History of the Germans in Baltimore
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The history of the Germans in Baltimore began in the 17th century. During the 1800s, the Port of Baltimore was the second-leading port of entry for immigrants, after Ellis Island in New York City. Many Germans immigrated to Baltimore during this time.[1] As of 2000, the German population made up 18.7% of Baltimore's population, with 478,646 people of German descent living in Baltimore. This makes the Germans the largest European population in the city.[2]
History
1700s
German immigrants began to settle along the Chesapeake Bay by 1723, living in the area that became Baltimore when the city was established in 1729. German Lutheran immigrants established Zion Lutheran Church in 1755, which also attracted Pennsylvania Dutch settlers to the region. Early German settlers also established the German Society of Maryland in 1783 in order to foster the German language and German culture in Baltimore.[3]
1800s
Following the War of 1812, a wave of German immigrants came from the Palatinate, Hesse, Bavaria, and Bohemia. Many fled from Germany between 1812 and 1814, during the War of the Sixth Coalition, in order to avoid military conscription into the Prussian Army. The port of Baltimore was developed as a gateway for immigrants during the 1820s. By 1850, 20,000 German-born people lived in the city. Between 1820 and 1860, Germans were the largest group of immigrants to Baltimore.[4] This wave of immigrants created numerous German institutions, including banks, insurance companies, and newspapers.[5] German immigrants also created a thriving German-language press, including publications such as the Baltimore Wecker.
Immigration from Germany increased again after the Revolutions of 1848 in Europe, bringing thousands of Forty-Eighters to Baltimore. By the time of the American Civil War, there were 32,613 German-born residents of Baltimore, not counting their American-born descendents.[6] Many German immigrants were liberals and freethinkers who were politically active in opposing slavery, which at times attracted violent opposition from nativists and Confederate sympathizers.[7] During the Baltimore riot of 1861, the office of the Baltimore Wecker was destroyed by mobs; the publisher, William Schnauffer, and the editor, Wilhelm Rapp, left the city due to the violence. The population continued to surge after the Civil War, due in large part to the agreement signed on January 21, 1867 between the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the Norddeutscher Lloyd, a German steamship line which brought tobacco along with further German immigrants to the port of Baltimore from Bremen, Germany. German immigrants disembarked from the steamships at B&O's pier, which was located in Locust Point.[8] By 1868, one-fourth of Baltimore's 160,000 white inhabitants were German-born and half of the remainder were of full or partial German descent.[9]
Many of the German immigrants who arrived during the latter half of the 19th century were affluent German Jews[10] who created a number of cultural institutions, including Yiddish theatres such as the Concordia Hall and the Convention Hall Theater. Beginning in the 1870s, many wealthy German Jews built lavish homes along Eutaw Street near Druid Hill Park. They also built several synagogues, such as the Eutaw Place Temple. By 1880, there were around 10,000 German Jews living in Baltimore, most of whom were of Bavarian and Hessian descent.[11]
The German-born immigrant population in Baltimore peaked in 1890, when German-born Baltimoreans numbered 41,930 out of the total population of 365,863.[12]
St. Elizabeth of Hungary was founded in 1895 in Highlandtown to serve the German immigrant community in Baltimore.[13]
1900s
In the year 1900 the city's German population was 34,000. In 1900 there were over 30 congregations in Baltimore that held Sunday services in German.[14] By 1914 the number had risen to 94,000, 20% of city's population. During the 1920s, one third of Baltimore's public schools offered German-language curricula and a quarter of Baltimoreans could speak German fluently.[15] Up until World War I the notes from the Baltimore City Council were published in both German and English.
During World War II, many Jewish refugees fled from Germany to Baltimore. By the end of the War they numbered 3,000.[16]
Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church in the Federal Hill neighborhood, was listed as a German parish until 1959. The church had historically played an important institutional role for South Baltimore's large German community.[17]
The last German-language publication in Baltimore, the Baltimore Correspondent, ceased publication in 1976.[18]
Modern era
Aspects of Baltimore's German heritage remain, such as the Zion Lutheran Church. The church has held services in both English and German for over 250 years. There is also an annual Maryland German Festival held in the Baltimore area, which is sponsored by the German-American Citizens Association of Maryland.
German-American cuisine
The German immigrants influenced the cuisine of Baltimore, introducing food items such as Berger Cookies. The Schmidt Baking Company was established by Elizabeth and Peter Schmidt, immigrants from Germany who used German recipes for their products. Baltimore used to have a number of German restaurants, though the Eichenkranz is the sole remaining restaurant which serves German cuisine.
Notable German-Americans in Baltimore
References
- ^ "Point of Entry: Baltimore, the Other Ellis Island". baltimoremd.com. Retrieved 2012-08-20.
- ^ "Table DP-1. Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2000". 2000 United States Census. Retrieved 2012-08-20.
- ^ "Significant dates in Baltimore's immigration history". Baltimore Immigration Memorial Foundation. Retrieved 2012-08-20.
- ^ Bergquist, James M. (2008). Daily Life in Immigrant America, 1820-1870. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 88–9. ISBN 978-0-313-33698-0. Retrieved August 19, 2012.
- ^ "German-American History - German Immigration to Baltimore". Delaware Saengerbund and Library Association. Retrieved 2012-08-20.
- ^ Stolarik, M. Mark (1988). Forgotten Doors: The Other Ports of Entry to the United States. Cranbury, New Jersey: Associated University Presses. pp. 63–9. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
- ^ "Economic History on the Waterfront". Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Retrieved 2012-08-20.
- ^ Hayward, Mary Ellen. The Architecture of Baltimore: An Illustrated History. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 178. ISBN 0-8018-7806-3. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
- ^ Keith, Robert C. (2005). Baltimore Harbor: A Pictorial History. Baltimore, Maryland: John Hopkins University Press. pp. 94–5. ISBN 0-8018-7980-9. Retrieved August 19, 2012.
- ^ Gilbert, Sandler (2000). Jewish Baltimore: A Family Album. Baltimore, Maryland: The John Hopkins University Press. pp. 37–40. ISBN 0-8018-6427-5. Retrieved August 19, 2012.
- ^ "Baltimore Jews". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved 2012-08-20.
- ^ "Maryland at a Glance - Historical Chronology". Maryland State Archives. Retrieved 2012-08-20.
- ^ "St. Elizabeth of Hungary feast day Nov. 17". The Catholic Review. Retrieved 2012-08-08.
- ^ "Forging Iron in Downtown Baltimore". The Atlantic Times. Retrieved 2012-08-20.
- ^ "Preserving a part of the city's German past". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2012-08-20.
- ^ "A Timeline of Baltimore's Immigration". Urbanite Baltimore Magazine. Retrieved 2012-08-20.
- ^ "Maryland Historical Trust". Holy Cross Church Complex, Baltimore City. Maryland Historical Trust. 2008-11-21.
- ^ "German thread runs through fabric of city". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2012-08-20.
