German Society

For more than 200 years, the German Society of Pennsylvania has provided service and a cultural base to thousands of German immigrants. But the huge waves of Germans who came to America in the late 19th century and in the aftermath of World War I and World War II have subsided. More than 477,000 German immigrants entered the United States between 1951 and 1960. That number in recent years has dropped by about 85 percent. In the face of a diminishing clientele, the German Society has decided to broaden its reach by offering education and orientation services to immigrants from all nations.

Months after her husband was killed by the Nazis, an emotionally torn Kate Schmid fell in love. Hermann Hoerlin was a tall, rugged mountain climber who helped her through a crisis. But Schmid was Jewish. The man she loved was not. Yet against the backdrop of Nazi Germany, they found a way to marry when their union was forbidden by law. For years, only the bare bones of their story were known to their daughter, Bettina Hoerlin of Chestnut Hill. Then, about eight years ago, she opened a suitcase that had belonged to her parents, long dead.

It happens every year in late winter. The Colonial Ethnic Societies of Philadelphia get the colors out of the mothballs and gather 'round the festive boards to honor their heritage. Three societies celebrated their roots this month. The Welsh Society, founded in 1729, held its annual St. David's Day dinner, honoring the patron saint of Wales, on March 1. The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick toasted the patron saint of Ireland on March 17. And, sandwiched in between, was the 221st anniversary dinner of the German Society of Pennsylvania, founded in 1764, on March 15. There are other Colonial Ethnic Societies, of course - the St. Andrew Society, the Society of the Sons of St. George, the Scotch-Irish Society and the Daughters of the British Empire, to name a few. And they're all part of one of America's greatest blessings - a little thing called tradition, the glue of this pluralistic society.

Eugene Fink became interested in Philadelphia beer memorabilia about 14 years ago, when his young son began collecting beer cans. The son has long since lost interest in beer cans, but Fink's collection of 19th-century implements, prints and posters has grown to about 1,000 pieces. And about one-fifth of that is now on display at an intriguing exhibit at the German Society of Pennsylvania, on Spring Garden Street near 6th. "You'd really be surprised at what the insurance costs are on this collection," said Barbara Lang, society program director.

A memorial service will be held Saturday for Allen Lesley, 81, a lawyer and a former official of the Reading Co. and the Philadelphia Belt Line Railroad Co. who died Sept. 24 in Salisbury, England, of injuries sustained in an automobile accident. Mr. Lesley was born in Philadelphia and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and the Temple University Law School. He served as a crier in the Pennsylvania Superior Court from 1931 to 1942 and was appointed in 1942 as an assistant in the Law Bureau of the state Public Utility Commission.

It's arguably a national treasure. It was America's first and oldest immigrant society. It's housed in a wonderful old building. Scholars say its library is a rare gem. So, officers of the 226-year-old German Society of Pennsylvania are hoping for a generous government grant to begin work on preserving the society's 70,000-book library and aging building at 7th and Spring Garden streets. But it's not Washington or Harrisburg that the society is pinning its hopes on. It's a government office in Germany.

They were talking about boring a hole through the earth. About 28 juniors and seniors at Central Bucks East High School tossed around a beach-ball globe to help them visualize the poem that suggested drilling from one side of the planet to the other. Then the students re-arranged the poem according to how they thought it should look - some wrapping the words around in a circle, others stretching the sentences out in one straight line. The class wasn't geography, it wasn't poetry, it wasn't graphics.

Siegfried H. Schmaus, 93, formerly of Wynnewood, an engineer and company president, died of heart failure Jan. 6 at John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Palm Beach, Fla. A native of Mulheim Ruhr, Germany, Mr. Schmaus earned a degree in mechanical engineering from Staatliche Engineering School in Duisberg. During World War II, he served in the German air force, designing aircraft engines. After the war, he married Babette Schmid, an American who was a court interpreter for the U.S. Military Court in West Germany.

Jackie Schmenger could choose almost any book to show what is happening to the old and often precious volumes kept in the Joseph Horner Memorial Library of the German Society of Pennsylvania. She picks out Deutsche Roman-Zeitung, a 19th-century collection of short novels, covered with a leather binding and printed in old-style characters. The pages are brown and full of holes, and when Schmenger, business manager for the society, tries to turn them, they nearly fall to pieces. "It's a pity," she says, "but this is the result of no air conditioning.

Some raised glasses of schnapps and beer. Others could only stare for hours at television newscasts, weeping with joy at the poignant scenes they saw. Either way, Thursday was an unforgettable day of celebration for Northeast Philadelphia's German-American population. In a move that was shocking in its suddenness, East German officials threw open their nation's borders for the first time in 28 years. Symbolically, at least, the Berlin Wall was no more. "It was amazing. I went through a lot of tears," said Dorothea Oesterreich, who left East Germany a few months before the wall was built in 1961.

