poor, knights, and soldiers.
While American children are busy preparing a costume for Halloween at this time of year, many children in Germany and Austria focus their attention on making a paper lantern for
the feast of St. Martin on November 11. In many parts of these countries, children parade through the streets on the eve of the feast day carrying their lanterns which are lit by a candle and swing from a long
pole. In some larger parades, they may even follow someone dressed as the Saint who rides a white horse. They sing St. Martin’s songs, and often stop to ring doorbells and ask for treats not unlike Halloween
trick-or-treaters.
It is a lovely custom, which brightens up the long, dark November days. This is also the season of Martin’s Ganz (goose), with the plump poultry on many a restaurant menu.
St. Martin hails from Hungary where he was born in 316. His parents, who were pagan, moved to Italy when he was a boy. He was obligated to follow his father’s footsteps and become a
knight. As a young soldier, he was dispatched to France to fulfill his knightly duties.
According to legend, Martin and a group of his fellow knights were traveling through France on a cold and stormy November day. The ground was frozen and the slippery ice made it tough
going for the horses, but his companions insisted on racing ahead to reach Amiens before the town gates would close for the night. Martin stayed back, traveling on slowly so as not to injure his horse.
Nonetheless, he made it to Amiens before the gates were locked, but his horse refused to enter the town.
Martin dismounted and noticed a poor beggar wearing only thin, tattered rags huddled up and shivering against the town wall. He immediately drew his sword and cut his cloak in half,
giving half to the unfortunate man.
Later Martin had a vision. Christ appeared to him as the beggar, telling a group of angels that Martin had clothed him with his cloak. Martin interpreted this as a calling to serve
Christ. He was baptized and became a monk.
He stayed in France where he became known and loved for his good deeds. The French wanted him to become Bishop of Tours. He was not eager to take on the job and hid out in a stall of
geese, but the noisy birds made so much racket that Martin was discovered and urged on by his admirers to assume the post. In the year 371, at the age of fifty-five, Martin became Bishop of Tours.
He died on November 8, 397, in the town of Candes, but his body was taken by boat on the Loire River to Tours where he was buried on November 11. Tours became a pilgrimage site where
Christians gathered to honor the Saint who came to be known as the Patron of the poor, knights, and soldiers…
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Schwerin – Portrait of a City
by Dorothea S. Michelman
The stunning landscape of Mecklenburg’s lakes provides a wonderful backdrop for this enchanting Hanseatic city.
With the fall of the Berlin Wall and Germany's subsequent reunification in 1990, our family here in Virginia was affected as well, with one of our children marrying a Berliner and
setting up housekeeping across the Atlantic. Thus began a new family tradition: regular visits from capital to capital.
During the summer, we decided on day trips by train as a relaxing way to sample several of eastern Germany's historic Hansa towns, including Schwerin, Wismar, and Tangermünde. The
Hanseatic League, an association of free towns in northern Germany and adjacent countries, was formed in the twelfth century to promote and protect their economic interests. With Hamburg, Bremen, and Lübeck in
the lead, by the sixteenth century the Hansa comprised one hundred sixty cities with links from Paris and London to faraway Novgorod in Russia. This remarkable association thrived until the rise of private
banking houses such as that of the Fuggers in Augsburg. That, coupled with the devastating Thirty Years' War (1618 to 1648), resulted in the League's dissolution by 1669.
Nonetheless, in Germany the Hansa towns' colorful past – these days also reflected in a multitude of ways, from license plate designations to city websites – has certainly not
been forgotten. As for the name, you will find it in “Lufthansa,” which continues the tradition of linking the world's cities, although in rather a different manner and to a far greater extent than the original
Hansa could possibly have envisioned.
For our first “Hanseatic” excursion, we set our sights on Schwerin, capital of the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Mecklenburg-West Pomerania) and a two-and-a-half hour journey
from Berlin. Surrounded by lake and forest – Schwerin proudly calls itself the “City of Seven Lakes'” – it is not difficult to see why the grand dukes of Mecklenburg chose this idyllic spot for their residence.
Landmark and symbol of the city is Schwerin Castle located on an island in Lake Schwerin. Schwerin was originally a Slavic settlement, whose castle on this site, named Zuarin, was first mentioned in 1018. It was the seat of the rulers of Obotrites. Henry the Lion (1129 to 1195), the powerful duke of Saxony and Bavaria, conquered the region and transformed it into a German settlement. He founded Schwerin in 1140.
The thinly settled area soon welcomed many newcomers – monks, missionaries, merchants, draftsmen, and others and became important to trade.
Although the Thirty Years' War left the Mecklenburg region in ruins and a subsequent fire twenty years later destroyed nearly all the town's houses,
a number of magnificent churches from the Middle Ages and other architectural landmarks remain witnesses to Schwerin's significance during this period. Not to be missed is the majestic Cathedral of St. Mary and
Saint John (Dom Sankt Maria and Sankt Johannes), whose foundation was laid by Henry the Lion. This imposing example of Backsteingotik (Brick Gothic), a symbol of northern Germany's architecture, was built
between 1280 and circa 1420…
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A New Home: 400 Years of German Immigration to America
by Don Heinrich Tolzmann
With over forty million Americans claiming German heritage, roots from the homeland to points across America weave a fascinating web.
