AN DIE MUSIK:
The Germans of New Orleans
The Williams Research Center of the Historic New Orleans Collection
September 15, 1999—January 8, 2000

Saengerfest Waltz by W. N. Grunewald
1890
74-94-L

The exhibition presents selections from the Deutsches Haus Archives and other holdings in the Historic New Orleans Collection that feature the Germans in New Orleans. It is being exhibited in honor of Oktoberfest.

The Deutsches Haus Archives is an extensive collection of materials relating to the New Orleans German community. Most of the collection dates from the nineteenth century, and includes the records of a number of local institutions for which the Deutsches Haus became the umbrella organization in 1928. The precise record keeping of all the organizations makes the archives an excellent research tool for scholars interested in almost any aspect of nineteenth-century New Orleans German life. The great majority of the material is in German, and, unless printed, is in old German script.

The various volumes of this collection fall into seven series:

I. Deutsches Haus Charter and Legal Records. 1927-1968.
(Donation of Mr. Leon S. Cahn)
II. Records of the German Society of New Orleans. 1847-1929.
III. Records of German Music Societies. 1879-1950.
IV. German Music Archives. 1888-1983.
V. German Consular Records. 1837-1872.
VI. Miscellaneous German Institutions. 1865-1977.
VII. Printed Material. 1889-1928.

Unless otherwise indicated, the material displayed is from the Deutsches Haus Archives (E.L.1.1984), on extended loan from the Deutsches Haus.

INTRODUCTION
While the German presence in New Orleans can be traced to 1721, it was not until the late 1830s that German immigration began in earnest. Economic and political hardship in Europe were the catalysts. While many of the arriving immigrants went on to St. Louis and up the Ohio River, or to Texas, some chose the Crescent City as their new home. The 1850 census reveals that there were 20,000 Irish, 11,425 Germans, 7,522 French, and 2,670 English and Scottish residents in New Orleans.

In an effort to assist the arriving immigrants (some 183,000 entered the port of New Orleans between 1847 and 1855), the Deutsche Gesellschaft, or German Society, was founded in 1847. The society's role in aiding these immigrants was varied: at times it meant finding work and housing in New Orleans, and, on other occasions, assisting with travel arrangements to their next destination. The detailed minute books of the Board of Directors, the reports of the "agent" (who conducted the daily work of the organization), the printed annual reports, and other records provide a chronicle of the society's diverse activities.

Because of the rise of the railroads in the 1850s, the Civil War (which halted immigration to New Orleans completely), the deterioration of port facilities during the 1870s, and the fact that German ships were lured to Galveston by a deeper harbor, German immigration to New Orleans slowed to a mere trickle. As immigration diminished, the society developed into more of a social club. In 1928, it merged with other existing German organizations of New Orleans to form the Deutsches Haus.

Exhibition Checklist
Erster Protokollbuch, 1847-1854
[First Minute Book of the Board of Directors, 1847-1854]
The first formal meeting of the Deutsche Gesellschaft, June 4, 1847, explored ways in which the new organization might be able to assist arriving immigrants.

Erster Jahresbericht, 1848
[First Annual Report, 1848]
The annual report of the German Society for the year beginning June 1847 shows the number of Germans arriving from European ports, the number of individuals seeking work, and the cities in which Germans arriving in New Orleans eventually settled.

Jahresbericht fur das 81. Geschäftsjahr, 1929
[Eighty-first Annual Report, 1929]
The final annual report of the German Society.

The January 11, 1845, performance of Goethe's Faust in New Orleans, believed to be its first German performance in the United States, clearly testifies to the attitude of the German populace toward the stage. Even the Civil War, which forced many professional theaters to close, did not stop the local German productions.

The German passion for song was manifested by the establishment of several singing societies. The earliest of these groups, the chorus of the Turn-Verein (1851), was joined by the Deutsche Männergesangverein (1873), the Liedertafel (1878), Frohsinn (1885), the Liederkreis (1889), and eventually the Deutsches Haus Sängerchor (1929) among others. The societies maintained detailed records which provide information about members, discussions of concerts, evening entertainments, excursions to nearby tourist attractions, and their daily operations.

Some societies, such as the Liedertafel, admitted non-German speaking members in an effort to raise revenues for their expensive spectacles. Eventually such policies led to dissension, and in the case of the Liedertafel, resulted in the formation of a new organization, Frohsinn, which pledged to avoid such dangerous courses of action.

Constitution of the New Orleans Liedertafel, 1878
Charter of the Deutsche Gesang und Dramatischer-Verein "Frohsinn," copy dated October 11, 1892.

J. Hanno Deiler
Photoprint mounted on board, with ink additions; ca.1894
THNOC 1983.119
Gift of St. Joseph's Abbey, St. Benedict, Louisiana

J. Hanno Deiler (1849-1909) came to New Orleans in 1872 as a teacher at Saint Boniface German School and organist of the church. In 1879 he was appointed professor of German at the University of Louisiana (now Tulane University). Actively involved in a number of German organizations and singing societies, he was one of the most zealous preservers of German ethnicity in New Orleans. He played a central role in attracting, and later organizing, the 1890 North American Sängerbund Festival to New Orleans.

