A subdivision of Germans immigrants was the Kirchendeutschen, or church Germans. Their common value was their strong commitment to religious principles. They paid little attention to secular affairs occurring in their community. The church was the center of their social lives.
Organizations created among Kirchendeutschen included numerous parish benevolent groups and the Germania Council, No. 110, of the Catholic Benevolent Legion, hereafter CBL, founded on May 6, 1885, with seventeen members. The CBL acted as a health insurance company. By 1897 membership numbered 162 individuals, and its treasury totaled $1128.82. Membership contributions depended upon the amount the individual was insured for- $500 to $5,000.[1] The group met monthly at Eintracht Halle, until the closing of the Halle.
The Order of Saint Francis, or OSF, was a religious society that included many various lodges. Germans in Albany who evidently believed in left-liberal principles named a lodge after Robert Blum (1804-1848), a pacifist left-liberal radical member of the German Parliament in Frankfurt. Blum was also a journalist who advocated religious freedom for believers of German Catholicism, and democracy through the popular sovereignty of a republic. He supported mass education, freedom of the press, and the right of free assembly. Blum was executed as a revolutionary in 1848 for taking part in the revolution in Vienna. The only OSF lodge in Albany was the Robert Blum Lodge, No. 38, OSF. It was organized on March 29, 1868. By 1872 the lodge numbered thirty members.[2] As time passed, lodge membership increased; by 1897 its total membership included seventy-five individuals. Its treasury amounted to $3,763.30. Members paid quarterly dues of $1.30, which provided them with sick benefits of $4.00 per week and a death benefit for their spouse amounting to $130.[3] In 1876 the lodge met at the saloon of Martin Lehmann, located at 206 Washington Avenue. The Blum lodge dissolved around 1901.
Other societies included the Erster Deutscher Protestanischer Verein, or the First German Protestant Society, which was organized on May 13, 1873, with one hundred twenty members. By 1897 the group consisted of fifty-nine members who paid quarterly dues amounting to $1.30. The treasury totaled $2,128.16, and the membership met monthly at 60 Alexander Street. Societal benefits paid $75 to the wife of a deceased member.[4] The Verein appeared in city directories between 1874 and 1882. The Federation of German Catholic Societies was another outlet for church Germans. The group met at 48 Phillip Street in 1919.
During the week of September 15, 1895, the Katholic Kirchendeutschen or German Catholic Churches celebrated with a glorious conference in Albany. It was estimated that upwards of five thousand visitors from all parts of the United States attended the fortieth convention of the German Roman Catholic Central Verein in Albany. Delegates representing fifty thousand members of German Catholic societies gathered “to assist in deliberations and to discuss and devise means by which all may be benefited, that the sick may be assisted and to work for the mutual benefit of all [German Catholic societies.]”[5] This objective was to be fulfilled by bringing the societies “together in body and spirit and thus further promote by this unity the objects for which they have been formed.”[6]
The most popular of all Deutsch Vereine were the Unterstützungvereine. The main purpose of these societies was the raising of money for the relief of the sick, the poor, and families of deceased members. Typically they were the largest societies in the German-American community. Usually members paid an initiation fee of $2.00 or $3.00 and a monthly payment of $.125 to $.25 a month. Members were given payments of $2-3.00 per week if they became sick and up to $15 towards their funeral. The Unterstützungverein functioned as a savings bank, and in time of need; it provided insurance money for its members.[7] Therefore it provided its members with cheap mutual assistance. Also if the deceased was a member of a fraternal organization whose insurance benefits were as simple as its ritual was elaborate, the procession might be modestly spectacular.[8] An example of a sizeable funeral can be read in the Times Union:
