Elvis Presley? The portrait of the King of Rock ’n’ Roll on the stairs leading to the German-American Heritage Museum seems somewhat out of place. Then, further up the stairs we see Henry J. Heinz and Levi Strauss. The names of the inventors of ketchup and jeans trigger associations with their German roots. But Presley?
A couple of years ago genealogists discovered that one of the famous singer’s ancestors, Johann Valentin Pressler, evidently moved to America from the German Palatinate in the 18th century. Then, as time progressed, the name Pressler was transformed into Presley. “Many traces of German immigrants to the USA still remain undiscovered,” says museum director Rüdiger Lentz. In an effort to change things, the German-American Heritage Foundation of America (GAHF), the umbrella organization of numerous German-American clubs in the US, opened the museum in 719 Sixth Street, Washington, at the end of March. Rüdiger Lentz, Executive Director of the GAHF, explains: “Although there are numerous smaller regional museums in the United States dedicated to this heritage, we are the first to provide a comprehensive view at national level of the more than 400-year history of German immigration.” Apart from classic exhibits, such as the traditional wooden travel chests used by immigrants or rustic paintings by Mennonites, many aspects are presented in multimedia form, including modern Germany. Rüdiger Lentz wants to appeal to his “narrative museum” visitors at a variety of levels and create bridges between different times and places. Two major partner museums, Hamburg’s Ballin-Stadt and the German Emigration Center in Bremerhaven, are represented here with films, as well as Deutsche Welle with its American TV program and website.
Rüdiger Lentz played a major role in the partnership between the museum and the German international broadcasting service, not least because he was head of the Deutsche Welle bureau in Washington for eleven years. Lentz, the former journalist and hobby historian, also wrote the majority of the main exhibition texts. They are displayed on brightly coloured illustrated panels, guiding visitors through the history of German immigration and forming a permanent thread around which the future exhibitions will be grouped. “Of course, you can get through these information panels in about ten minutes, if you want to,” says Lentz with a knowing wink. “But our visitors also include school groups who have become engrossed in the texts for a whole hour.” They have also become acquainted with people such as Francis D. Pastorius who originated from Germany. The lawyer, teacher and writer organized the purchase of land for a group of Quakers and Mennonites from Krefeld in western Germany in 1683. As a result, Germantown was established near Philadelphia, the first German settlement in North America. In contrast to this, the museum notably helps to demystify the ancient “Muhlenberg Myth”. Legend has it that, of all people, Frederick Augustus Conrad Muhlenberg, the Speaker of the House of Representatives with German roots, prevented German from becoming the official language of the United States in 1794. But in reality the matter under discussion was a request by German settlers from Virginia to have laws printed in German as well.
Rüdiger Lentz and his team aim to inform the public, without shying away from sensitive aspects of German-American relations. A planned series of talks will be focusing on attempts by the National Socialists to infiltrate German-American clubs in the USA during the 1930s. In particular, the two world wars aggravated the situation of German-Americans. “World War I already caused a decisive break,” says Rüdiger Lentz. As a result, many German-Americans altered their names and increasingly concealed their German origins. It was only when the close German-American partnership developed between the Federal Republic and the United States after the World War II that new attempts were gradually made to reassess the history and influence of German-Americans in the USA. “And last, but not least, German-American clubs in the USA have a strong interest and play significant role in ensuring that German traditions can now be acknowledged again in a more relaxed way.” It’s rather like things once used to be in the Washington quarter where the museum now resides. Rüdiger Lentz explains: “Although we’re in the heart of Washington’s Chinatown today, the district was still a centre of German-American culture in the United States a hundred years ago.” And Hockemeyer Hall, which was built in 1888 and is now home to the museum, bears witness to this. John Hockemeyer was of German origin and became a prosperous and respected coffee merchant in the city.
Around 1900 the cultural influence of German immigrants reached a climax. In the music section of the new museum, a 160-kilogram bust of Handel acts as a reminder of this era. The German Sängerbund of America endowed it for its traditional choir competition in 1903, which was attended by 6,000 singers in Baltimore. Just how convivial German-American culture could be is illustrated by another exhibit: the facsimile of a greetings telegram from Theodore Roosevelt. In 1907 the American president thanked the German-American clubs for inviting him to attend one of their entertaining carnival events.
Rüdiger Lentz is currently registering lively interest in his museum. “Many Americans want to discover more about the history of their country and see the role of the German immigrants as a significant part of it,” he says. He is very pleased about the museum’s growing number of Facebook fans, who now total around 1,700, not to mention people’s interest in becoming personally involved. Many volunteers, such as students who are interested in history, help to run the museum for which entrance is free of charge. It’s no simple task, since the continuing economic crisis in the USA is tending to squeeze sponsorships. Nevertheless, Rüdiger Lentz hopes the museum will continue to find enough supporters, because it’s definitely a worthwhile mission. “I think the German-American Museum will not only help us to link up with the history and good relations of the distant past. It can also help us to create better mutual understanding in the present as well. And if we manage to do that, then we will have achieved a great deal.”////
