Evansville's German Heritage

Evansville's German Heritage. . The first demographic waves of German immigrants occurred in the 1680s when they settled in Pennsylvania. In the nineteenth century, Germans continued to come to America in waves. Quite a few settled in this area between 1836 and 1840. The most significant number of immigrants was between 1848 and 1859. Many of these immigrants were known as “Forty-Eighters”. Other waves occurred between 1865 and 1873 and between 1880 and 1893. Typically, these immigrants entered the United States through the ports of New York and Baltimore. They travelled to the Midwest via the Eire Canal and Great Lakes or over land to the Ohio River and hence to river towns such as Cincinnati and Evansville. Other entered through New Orleans and traveled up the Mississippi River to their Midwest destinations., Reasons for immigration varied from escape from wars and religious persecution to response to active recruitment by land speculators willing to advance passage money or rejoining emigrated family members who extolled opportunities available in the young country. The immigrants coming to Evansville shared a number of cultural similarities other than language. Religion, either Roman Catholic or Protestant, bound the newly arrived Germans and created clusters of settlement, whose focal point was often the parish church., Many of the local brewing companies and furniture manufacturing firms prominent in the latter half of the 19th century were owned and operated by workers with German surnames., By the eve of the Civil War, 20 percent of Evansville's 12,000 inhabitants were German-born; by 1890, 50 percent of the population was first or second generation German-Americans., At the beginning of the 20th century three of every four German-born residents of the city resided in three Westside wards. , Churches held services in German,; there were German-language newspapers; markets specialized in German ethnic foods. Social events reinforced ethnic identity and played a part in reaffirming the German influence in Evansville history., Turnvereins were centers which encouraged physical, cultural, and patriotic activities. Musical organizations, such as Maennerchor, offered opportunities for new generations of German-Americans to retain contact with their ethnic roots. Evidence of German-American influence in Evansville's heritage remains today in names associated with its successful and prominent citizens such as the Reitz High Schools, Mesker and Kleymeyr Parks, or Boehne Camp Road., By the Way: By 1890 half of Evansville's population were first- or second-generation German-Americans., [Captions] , . (Top left) City Brewery. , . (Center left) Evansville Desk Company. , . (Center right) Saint Boniface Church. , . (Right, top) Field Day at Bosse Field, 1920s. , . (Right, bottom) Workers in factory, late 1890s.