Historical memory is often expressed through monuments, markers, and museums. In Germany, there are now museums devoted to immigration from the two major port cities from whence
immigrants embarked on their way to America: the Deutsches Auswandererhaus, or German Emigration Center, in Bremerhaven, and the Ballinstadt Museum, or Ballin City Museum, in Hamburg. Millions of
German-speaking immigrants from across Europe poured through these and other ports on their way to the Land der unbegrenzten Mőglichkeiten, or Land of Unlimited Possibilities.
In keeping with German tradition, German-Americans have erected monuments and markers to Carl Schurz, Schiller, Goethe, and others. However, two stand out with regard to German
immigration to America. Together they provide a good point of departure for understanding the geography of German immigration and settlement.
The first one is a modest historical marker in Jamestown, Virginia, titled “First Germans at Jamestown.” It reads: “The first Germans to land in Jamestown, the first permanent English
settlement in Virginia, arrived aboard the vessel Mary and Margaret about 1 October 1608. These Germans were glassblowers and carpenters. In 1620, German mineral specialists and saw-millwrights followed, to work and settle in the Virginia colony. These pioneers and skilled craftsmen were the forerunner of the many millions of Germans who settled in America and became the largest national group to populate the United States.”
Dedicated in 1997, this Virginia Historical Marker was erected on recommendation of the German Heritage Society of Greater Washington, D.C., to commemorate these early German pioneers,
and also to serve as a symbol of the forthcoming four hundredth anniversary of their arrival in 2008. Gary C. Grassl, President of the Society, writes: “When we remember the first Germans at Jamestown, we can
say with pride that Germans took part in the settlement that may be called with more justification than any other place where the American nation had its beginning. They were thus present at the creation of this
nation.”
From these humble beginnings, German immigration to America slowly and slightly increased to the Dutch and Swedish colonies of New Netherlands and New Sweden, both of which were later
absorbed by the English, with most Germans settling at the former. Not until 1683, however, did Germans establish the first permanent German settlement at Germantown, Pennsylvania, the site of the second
important monument relating to German immigration…
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The Haunting of Lemp Mansion
by Sherwin Yoder
A St. Louis brewing dynasty meets with a series of tragedies and ghostly memories remain yet today.
On October 31, those looking for some Halloween fun may try to give themselves a good scare by visiting a “haunted” house, watching a creepy movie, or hearing a spooky story.
However, what would happen if folks could get their share of scares in a single experience? Welcome to the Lemp Mansion. The Lemp Mansion has the spooky story if one knows the mansion’s history, and unlike designed “haunted” houses, the paranormal activities at the Lemp Mansion are unplanned and have been documented by numerous visitors. Are you ready for an interesting and rather spooky story?
The story behind the Lemp Mansion is a story of a family’s rapid rise to success followed by their tragic fall. Johann Adam Lemp moved from Eschwege, Germany, and arrived in St. Louis,
Missouri, in 1838. He opened up a small grocery/mercantile store where he sold the usual goods as well as a new kind of beer. The beer was made from a family recipe that had been passed down to him by his
father, a recipe for a homemade lager.
Johann observed that his beer was popular among his customers and that the St. Louis market seemed primed for a new kind of beer so, in 1840, Johann opened up a small brewery.
Later, he purchased some caves close to the Mississippi River where he had better access to ice chunks, which were needed in the brewing process of what is claimed to be St. Louis’ first lager. The business
flourished, and in 1858, his lager was awarded first place at the St. Louis fair.
Millionaire Johann Adam Lemp died on August 25, 1862, and his son, William Lemp, Sr., took control of the brewery operations and began to expand the business. In 1868, William’s
father-in-law, Jacob Feickert, built a large house not too far from the brewery, and William purchased the home from Jacob in 1876 and expanded the already impressive structure into a thirty-three room Victorian
mansion.
The 1890s found the Lemp dynasty in full swing as the company became incorporated as William J. Lemp Brewing Co., and the success of the “Falstaff” beer gave the Lemp name
national recognition and led to the Lemp brewery being the first coast-to-coast distributor in the United States. William Lemp went beyond his own company. He was very good friends with beer barons Frederick
Pabst and Adolphus Busch, and Lemp helped them attain greater success in their own beer kingdoms. William had six children, two daughters and four sons, and in 1897, he witnessed the marriage of his daughter
Hilda to Gustav Pabst.
The years leading up to this happy decade for the Lemp family saw a rapid expansion of the Lemp brewery. The brewery covered five city blocks above ground, and with the introduction of
mechanical refrigeration, portions of the cave were converted into a natural auditorium, and a theater was constructed. A concrete-lined swimming pool was installed and heated, and later a bowling alley was
added to the extravagant underground network.
In 1899, William Lemp, Jr., married Lillian Hadlen Lemp, the Lavender Lady, and the couple welcomed the birth of their son, William J. Lemp III, in 1900. In 1901, Frederick Lemp,
William, Sr.’s, favorite son and heir-apparent, died at the age of twenty-eight due to heart problems. His son’s death was a hard blow to William, Sr., and he began to act withdrawn and nervous. When his good
friend Frederick Pabst died on January 1, 1904, William, Sr.’s, unsettled state increased, and on February 13, 1904, William Lemp, Sr., shot himself in the head with a .38 caliber Smith and Wesson in his bedroom…
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The Volkshochschule: Adult Education at its Best
By Leah Larkin
Government subsidized classes help spread knowledge to the German masses.