Months after her husband was killed by the Nazis, an emotionally torn Kate Schmid fell in love. Hermann Hoerlin was a tall, rugged mountain climber who helped her through a crisis. But Schmid was Jewish. The man she loved was not. Yet against the backdrop of Nazi Germany, they found a way to marry when their union was forbidden by law. For years, only the bare bones of their story were known to their daughter, Bettina Hoerlin of Chestnut Hill. Then, about eight years ago, she opened a suitcase that had belonged to her parents, long dead.

One by one, the plates emerged from the City Tavern's kitchen - goulasch soup with a kiss of sour cream, and a salty, pink slab of fleischkase , a sweet pork loaf, overlaid with a sunny fried egg; and pan-seared Munchner veal bratwurst (scented with chive), and Schlachtplatte , a tripod of seasonal sausages (mild weisswurst, bacony Allgauer, and a beef number) over mashed potatoes and imperative German weinkraut. I'd asked Walter Staib, the tavern's manic proprietor, for a preview of his Oktoberfest menu, which you can sample yourself starting today, and through October.

Suat Albulut was raised in Malatya, Turkey, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania a few weeks ago, and now works at Penn in the Office of International Programs. Hardy von Auenmueller was born in Saxony, Germany, immigrated to the United States in 1959, and is president of the German Society of Pennsylvania. Albulut is one of millions of Turks worldwide - and thousands locally - enraptured by Turkey's run in the European Soccer Championship. Von Auenmueller represents a German population he says has been in a frenzy since the country hosted the 2006 World Cup. Their countries meet in Basel, Switzerland, at 2:45 this afternoon Philadelphia time in the semifinals of Euro 2008.

Siegfried H. Schmaus, 93, formerly of Wynnewood, an engineer and company president, died of heart failure Jan. 6 at John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Palm Beach, Fla. A native of Mulheim Ruhr, Germany, Mr. Schmaus earned a degree in mechanical engineering from Staatliche Engineering School in Duisberg. During World War II, he served in the German air force, designing aircraft engines. After the war, he married Babette Schmid, an American who was a court interpreter for the U.S. Military Court in West Germany.

For more than 200 years, the German Society of Pennsylvania has provided service and a cultural base to thousands of German immigrants. But the huge waves of Germans who came to America in the late 19th century and in the aftermath of World War I and World War II have subsided. More than 477,000 German immigrants entered the United States between 1951 and 1960. That number in recent years has dropped by about 85 percent. In the face of a diminishing clientele, the German Society has decided to broaden its reach by offering education and orientation services to immigrants from all nations.

Drexel Hill School of the Holy Child kindergarten students used recycled trash, such as cereal boxes, to build a model litter-free city of the future. The private Catholic prekindergarten through eighth-grade school is in Drexel Hill. EDUCATOR HONORED French International School head of school Pascale B. Davidson has been awarded Les Palmes Academiques, the oldest award given to a civil servant by the French Ministry of National Education. She was recognized for her promotion of French language and culture in the United States.

Jackie Schmenger could choose almost any book to show what is happening to the old and often precious volumes kept in the Joseph Horner Memorial Library of the German Society of Pennsylvania. She picks out Deutsche Roman-Zeitung, a 19th-century collection of short novels, covered with a leather binding and printed in old-style characters. The pages are brown and full of holes, and when Schmenger, business manager for the society, tries to turn them, they nearly fall to pieces. "It's a pity," she says, "but this is the result of no air conditioning.

Years of medical training did not prepare F. Peter Kohler for his moonlighting job - helping people with visas and reparation checks and organizing sightseeing tours. Since 1987, Kohler has been the German consul for Philadelphia, an honorary diplomat. "In medicine you deal with people when they are at their most vulnerable time," said Kohler, a Bryn Mawr resident who for many years has been a urologist at Lankenau Hospital. "Patients rely on you for truth, competency and ability.

Frederick Hess Sr., a Fishtown beer distributor who 40 years ago began introducing German and Danish brews to Philadelphia's thirsty public, died Sunday. He was 83 and had been living with his son in Dresher, Montgomery County. "My father began importing brands like DAB from West Germany, and Tuborg from Denmark, in the early 1950s because he sensed Americans were getting sophisticated enough about beer to find a market for premium imports," said his son, Frederick Jr. Hess operated Frederick Hess Inc. from the same address he had called home from the age of 2 - 1509 Frankford Ave. In 1977, the business relocated to Moorestown, N.J., when it became DAB's national distributor.

They were talking about boring a hole through the earth. About 28 juniors and seniors at Central Bucks East High School tossed around a beach-ball globe to help them visualize the poem that suggested drilling from one side of the planet to the other. Then the students re-arranged the poem according to how they thought it should look - some wrapping the words around in a circle, others stretching the sentences out in one straight line. The class wasn't geography, it wasn't poetry, it wasn't graphics.