Deiler chronicled the activities of Germans in his monograph, The Settlement of the German Coast, and recorded their accomplishments in various other publications. He sought to rekindle interest in German migration to the city with his pamphlet Louisiana: A Home for German Settlers. As president of the German Society, he worked to re-establish regular German ship connections with New Orleans. When he finally succeeded, the fledgling enterprise was disrupted with the outbreak of World War I. Inspired by his passion for local German history, he worked to care for the records of the German Society.

Whenever possible, members of the local singing societies attended the North American Sängerbund Festival, the national convention of German singing societies. New Orleans was chosen for the site of the 1890 gathering, the first in the South.

Hosting such an event was a massive undertaking. Five singing societies of New Orleans were expected to host 64 societies with some 1,700 singers. The entire population of New Orleans rose to the occasion. After rejecting the Fair Grounds, Spanish Fort, and the Washington Artillery Hall as sites, it was decided to build an architecturally attractive wooden hall that could seat 5,000 spectators with a stage accommodating 2,000 singers and orchestra. A site facing Lee Circle was chosen as the location for the Sängerfesthalle.

When the curtain rose on opening night (February 12, 1890), the massive hall (150 feet on St. Charles Ave., 200 feet deep, with a 96 foot stage) held the largest known audience to date for a musical event in the Crescent City. A large press room, well stocked with food and a variety of liquid refreshments, accommodated the media. Mayor Joseph Shakespeare, who had studied German for the event, led the citizens in a brilliant display of hospitality during the festival.

Saengerfest Waltz by W. N. Grunewald
(New Orleans: Louis Grunewald, 1890).
THNOC 74-94-L
Official Text-book and Programme of the Twenty-Sixth Saengerfest of the North American Saengerbund, (New Orleans: Crescent Publishing Co., 1890).

Many German musicians who immigrated to the United States established themselves as music publishers. Some German musicians who settled in New Orleans followed that well established pattern. Emile Johns, the earliest sheet music printer known in New Orleans, was born in Poland and educated in Vienna. His Album Louisianais is believed to be the first music with a New Orleans imprint. Other local German musicians-turned-publishers include Theodore von LaHache, Henri Lehmann, Philip Werlein, and Louis Grunewald. The Werlein and Grunewald firms were celebrated in music on various occasions with images of their stores gracing the sheet music covers.

135 Canal Street Waltz
by Auguste Davis
New Orleans: Philip Werlein, 1877.
THNOC 1960.81
Crispino e la Comare Waltz,
by E. Bischoff
New Orleans: Louis Grunewald, 1866.
THNOC 70-90-L

The Germans of New Orleans remained in contact with other German societies throughout the United States, as well as in Germany. An example of such interchange is the memorial prepared by the Munich Chapter of the Allgemeiner Deutschen Musik-Verein (German Music Association) in memory of Jakob Resch, a violinist born in Munich who died in New Orleans in 1878. The memorial, addressed to the Musicians' Benevolent Fund of New Orleans, praises Resch's musical skills and the loving care his adopted city showed him.

Zum Dank aus München an den Unterstützungs -Verein der Musiker zu New Orleans, 1879.
Ink and watercolor drawing
by Joseph Resch.

The German music societies also sponsored balls, plays, banquets, picnics, and country and river excursions. Frohsinn was no exception and scheduled a river excursion for Sunday, May 31, 1896. Advertised as a "Basket pic-nic," the event provided lemonade and beer gratis.

Circular for a boat excursion on the Mississippi River, Sunday, May 31, 1896.

The musical productions of Frohsinn were elaborate affairs, requiring managerial skills to coordinate the activity of musicians, singers, soloists, scenic designers, stage hands, ticket sales, security forces, and the local brewery. The German love of music can not truly be measured by attendance at programs of world famous performers, but rather by their overwhelming participation in the productions.

Program for the Sunday, March 21, 1897 concert of Frohsinn, held at the Washington Artillery Hall.

Frohsinn specialized in short musical farces. Their music archive (containing primarily music printed in Germany) reveals much about their entertainments. The color lithographs illustrating the suggested costumes are representative of recurring themes: music, love, marriage, life, and fashion.

•Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten, a humorous quartet for male voices by W. Pasch, telling the trials and tribulations of the Bremer town musicians – a cat, donkey, dog, and goat.

•Die drei Gebruder Dick von der Regimentsmusik, a humorous trio for male voices, extolling the virtues of the Dick brothers in the regimental band.

•Eulalia und ihre Schwärmer, a duet for two men and the puppet Eulalia, describing their version of the ideal woman.

•Michel beim Heiratsvermittlen, a duet for two men by Otto Teich, illustrating the trials of a visit to a marriage broker.

•O Hosenrock! O Hympelrock!, a couplet for male voice, commenting on the strain of staying fashionable.

•Schuster Zwecke’s Geburtstag, a comic scene with music and text by the ever popular Otto Teich, for four men, commemorating the joys (and pains) of celebrating a birthday.

•Michel in der Tanzstunde, a comic duo for two men, extolling the virtues of dancing and the necessity of dance lessons.