The Volkshochschule – it’s one of the things I miss most about Germany. Two years ago I moved to France after having lived and worked in Germany for some twenty-five years.
During that time, I became a Volkshochschule (adult education) junkie.
I learned German, starting out with beginning level courses and moving up to more advanced courses and eventually earning the Kleines Deutsches Sprachdiplom.
I studied Italian and attended French conversation courses. Languages are my hobby, but I also took an art history course, various exercise courses, and even a cooking course at the Volkshochschule. It was an important part of my life – and there’s nothing like it in France.
Today there are 1,000 Volkshochschulen in 4,000 towns and cities throughout Germany.
Dr. Christian Fiebig, director of the Böblingen-Sindelfingen Volkshochschule near Stuttgart, said the Volkshochschule is the “biggest player in adult education in Germany” with some 10 million students every year and 200,000 employees (staff and trainers). The courses offered are reasonable. Participant tuition covers 50 – 60 percent of the school’s costs, with the remainder covered by local taxes.
Five categories of courses are offered: politics and general knowledge, culture, health, languages and job skills, with the health and language categories offering the most
courses.
In Böblingen-Sindelfingen, 3,500 different courses are offered, including 23 languages, from Arabic, Polish, Croatian, Hebrew, Greek and others to the more popular English, German, French, Italian, and Spanish.
German courses for foreigners have always played a big role in the Volkshochschule curriculum, but today are even more important.
In January 2005 the Zuwanderungs Gesetz (Immigration Law) took effect, making learning the German language a requirement for those who intend to reside in the country.
The Volkshochschule offers six modules, some 600 hours of beginning and intermediate German courses, for new residents.
Each module involves four hours of class every day for four weeks. For those who have a visa for staying in the country for a year or longer, half of the tuition is paid by the government.
I visited Erdmute Seibert’s class at module level two with 17 students from 10 different countries. Choudhay Rukhsar Ahmed from Pakistan-Kashmir sat next to Phont Pharn from
Thailand.
Both had recently married Germans and had been in the country only a few months with no knowledge of the language. Martha Oppliger, a Mexican, and Yingmiao Yu, from Taiwan, are both married to Americans working in Germany. “I started at zero. The teacher is very good, very patient. I couldn’t learn on my own,” said Yingmiao Yu.
Seibert, who has been a Volkshochschule teacher for 16 years, describes her job as “difficult and exciting at the same time.” Many of her students come from poor countries with a
limited educational background. “It demands fantasy and creativity on the part of the teacher,” she noted…
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Worms: A Storied Past
by Lori Hein
Few German cities claim such deep history as this fabled city along the Rhein.
I looked out across Heiliger Sand (Holy Sands), a field of headstones engraved in Hebrew, some a thousand years old and listing backward or to one side, and settled my gaze on the
towers of Dom St. Peter, the cathedral of Worms. The ancient Jewish cemetery and the mighty Romanesque church, both witnesses to the city’s rich history, were draped – graves of Talmudic scholars and statues of
saints equally – in the thin, white cloak of a late autumn snowfall.
The dusting lent an air of calm to this old German city whose history has at times been turbulent, and I went looking for pieces of its past. As I explored, Worms, which sits on
the Rhein twenty-eight miles south of Mainz in the state of Rheinland-Pfalz, offered glimpses of Celts and Romans; a once thriving Jewish community; Holy Roman Emperors; the seed-sowers of the Reformation; and a wine-growing culture with two-thousand-year-old roots.
Four-towered Dom St. Peter has been the signature landmark of Worms for over a thousand years. The amber-red sandstone colossus sits atop the old city’s highest hill and dominates
the skyline, dwarfing buildings old and new that have been built around it. Though early Christians of the late Roman era built a church on the site in the seventh century, it was in the eleventh century under
Bishop Burchard that the foundations of a Romanesque cathedral with today’s grand dimensions were laid.
As the centuries marched on, masons and laborers of the medieval cathedral guild rebuilt and restored, eventually adding gothic flourishes to the church’s Romanesque core. The
result is a soaring space with strong Romanesque bones and lighter gothic limbs – carved portals, stained glass, airy chapels. Added to the mix are baroque and rococo elements installed after the cathedral’s
interior – along with most of the city of Worms – was torched in 1689 by Louis XIV’s army during the War of the Palatinate Succession, a sweeping expansionist bid by the French king. The most striking of these
later cathedral constructions is the opulent gilt altar designed by eighteenth-century architectural wunderkind Balthasar Neumann.
Worms was a key administrative and ecclesiastical center during the Holy Roman Empire, and St. Peter’s Nicholas Chapel was the setting for sessions of the Imperial Diet, a
Catholic court and legislative body. Of the many Diets convened at Worms, that of 1521 stands apart in the history of the city and the Christian world. Called before Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and top figures
in the Catholic hierarchy, Martin Luther stuck to the words and spirit of the “95 Theses” he had nailed four years earlier to a church door in Wittenberg. He refused to recant his protest that biblical
scripture, not papal power or decree, holds the key to salvation. The Diet labeled Luther an outlaw, and the Reformation got into gear…
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A Friend in Need: A Brief History of the German Society of Pennsylvania
by Friederike Baer
For new German immigrants to the United States, the German Society of Pennsylvania offered a ray of hope and assistance when the transition became difficult.