One of the largest funerals that has left the South End in some time was that of John Albert, which took place this morning from his late home on Second Avenue, and later from Our Lady Help of Christians church…His body was reposed in a solid oak casket, with gold extension bar handles, which was hidden from view by numerous floral tributes. Iron Molders’ union No. 8, of which he was a member attended…[9]
To aid workers who came ill and could no longer work the Workmen’s Compensation Group was established in 1884. Another society created to benefit sick workers was the Arbeiter Kranken und Sterbekasse, or Worker’s Sick and Burial Fund. The group was organized on July 26, 1894. Its membership was divided in different classes. First class members included thirty individuals who benefited from weekly sick payments of $9.00. Ten second class members were granted weekly sick imbursements of $6.00. The group also included three women. The burial fund amounted to a single $250 disbursement.[10]
In 1828 Albany’s first Unterstützungverein was organized- the Wohlthätigkeitverein or charity society. The group was also known as the German Benevolent Society. Its objective was to aid recent immigrants in providing for themselves. The Albany Daily Advertiser reported that at the annual meeting of the German Benevolent Society of the City of Albany held in the Lutheran Church on January 11, 1832, it was noted,
That from the 1st of January 1831, to the 31st of December ensuing, 628 families of German emigrants, consisting of 3413 souls, have arrived in this city, most of whom have passed on westward and northward, and to whom the agent [Daniel Pohlman] has in many instances rendered essential services.[11]
Other German benevolent societies included the Bethesdaverein. It was organized on August, 15, 1848. The group consisted of 180 members in 1872, but its numbers shrank to seventy-two members by 1897. Sick members were given a weekly payment of $4.00 per week. They met at Laventall’s Building, and its treasury amounted to $4,742.80 in 1897.[12] A Jünglings und Männer-Verein or Young Men’s and Men’s association was created on December 20, 1883. The Verein numbered eighteen members who paid quarterly dues of $1.00 and received sick payments of $3.00 per week. In 1897 the group’s meeting locale was 60 Alexander Street.[13] The Deutscher Wohlthätigkeitverein, or German charity society, was established in March 1889. In 1897 its 125 members met at Strempel Halle and paid quarterly dues of $1.00 for the benefit of weekly sick payments of $4.00 and a $50 death benefit. Its treasury amounted to $2134.[14] The Deutsche Hospital Gesellschaft, or the German Hospital Association, came into existence on February 28, 1895, after a group of Wohlthätigkeitvereine met and decided to form a German hospital association. On April 18, 1895, the German Hospital Association was founded. After one year membership included 144 members who paid yearly dues of $3.00 and twenty-seven Vereine that paid yearly dues of $10.[15]
The Orden der Hermannsoehne, or the Order of the Sons of Herman, hereafter OdHS, was organized in America circa 1869. The order was a benevolent society with the objective of aiding its members and their families in times of death, distress, or illness. It also fostered the continuance of the German language and customs. The order’s namesake was a Germanic folk hero who, according to embellished legend, defeated three Roman legions at the Battle of Teutoburg Forest in A.D. 9. Germans in Albany quickly established two OdHS lodges- first the Wilhelm Tell Lodge, No. 25, OdHS in 1869. The lodge had twenty-five members in 1872, and the Germania Lodge, No. 100 OdHS was organized in 1874. [16] Both of these lodges appear to have dissolved around 1893.
