Lost New York Gem

Lost New York Gem. German Winter Garden/Windsor Theatre. , On this site in the mid-1800s, stood the German Winter Garden (aka Volks Garden), a forgotten treasure of mid-19th century New York’s Kleindeutschland, then the third most dense concentration of Germans in the world. Known for its music and family-friendly ambiance, it was one of several stately German theatres, banks and beer gardens on the Bowery, Little Germany’s cultural hub. built circa 1855, the Winter Garden’s glass-encased dome was one of the first to use cast-iron rib framing., In 1864, the structure was replaced by the 3,500 seat New Stadt Theatre, which became the Windsor Theatre in 1878. Billed as the “Largest Theatre in America”, it alternated over the years between German drama, classical music and opera. Yiddish theatre, and plays by Shakespeare and Ireland’s Dion Boucicault. Appearing there were “Buffalo Bill” Cody, Italian actor Antonio Maiori, Jacob Adler as the Jewish King Lear, magic legend Herrmann the Great and matinee idol James O’Neill (Eugene’s father) in The Count of Monte Cristo. Decades before Broadway became integrated, one could also have seen Callender’s Minstrels, an African American minstrel troupe, featuring America’s first widely popular Black comedian, Billy Nersands., In 1910, the Windsor was torn down to make way for the Manhattan Bridge Plaza. , -David Mulkins, Historian/Educator ,