On December 26, 1764, a small group of German residents of Philadelphia gathered to consider how to address the miserable conditions under which many German immigrants were arriving in
their city. The men were outraged by the many incidents of overcrowding and inadequate provisions – conditions that contributed to high rates of sickness and even death on immigrant vessels. Within a year of the
meeting, the newly established German Society of Pennsylvania recorded its first achievement: the Pennsylvania Assembly passed a protective law that stipulated minimum space requirements for every passenger,
ordered captains to provide medical care, and guaranteed the presence of a translator upon the arrival of German immigrants in the port of Philadelphia.
The German Society was thus founded on concern for others. It offered German newcomers the help that would allow them to gain a foothold in the new world: immediate material
assistance, medical care, help in locating housing and employment, and legal aid. In 1772, for example, the widow Mary Christina Martin and her six children turned to the Society when the captain of her vessel
demanded she pay an unreasonably high fare for their transatlantic crossing. The Society’s lawyer was able to resolve the dispute. The fact that a poor newcomer like Frau Martin turned to the Society immediately
after landing in Philadelphia indicates that the Society was well known to Germans even before their arrival in the new world.
In the nineteenth century, the needs for immigrant aid intensified. Between 1816 and 1914, an estimated 5.5 million Germans came to the United States. After the Civil War, when regular
steamship service made the transatlantic voyage faster, safer, and more affordable, between twenty and seventy-one vessels landed in Philadelphia every year, and up to fifty percent of their passengers were
German speakers. The most popular of the Society’s services was the agency, or Agentur, which assisted thousands of German immigrants in the years between the 1840s and 1920s in a variety of ways. A
representative of a particularly needy group of applicants was the farmhand George Heller, a native of Bavaria, who had been in the country for five years. In November 1869, he requested, and received, –
incredible as it may seem – a referral to the poorhouse. There, at least, his basic needs would be met.
Other applicants needed funds to reach another destination. Such was the case of August Schmidt, a thirty-three-year-old carpenter from Thüringen. Schmidt had been in the country for
only three days when he received passage money to get himself, his wife and his three children to Plymouth, Wisconsin. Many more men and women sought employment. Louis Schaumberger went to the Agentur on
October 6, 1886. The records, which were kept in German, reveal that he was “20, 2 ½ years in the country . . . married, no children, laborer, Würtemberg.” A few weeks later, Arabella Scholz, “a middle-aged
woman and good cook,” also asked for help to find a job. While an unskilled laborer like Herr Schaumberger had limited prospects in the job market, applicants like Frau Scholz were in high demand. In fact, the
Society kept lists of potential employers who had expressed interest in hiring German domestic help…
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Tirol – A Bridge Across the Alps
by Robert A. Selig
A history of special privileges and fierce Tirolean loyalty surround this much-coveted passage across the Alps.
The history of the Tirol as a political entity in its own right begins in what is today the South Tirol and, somewhat paradoxically, with Albert III (circa 1180 to 1253), the last
male of the original house of the Grafen von Tirol. First mentioned in the middle of the eleventh century, the uninterrupted line of Grafen, or counts, begins with Albert I (1128 to 1140) and his son Albert
II (1140 to 1165), who was the first to use the title of Graf von Tirol in 1141. The counts, whose name derives from Castle Tirol near Meran, ruled properties around Meran, in the Jaun Valley in Carinthia, and
near Freising in Bavaria. In 1180, Graf Albert III used the removal of Henry the Lion as Duke of Bavaria by Emperor Frederick II Barbarossa to gain his independence from the Bavarian dukes. Most of his
seigneurial rights, for example, those as Counts of the Vintschgau and as Bailiffs of Trient on the river Etsch or in the Grafschaft Bozen (acquired circa 1170), were now held as fiefs from the Prince-Bishops of Trient and of Brixen. Albert diligently pursued a policy of acquiring lands and privileges: in 1210, he was appointed Bailiff of Brixen and in 1248 acquired seigneurial rights (Grafschaftsrechte)
in the Inn-, Puster-, and Eisack Valleys. Albert died in 1253, but his efforts to consolidate his dispersed holdings and seigneurial rights into a polity bore fruit when we read, in 1254, for the first time, of
a "dominium" or "comecia Tyrolis."
Since Albert had no male heirs, his two daughters inherited his properties: Elisabeth married Duke Otto II of Andechs-Meranien, while Adelheid took Meinhard III. von Görz for a husband.
When Albert died in 1253, the southern parts of his heritage, including Meran, went to Meinhard, who ruled as Meinhard I, Graf von Tirol, Görz, and Istria, and Bailiff of Aquileia, Trient, Brixen, and Bozen,
until his death in 1258. The northern parts of Tirol as well as the large holdings of the dukes of Andechs-Meranien went to Gebhard VI von Hirschberg (circa 1220 to 1275), who had married Albert's widowed
daughter Elisabeth in 1249. This division of the Tirol was only of short duration: at the death of the childless Gebhard VII in 1284, the lands fell to Meinhard's son Meinhard II.