The Order of Chosen Friends, or OCF, was a secret benevolent society. Its members united in bonds of fraternity, to aid and protect its members. The order was instituted on May 28, 1879. Albany gained its first OCF lodge on February 20, 1887, when the Stern Counsel Lodge, No 72 OCF was formed. The lodge totaled ninety-five members in 1897 but was short lived, dissolving soon afterwards.[17]
The Knights of Honor, or KOH, was another men’s benevolent society that was first organized in 1873 at Louisville, Kentucky. Albany gained a German KOH lodge on May 27, 1881 with the formation of the Beethoven Lodge, No. 2487. The lodge had thirty-six founding affiliates. By 1897 membership increased to sixty-three individuals that met at Besch’s. The state of Kentucky also chartered another fraternal benevolent society in 1878- the Knights and Ladies of Honor or K. & L. of H. The objective of the K. & L. of H. association promoted benevolence and charity to its members who were males and females over the age of eighteen, of any reputable profession or occupation, by establishing a death relief fund. Albany’s German K. & L. of H. lodges included the Victoria Lodge, No. 445, founded on September 19, 1881, with forty-seven members. The lodge grew to 176 members by 1897. The Central Lodge, No. 1441 was formed on August 24, 1889, with thirty-nine members. The lodge increased to eighty-five affiliates by 1897. The Homestead Lodge, No. 1828 was established on October 10, 1893. Fifty-nine members met at Liederkranz Halle.[18]
As mentioned earlier, most German women did not work outside the home; therefore, they aided themselves by establishing numerous benefit and charitable societies, such as the Erster Deutscher Frauen-Hilf Verein, or the First Women’s Aid Society. The Verein was created on February 11, 1864. By 1897 the society numbered sixty-two members who met at the school hall of the Protestant Evangelical Church. Dues of $.25 per month enabled payees to a sick benefit of $3.00 per week and a $50 death benefit.[19]
During the week of September 15, 1895, the Katholic Kirchendeutschen or German Catholic Churches celebrated with a glorious conference in Albany. It was estimated that upwards of five thousand visitors from all parts of the United States attended the fortieth convention of the German Roman Catholic Central Verein in Albany. Delegates representing fifty thousand members of German Catholic societies gathered “to assist in deliberations and to discuss and devise means by which all may be benefited, that the sick may be assisted and to work for the mutual benefit of all [German Catholic societies.]”[5] This objective was to be fulfilled by bringing the societies “together in body and spirit and thus further promote by this unity the objects for which they have been formed.”[6]
The most popular of all Deutsch Vereine were the Unterstützungvereine. The main purpose of these societies was the raising of money for the relief of the sick, the poor, and families of deceased members. Typically they were the largest societies in the German-American community. Usually members paid an initiation fee of $2.00 or $3.00 and a monthly payment of $.125 to $.25 a month. Members were given payments of $2-3.00 per week if they became sick and up to $15 towards their funeral. The Unterstützungverein functioned as a savings bank, and in time of need; it provided insurance money for its members.[7] Therefore it provided its members with cheap mutual assistance. Also if the deceased was a member of a fraternal organization whose insurance benefits were as simple as its ritual was elaborate, the procession might be modestly spectacular.[8] An example of a sizeable funeral can be read in the Times Union:
One of the largest funerals that has left the South End in some time was that of John Albert, which took place this morning from his late home on Second Avenue, and later from Our Lady Help of Christians church…His body was reposed in a solid oak casket, with gold extension bar handles, which was hidden from view by numerous floral tributes. Iron Molders’ union No. 8, of which he was a member attended…[9]
To aid workers who came ill and could no longer work the Workmen’s Compensation Group was established in 1884. Another society created to benefit sick workers was the Arbeiter Kranken und Sterbekasse, or Worker’s Sick and Burial Fund. The group was organized on July 26, 1894. Its membership was divided in different classes. First class members included thirty individuals who benefited from weekly sick payments of $9.00. Ten second class members were granted weekly sick imbursements of $6.00. The group also included three women. The burial fund amounted to a single $250 disbursement.[10]
In 1828 Albany’s first Unterstützungverein was organized- the Wohlthätigkeitverein or charity society. The group was also known as the German Benevolent Society. Its objective was to aid recent immigrants in providing for themselves. The Albany Daily Advertiser reported that at the annual meeting of the German Benevolent Society of the City of Albany held in the Lutheran Church on January 11, 1832, it was noted,