Meinhard II (circa 1238 to 1295), Graf von Tirol since 1271, completed the process begun by his grandfather. In 1282, King Rudolph I of Habsburg (1218 to 1291; though de facto
Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Rudolph was never crowned) confirmed Meinhard in his, and Tirol's, independence from the Wittelsbach dukes of Bavaria and granted the Grafschaft its own Landrecht, that is to
say code of laws. His elevation to the status of Prince of the Empire (Reichsfürst) and investiture as Duke of Carinthia, that is, Kärnten, in 1286, was a reward for his support of Rudolph against Ottokar of
Bohemia. Most importantly, it made Meinhard and the Tirol independent of the Prince-Bishops of Trient and Brixen…
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Language: Auf den Spuren deutscher Missionare in Süd-Dakota
Von Gert Niers
Das Interesse, das deutsche Einwanderer und Reisende der amerikanischen Urbevölkerung entgegengebracht haben, reicht zurück bis in die Kolonialzeit. Besondere Verdienste um die
Dokumentation indianischer Kultur in Nordamerika haben sich Conrad Weiser, Maximilian Prinz zu Wied, Karl Bodmer und Frederick Weygold erworben. Die Romane Karl Mays, der allerdings nie amerikanischen Boden
betrat, haben zweifellos auch das deutsche Interesse am Leben und Schicksal der Indianer gefördert. Zu den jüngsten Beiträgen zu diesem Thema gehört das Werk des Dortmunder Forschers Karl Markus Kreis. Der
inzwischen emeritierte Professor der Fachhochschule Dortmund, Abteilung Angewandte Sozialwissenschaften, ist den Spuren nachgegangen, die deutsche Missionare Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts in Süd-Dakota hinterließen
– ein faszinierender Aspekt deutschamerikanischer Studien.
Das Ergebnis der Untersuchungen von Karl Markus Kreis liegt in folgenden Buchveröffentlichungen vor: Rothäute, Schwarzröcke und heilige Frauen. Deutsche Berichte aus den
Indianer-Missionen in South Dakota, 1886-1900. Bochum: Projekt Verlag, 2000. Als Nachfolgeband erschien Schulen und Kirchen für die Sioux-Indianer. Deutsche Dokumente aus den katholischen Missionen in
South Dakota, 1884-1932. Bochum: Projekt Verlag, 2007. Der erste Band ist außerdem soeben auf Englisch herausgekommen: Lakotas, Black Robes, and Holy Women. German Reports from the Indian Missions in
South Dakota, 1886-1900. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2007.
Der Dortmunder Professor richtete sein Augenmerk auf die von Mitgliedern der Societas Jesu (SJ) und von Fanziskaner-Schwestern 1886 im Rosebud-Reservat gegründete St. Francis Mission
und auf die 1888 im Reservat Pine Ridge von Angehörigen derselben katholischen Orden ins Leben gerufene Holy Rosary Mission. Beide heute noch existierenden und von Jesuiten betreuten Missionen liegen auf dem
Gebiet der Lakota (Sioux-Indianer) an der Südwestgrenze des US-Bundesstaates South Dakota.
Man mag sich fragen, was deutsche Missionare gegen Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts im Dakota-Territorium zu suchen hatten, ausgerechnet nach der vernichtenden Niederlage (1876) des Generals
George A. Custer (der übrigens deutscher Abstammung war – der Name Custer ist die anglisierte Form des deutschen Namens Küster). Der Aufenthalt von Angehörigen der Gesellschaft Jesu im Wilden Westen hat zwei
Gründe. Einmal ist ihre Anwesenheit bei den Lakota im selbstgewählten apostolischen Auftrag, in der Verpflichtung zur Weltmission begründet. Zum zweiten ist ihr Amerika-Aufenthalt unmittelbar auf politische
Maßnahmen des damaligen deutschen Reichskanzlers Otto von Bismarck zurückzuführen, der 1872 die von dem Spanier Ignatius von Loyola im Jahr 1540 gegründete Ordensgemeinschaft verbot und ihre Mitglieder des
Landes verwies: ein fragwürdiges und letztlich unergiebiges Unternehmen. Unter diesen Umständen ergab sich jedoch ein neues Wirkungsfeld für deutschsprachige Jesuiten und andere Ordensgemeinschaften…
Tracking German Missionaries in South Dakota
by Gert Niers
The interest in Native Americans as shown by German immigrants and travelers dates back to colonial times. Conrad Weiser, Maximilian Prinz zu Wied, Karl Bodmer, and Frederick
Weigold have earned special merits for documenting Indian culture in North America. Without doubt, the novels of Karl May (although he never put foot on American soil) also increased the German interest in the
life and fate of the Indians. The research undertaken by Karl Markus Kreis, a scholar from Dortmund, belongs to the latest contributions to this subject. The retired professor of the University of Applied
Sciences, Dortmund, followed the traces left by German missionaries in South Dakota at the end of the nineteenth century – a fascinating aspect of German-American studies.
The result of the research made by Karl Markus Kreis is available in the following book publications: Rothäute, Schwarzröcke und heilige Frauen. Deutsche Berichte aus den
Indianer-Missionen in South Dakota, 1886-1900. Bochum: Projekt Verlag, 2000. A continuation came out under the title Schulen und Kirchen für die Sioux-Indianer. Deutsche Dokumente aus den katholischen
Missionen in South Dakota, 1884-1932. Bochum: Projekt Verlag, 2007. In addition, the first volume has just also been published in English: Lakotas, Black Robes, and Holy Women. German Reports from the
Indian Missions in South Dakota, 1886-1900. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2007.
The professor from Dortmund focused on the St. Francis Mission (founded on the Rosebud Reservation by members of the Societas Jesu (SJ) and by Franciscan Sisters, 1886) and on the
Holy Rosary Mission founded in the Pine Ridge Reservation by members of the same Catholic orders in 1888. Both missions – still in existence today and operated by Jesuits – are located on Lakota (Sioux Indian)
territory near the South West border of South Dakota.
One may wonder what German missionaries have to do with the Dakota Territory at the end of the nineteenth century, particularly after the annihilating defeat (1876) suffered by General
George A. Custer (who, by the way, was of German descent – the name Custer is the Anglicized form of the German name Küster). The presence of members of the Society of Jesus in the American Wild West has two
reasons. At one point, their sojourn with the Lakota is anchored in their self-chosen apostolic commitment, the pledge to worldwide missionary work. Secondly, their stay in America can be directly traced back to
political measures of the then German Imperial Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, who in 1872 declared the religious order (founded in 1540 by the Spaniard Ignatius of Loyola) illegal and forced its members to leave
the country: a questionable and, in the final analysis, counterproductive move. However, under those circumstances a new field of activity opened up for German-speaking Jesuits and other religious orders…
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At Home: What’s in a Name? – Schlachtplatte and Choucroûte Garnie
A Hearty Meal on Both Sides of the Rhine
by Sharon Hudgins
A little knowledge of a foreign language can often lead you astray.
For the first few years that I lived in Germany, I avoided ordering a dish called "Schlachtplatte" listed on menus and chalkboards at little country inns and small
restaurants attached to butcher shops. Schlachtplatte was usually featured on Tuesday, or Schlachttag, the traditional day on which animals were killed and butchered on farms in the past.
However, who wants to eat something named "Butcher's Plate" or "Slaughter Plate," served on "Slaughtering Day"?
For years I envisioned Schlachtplatte as a big wooden platter covered with an unappetizing assortment of ugly-looking offal and strong-tasting sausages, including sinister
black Blutwurst (blood sausage). Just the image was enough to turn my stomach.
On the other hand, I often crossed the Rhine River from Germany to the Alsace region of France, to eat at country restaurants where one of my favorite dishes was "Choucroûte
Garnie" (garnished sauerkraut). Served on a large oval platter, a big mound of seasoned sauerkraut was surrounded by whole boiled potatoes (and sometimes carrots) and topped with several succulent,
mild-tasting sausages, a slab of fat-streaked pork belly, and big, thick, smoked pork chops. A little stoneware pot of strong Dijon mustard was set on the table for garnishing the meats. And, of course, this
substantial country-style meal was always accompanied by a local Alsatian white wine, usually brought to the table in a traditional blue-and-gray stoneware pitcher and poured into tall, green-stemmed Alsatian
wine glasses.
Who could resist such a feast?
It was several years before I finally learned that German Schlachtplatte and French Choucroûte Garnie are essentially the same dish, with minor variations according to each cook's preference, pocketbook, and whims. And in Switzerland you'll find a similar dish known as Bernplatte.
German Schlachtplatte goes by different names in different regions of the country. In Frankfurt, they serve Kasseler Rippchen mit Kraut (smoked pork loin with sauerkraut), as well as a Frankfurter Sauerkrautplatte
that adds thick-cut bacon, frankfurter sausages, and potatoes to the dish. In Schwabia, the sauerkraut is often mixed with yellow-pea purée and served with Spätzle (tiny egg-flour dumplings) instead of potatoes. In southern Germany, this dish is also called Schlachtschüssel
(another way of saying "butcher's plate"). And in some parts of Germany, this hearty fare is known simply as Geräuchertes mit Kraut (smoked [meats] with sauerkraut) because smoked meats – especially pork products – are an essential ingredient…
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Yesteryears
by Robert E. & Barbara Selig
Herman Haupt (26 March 1817 – 14 December 1905)
Herman Haupt was born in Philadelphia to Jacob and Anna Wiall Haupt and attended private schools
there before moving to Woodville, New Jersey. He became the youngest cadet ever when he entered the United States Military Academy at West Point at age fourteen. However, Haupt was more interested in railroad
engineering and resigned his commission on 30 September 1835, thirty days after graduation. He was immediately offered, and accepted, the position of principal assistant engineer in the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania for the Gettysburg to Hagerstown railroad line and for the next twenty-five years built railroads in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts…
Adolph Frederick Rupp (2 September 1901 – 10 December 1977)
Adolph Rupp was the fourth of six children of German Mennonite immigrants Heinrich and
Anna Rupp. From the small, one hundred six-three-acre farm that was barely large enough to feed the family, and the one-room schoolhouse in Halstead, Kansas, Rupp went on to become one of the most successful
coaches in college basketball. His eight hundred seventy-six victories in a career that spanned forty-one years place him third, just behind Bobby Knight and Dean Smith…
John Banner (28 January 1910 – 28 January 1973)
Located in group fifty-seven, row two, number twenty-six, in the Mauer Cemetery in Vienna, a
visitor finds a granite marker indicating the grave of a Johann Hübner, who had died in 1988. In front of it, however, there is a little marker with two photographs and the inscription: "Hier befindet sich
die letzte Ruhestätte … Here is the last resting place of the actor, John Banner, known as "Sergeant First Class Georg Schultz" in the comedy show Ein Käfig voller Helden (Hogan's Heroes). You have
provided us with many memorable hours; you will live forever in our hearts. We, your family, will never forget you." In his death, the Jewish actor had returned to the city of his birth…
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Family Research: Family Reunions Survive in America
by James M. Beidler
Family reunions have become a time-honored tradition across America, held primarily in what might be described as “family reunion season,” stretching from July to September.