That from the 1st of January 1831, to the 31st of December ensuing, 628 families of German emigrants, consisting of 3413 souls, have arrived in this city, most of whom have passed on westward and northward, and to whom the agent [Daniel Pohlman] has in many instances rendered essential services.[11]
Other German benevolent societies included the Bethesdaverein. It was organized on August, 15, 1848. The group consisted of 180 members in 1872, but its numbers shrank to seventy-two members by 1897. Sick members were given a weekly payment of $4.00 per week. They met at Laventall’s Building, and its treasury amounted to $4,742.80 in 1897.[12] A Jünglings und Männer-Verein or Young Men’s and Men’s association was created on December 20, 1883. The Verein numbered eighteen members who paid quarterly dues of $1.00 and received sick payments of $3.00 per week. In 1897 the group’s meeting locale was 60 Alexander Street.[13] The Deutscher Wohlthätigkeitverein, or German charity society, was established in March 1889. In 1897 its 125 members met at Strempel Halle and paid quarterly dues of $1.00 for the benefit of weekly sick payments of $4.00 and a $50 death benefit. Its treasury amounted to $2134.[14] The Deutsche Hospital Gesellschaft, or the German Hospital Association, came into existence on February 28, 1895, after a group of Wohlthätigkeitvereine met and decided to form a German hospital association. On April 18, 1895, the German Hospital Association was founded. After one year membership included 144 members who paid yearly dues of $3.00 and twenty-seven Vereine that paid yearly dues of $10.[15]
The Orden der Hermannsoehne, or the Order of the Sons of Herman, hereafter OdHS, was organized in America circa 1869. The order was a benevolent society with the objective of aiding its members and their families in times of death, distress, or illness. It also fostered the continuance of the German language and customs. The order’s namesake was a Germanic folk hero who, according to embellished legend, defeated three Roman legions at the Battle of Teutoburg Forest in A.D. 9. Germans in Albany quickly established two OdHS lodges- first the Wilhelm Tell Lodge, No. 25, OdHS in 1869. The lodge had twenty-five members in 1872, and the Germania Lodge, No. 100 OdHS was organized in 1874. [16] Both of these lodges appear to have dissolved around 1893.
The Order of Chosen Friends, or OCF, was a secret benevolent society. Its members united in bonds of fraternity, to aid and protect its members. The order was instituted on May 28, 1879. Albany gained its first OCF lodge on February 20, 1887, when the Stern Counsel Lodge, No 72 OCF was formed. The lodge totaled ninety-five members in 1897 but was short lived, dissolving soon afterwards.[17]
The Knights of Honor, or KOH, was another men’s benevolent society that was first organized in 1873 at Louisville, Kentucky. Albany gained a German KOH lodge on May 27, 1881 with the formation of the Beethoven Lodge, No. 2487. The lodge had thirty-six founding affiliates. By 1897 membership increased to sixty-three individuals that met at Besch’s. The state of Kentucky also chartered another fraternal benevolent society in 1878- the Knights and Ladies of Honor or K. & L. of H. The objective of the K. & L. of H. association promoted benevolence and charity to its members who were males and females over the age of eighteen, of any reputable profession or occupation, by establishing a death relief fund. Albany’s German K. & L. of H. lodges included the Victoria Lodge, No. 445, founded on September 19, 1881, with forty-seven members. The lodge grew to 176 members by 1897. The Central Lodge, No. 1441 was formed on August 24, 1889, with thirty-nine members. The lodge increased to eighty-five affiliates by 1897. The Homestead Lodge, No. 1828 was established on October 10, 1893. Fifty-nine members met at Liederkranz Halle.[18]
As mentioned earlier, most German women did not work outside the home; therefore, they aided themselves by establishing numerous benefit and charitable societies, such as the Erster Deutscher Frauen-Hilf Verein, or the First Women’s Aid Society. The Verein was created on February 11, 1864. By 1897 the society numbered sixty-two members who met at the school hall of the Protestant Evangelical Church. Dues of $.25 per month enabled payees to a sick benefit of $3.00 per week and a $50 death benefit.[19]
On February 14, 1864, the Frauen Unterstützungverein No. 1 was established with seventeen members. Three years later the group changed its name to the Wohlthätigkeitverein. In 1897 the society totaled ninety affiliates and met at Liederkranz Halle. Its treasury amounted to $1,800. Members paid $.25 monthly dues for $3.00 weekly sick imbursements and a $50 death benefit.[20]
On August 10, 1865, the Deutsche Frauenbund No. 2 der Stadt Albany, or German Women’s Federation Number 2 of the City of Albany, was organized. Towards the turn of the century, the group consisted of eighty women who met at Henry Besch’s and paid $.25 monthly dues for $3.00 weekly sick payments and a $50 death benefit. The group’s treasury amounted to $2,257.64 in 1897.