Many of these get-togethers have a “life cycle” of approximately sixty years – and then often go defunct as the reunion-goers reach the point of not remembering how branches of
the family relate to one another.
However, this typical scenario of three generations from “birth” to “death” of a reunion is not destiny. A few months ago I had the opportunity to speak at two such gatherings. In
neither case was I related to the surnames that titled the reunions (though I did meet a few distant cousins), but both were families descended from eighteenth-century immigrants to America from Germany.
I was left heartened that – even though both gatherings were smaller than they had been fifty or seventy-five years ago – the people who do choose to attend these reunions are, by
and large, quite knowledgeable about the family’s overall history … and are thirsty for even more information about earlier generations of the family.
The one reunion was held in northern New Jersey by the Swackhamer-Dufford Genealogical Society (there are interrelations between these two families). It commemorated the two
hundred seventy-fifth anniversary of immigrant Samuel Swackhamer taking up residence in that area known as “German Valley.”
This original Swackhamer was a survivor of an infamous 1730s immigrant voyage aboard the ironically named ship Love and Unity that ended up in court when the ship’s captain
attempted to starve the immigrants to steal their belongings.
At the Swackhamer reunion, displays included a chart and photographs that one of the youthful members had done for a school project.
The Swackhamers also made sure there were activities for the children; there were trout fishing lessons the day before the reunion as well as a tour of a Clydesdale horse farm
(featuring an all-important wagon ride) during the main day of festivities.
Probably the most fascinating aspect of the reunion was where it was held: Right on the land bought by immigrant Samuel Swackhamer…
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Calendar:
September
Frederick, MD
First Friday of the month: Der Stammtisch at Brewer’s Alley, 124 N. Market Street. Call 301-631-0127.
Indianapolis, IN
First Wednesday and first Saturday of the month: Docent-led tours of the Athenaeum, 401 East Michigan Street. Call 317-251-8658 or E-Mail shenselmeier@iquest.net .
Oakland, CA
September 23: 77th Annual German Fest. Greek Orthodox Cathedral and grounds, 4700 Lincoln Avenue. Call 510-530-5229 or visit www.ugas-eb.org .
October
Frederick, MD
First Friday of the month: Der Stammtisch at Brewer’s Alley, 124 N. Market Street. Call 301-631-0127.
Indianapolis, IN
First Wednesday and first Saturday of the month: Docent-led tours of the Athenaeum, 401 East Michigan Street. Call 317-251-8658 or E-Mail shenselmeier@iquest.net .
Erlanger, KY
October 4: Northern Kentucky German Church History – Kenton County, Kentucky, Public Library presented by Library staff. Erlanger branch Library, 401 Kenton Lands
Road. Call 859-962-4000.
Reading, PA
October 4-7: Reading Liederkranz Oktoberfest. 143 Spook Lane. Call 610-373-3982 or visit www.readingliederkranz.com .
Colerain Township, OH
October 5-7: 15th Annual Schwaben Oktoberfest. Donauschwaben Park, 4290 Dry Ridge Road. Call 513-981-0699.
Fredericksburg, TX
October 5-7: 27th Annual Oktoberfest. Call 830-997-4810 or visit www.oktoberfestinfbg.com .
Leavenworth, WA
October 5-7, 12-13, 19-20: Oktoberfest. Call 509-548-5807 or visit www.leavenworth.org .
San Antonio, TX
October 5-6, 12-13: Oktoberfest San Antonio. Call 210-222-1521.
St. Louis, MO
October 5-7: 4th Annual Soulard Oktoberfest. Historic Soulard Market Park, 8th and Lafayette Streets. Call 314-477-7262.
St. Leon, IN
October 5-7: 3rd Annual Oktoberfest. E-Mail
joharryhart@nalu.net
New York, NY
October 6: 28th Annual Conference for German Language Schools in the USA. German Consulate General, 871 United Nations Plaza.
Call 203-792-2795.
Casselberry, FL
October 6: Oktoberfest. German-American Society of Central Florida, 381 Orange Lane. Call 407-834-0574.
Philadelphia, PA
October 6: Lecture Demo/Performance, German choreographer and dancer Susanne Linke. German Society of Pennsylvania’s Albert & Hete Barthelmes Auditorium, 611
Spring Garden Street. Call 610-667-0706, E-Mail nzapr@aol.com or visit www.ruddydance.org .
Newport, RI
October 6-8: 15th Annual International Oktoberfest. Newport Yachting Center, 4 Commercial Wharf. Call 401-846-1600 or visit www.newportfestivals.com .