The Bethesda Unterstützungverein was founded on May 1, 1874, with 134 members. By 1897 the Verein consisted of fifty-four members who paid quarterly dues of $1.25. Their assets totaled $2,793.92.[21] The Harmonia Frauen-Verein was established on September 1, 1878. By 1897 the society consisted of eighty affiliates that met at Liederkranz Halle. Members paid $.25 monthly dues that granted them a sick benefit of $3.00 per week and a $50 death payment. As of 1897 the Verein paid out $8,398.30 in expenditures, and its treasury totaled $2,531.38.[22]
The Deutscher Frauen-Verein Eintracht, or the United German Women’s Society, was established on December 11, 1878. Ninety members paid dues amounting to $.25 per month for the imbursement of a $3.00 weekly sick benefit and a $50 death disbursement.[23]
On October 23, 1879, the Albany City Frauen-Verein, or Albany City Women’s Society, was created. Seventy-seven members met at Besch’s, paid $.25 monthly dues and received a $3.00 weekly sick benefit and a $50 death payment.[24]
The Germania Frauen-Verein No. 1 was founded, on November 20, 1887. One hundred members met at Strempel’s Halle. Their treasury totaled $1,750. Monthly dues of $.25 gained affiliates weekly sick payments of $3.00 and a $50 death benefit. The society felt it was becoming too large; accordingly on November 20, 1894, the Germania Frauen-Verein No. 2 was created. By 1897 the new Verein held eighty members that also met at Strempel’s Halle and received the same compensation as its older sister Verein.[25] Another women’s aid society was organized on September 26, 1895, as the Frauen Hilfs Verein, or Women’s Aid Society.[26]
[1] n. a., Geschichte der Deutschen in Albany und Troy,
pp. 217-219.
[2] Ibid.,
p. 133.
[3] Ibid.,
p. 217.
[4] Ibid.,
p. 189.
[5] Times Union, September 16, 1895, 1:6.
[6] Ibid.,
September 14, 1895, 1:6.
[7] Dolan, The
Immigrant Church New York
[8] Mann,
“The Furor Teutonicus: Upper Mississippi
Abteilung,” The Yale Review 60(2):
316.
[9] Times Union, March 28, 1899, 5:5.
[10] n. a., Geschichte der Deutschen in Albany und Troy,
pp. 190-191.
[11] Albany Daily Advertiser, January 18,
1832, December 12, 1828. Rowley, Albany:
A Tale of Two Cities, 1820-1880, p. 131.
[12] n. a., Geschichte der Deutschen in Albany und Troy,
pp. 69-71, 133.
[13] Ibid.,
p. 190.
[14] Ibid.
[15] Ibid.,
pp. 185-187.
[16] Ibid.,
p. 133.
[17] Ibid.,
p. 219.
[18] Ibid.,
pp. 209-213.
[19] Ibid.,
pp. 197-199.
[20] Ibid.,
p. 199.
[21] Ibid.,
pp. 189-190.
[22] Ibid.,
p. 203.
[23] Ibid.,
p. 205.
[24] Ibid.,
pp. 203-205
[25] Ibid.,
pp. 205-207.
[26] Ibid.,
p. 187.
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