West Dover, VT
October 6-7: 10th Annual Mount Snow Oktoberfest & 34th Annual Harvest Arts & Crafts Show. Call 802-464-4174
or visit www.mountsnow.com/s_calendar.html .
Rockville, MD
October 7: Rockville-Pinneberg Sister City 50th Anniversary Celebration. Call 240-314-8627 or E-Mail bthompson@rockvillemd.gov .
Cincinnati, OH
October 8: Reading Old German Script in Genealogical Documents, Introduction – by Kenny Burck & Deb Cyprych. Pleasant Ridge Public Library, 6233 Montgomery Road.
Covington, KY
October 11: Genealogy Program to be announced. Kenton County, Kentucky, Public Library – presented by Library staff – 5th & Scott Streets.
Crossville, TN
October 12-13: 17th Annual Oktoberfest. Knights of Columbus, 2892 Hwy. 70 East. Call 931-707-7291, E-Mail jguzek@citilink.net or visit www.citilink.net/~jguzek/oktoberfest2007 .
Lake Worth, FL
October 12-14 & 19-21: Oktoberfest. American German Club –- The Palm Beaches. Call 561-967-6464 or visit www.americangermanclub.org .
Harmony, PA
October 13: German Dinner. Harmony Museum’s Stewart Hall. Reservations required. Call 888-821-4822, E-Mail hmuseum@fyi.net , or visit www.harmonymuseum.org .
Highmont, NY
October 13: 8th Annual Oktoberfest. Belleayre Ski Center, Discovery Lodge, Rt. 28. Call 845-586-2246 or visit www.gacnc.org .
Gilford, NH
October 13-14: 27th Annual Oktoberfest. Gunstock Mountain Resort. Call 603-293-4341 or visit www.gunstock.com .
Oregon, OH
October 14: Teutonia Männerchor and Damenchor Annual German Roast Pork/Sauerkraut Dinner. Oak Shade Grove Hall, 3624 Seaman Road. Call 419-472-9721.
Cincinnati, OH
October 15: Reading Old German Script in Genealogical Documents, A Closer Look – by Kenny Burck & Deb Cyprych. Pleasant Ridge Library, 6233 Montgomery Road.
Covington, KY
October 18: German Heritage and Influences of Greater Cincinnati – by Dr. Don Heinrich Tolzmann – Kenton County, Kentucky, Public Library, 5th & Scott Streets.
Miami, FL
October 19-21 & 26-28: Oktoberfest Miami. German American Social Club, 11919 SW 56 Street. Call 305-552-5123 or visit www.germanamericanclub-miami.org .
Cincinnati, OH
October 21: German Genealogy Day at the German Heritage Museum – 4764 Westfork Road. Bring your German Genealogy Books for Evaluation and Comment – with Dr. Don Heinrich Tolzmann. Call (this day only) 513-598-5732.
Marthasville, MO
October 21-22: 25th Annual Deutsch Country Days. Luxenhaus Farm, 18055 State Highway “O.” Call 636-433-5669, E-Mail info@deutschcountrydays.org , or visit www.deutschcountrydays.org .
Cincinnati, OH
October 22, Monday, 6:30 p.m. – Reading Old German Script in Genealogical Documents, Examples and Comments – by Bob Rau – Pleasant Ridge Public Library, 6233 Montgomery Road.
Covington, KY
October 25: Locating the Ancestral Home of Your German Ancestor – by Kenny Burck, downtown Covington, Kentucky Library, 5th & Scott Streets.
Fredericksburg, TX
October 27: 17th Annual Fredericksburg Food and Wine Fest. Call 830-997-8515 or visit www.fbgfoodandwinefest.com .
Cincinnati, OH
October 28, German Genealogy Day at the German Heritage Museum – 4764 Westfork Road. Call (this day only) 513-598-5732.
Cincinnati, OH
October 29: Reading Old German Script in Genealogical Documents, Terminology Found in Documents – by Bob Rau – Pleasant Ridge Public Library, 6233 Montgomery Road.
November
Frederick, MD
First Friday of the month: Der Stammtisch at Brewer’s Alley, 124 N. Market Street. Call 301-631-0127.
Indianapolis, IN
First Wednesday and first Saturday of the month: Docent-led tours of the Athenaeum, 401 East Michigan Street. Call 317-251-8658 or email shenselmeier@iquest.net
Indianapolis, IN
November 10: 8th Annual St. Martin Tag/Children’s Lantern Parade. Historic Athenaeum Das Deutsche Haus. E-Mail jimgould@sbcglobal.net or visit www.athenaeumfoundation.com .
Harmony, PA
November 11-12: WeihnachtMarkt at Harmony Museum’s Stewart Hall. Call 888-821-4822, E-Mail hmuseum@fyi.net
, or visit www.harmonymuseum.org .
Leavenworth, WA
November 23-25. Christkindlmarkt. Call 509-548-5807 or visit www.leavenworth.org
.
Baltimore, MD
November 24-25: 10th Annual Christkindlmarkt. Zion Lutheran Church, 400 East Lexington Street. Call 410-727-3939 or E-Mail zionbaltimore@verizon.net .
Tulsa, OK
November 30-December 2: 8th Annual Christkindlmarkt. Call 918-744-6997 or visit www.gastulsa.org .
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