(Many of the clubs on this page are noted in the profile sections)

 

Arion Gesangverein -FOUNDED: 21 October 1850;  PURPOSE:To promote the cultivation of German music, song and culture in the United States through concerts, song festivals and Liederabende.  ARION GESANGVEREIN is a non-profit, educational society. Membership is open to those persons having a love for singing and for the language and traditions of Germany. New singers are always welcome; an ability to speak German is not required as help is given on both music and speech. Rehearsals are held on Tuesday evenings at 8:00 (except during July and August) at Zion Lutheran Church on City Hall Plaza in downtown Baltimore.  The Arion Gesangverein is one of the few remaining Singing Socieites.  For information on others, please see 'Singing Societies'.

 

Baltimore Kickers- FOUNDED: 23 September 1953;  PURPOSE:  To promote soccer, the German language and German culture!

http://www.baltimore-kickers.org

 

Blob's Park-FOUNDED 1933; PURPOSE:  To provide a bit of the homeland for all to enjoy.

http://blobspark.net/

Club Fidelitas- FOUNDED:  1955; PURPOSE:   To promote a social club to promote fellowship, friendship and Gemütlichkeit.

Delphian Club

The Delphian Club was a literary group that was organized in Baltimore in 1816.  Until that time there were no clubs for professional writers, historians, novelists and poets.  The group met in the rear of Barnum’s Hotel.  Those in the group called the house ‘Tusculum’ and those on the outside called it ‘Gwynn’s Folly’.  Here assembled the earliest of the literary persons of Baltimore.  Among the members of the club were John Neal, William Gwynn, Paul Allen, Jared Sparks, Robert Goodloe Harper, John Pierpont, Francis Scott Key, Samuel Woodworth, Wiliam Wirt and others.   Others that frequented the club included Rembrandt Peale, Peter Hoffman Cruse and John Pendleton Kennedy.

 

It has been said that Edgar Allen Poe’s never published ‘Tales of the Folio Club’ was in fact a satire of the Delphian Club which was very popular in his day.  The club was known to celebrate at their meetings and the celebrations were normally the result of over indulgence in food, drink and ego.

 

The club operated from 1816 to 1825.  The members were editors of at least twelve newspapers and/or magazines.

 

DEUTSCHAMERIKANISCHER BÜRGERVEREIN VON MARYLAND, INC.- FOUNDED:  1900;

INCORPORATED:  8 April 1904; PURPOSE:  To strive for a closer union of German clubs, organizations and citizens of German descent in the promotion of German culture, language, gymnastics and soccer through cultural, educational, social and charitable endeavors.

http://www.md-germans.org/

 

Deutsche Geselligkeit- FOUNDED:  17 January 1935; PURPOSE: To provide assistance to the less fortunate and to work for and assist others.

 

Edelweiss Club- FOUNDED:  1966; PURPOSE:  To promote, foster and to encourage interest in German-American tradition and culture in a non-political and a non-sectarian manner; to support and participate in a German music and news broadcasting program; to hold social affairs in the German heritage tradition and in the spirit of time-honored Gemütlichkeit.

 

G.T.V. Immergrün- FOUNDED:  1972; PURPOSE:     To preserve and enjoy the dances, customs and traditions of the Bavarian Region of Germany and Austria.

 

 

German Radio Klub- FOUNDED: 1946; PURPOSE: To promote, foster and encourage interest in German Culture and Heritage.

 

German Society of Maryland- FOUNDED: 1783;  PURPOSE:  To preserve and promote the German heritage, language and traditions through educational, social, and benevolent programs; and to develop the unity and continuity of the German American community in the State of Maryland.  (The GERMAN SOCIETY is one of the oldest institutions in America.  It was organized in 1793 to protect and assist German-speaking immigrants.  It received its charter from the Maryland legislature in 1817.  In the 1800's it was the social service agency of the State of Maryland, which provided aid to German immigrants.  In the early 1900's it persuaded Congress to enact national laws for the protection of immigrants.)

 

 

At its conception, the Lodge Bretheran were mostly German speaking, and it was said the Lodge performed all of their degree work in the German language. Germania Lodge #160 was the first Maryland Lodge working in the German language and received their Charter on May 13,1872.  There was a big 50th Anniversary on May 15, 1922.  The Master of Ceremonies was Mr. Conrad Rabbe.

 

 In the very beginning years of Sincerity Lodge the Secretaries also kept their minutes of our meetings in both in German and English side-by-side in every book.

 

Germania Lodge-Zion Kirche Mai 2011 

Germania Lodge still exists today and maintains a location in Cockeysville, MD. 

Website:  http://sinceritylodge181.com/aboutus.aspx

 

Independent Citizens Union

Established in 1900.  The group celebrated their 25th Anniversary at the Emerson Hotel on May 1925.  It was found specifically for the purpose of influencing the German born citizen to take an active interest in all things political.  Acted as an umbrella organization and wielded a good deal of political power.  It was voluntarily disbanded due to anti-German settlement following the WWI. 

 

Saturday Night Club

 

The Saturday Night Club met at Schellhase’s Restaurant, which was located at 412 North Howard St (Between W. Franklin and W. Mulberry Streets).  The Saturday Night Club met there from 1918 until its dissolution in 1950.

 

Source:  Tim Smith, The Baltimore Sun’s classical music critic (Clef Notes) 4-12-2010

 

Schlaraffia

The society of men, which is called Schlaraffia, is in the strict sense, a fraternity. Its clubs are spread all over the world and can be found on each continent. Artists and academicians in Prag (Prague), which was considered at the time the Mekka (Mecca) of German culture, founded the Schlaraffia society in 1859. Its aim was to offset the chauvinistic and egotistic behavior of the nobility, and to create a hideout for men from the exertions and worries of the profane life. The Society's maxims consist of fostering art, humor and friendship.

 

An actor by the name of Victor Mueller-Fabricius founded the club in Cincinnati in 1893. Almost the whole Symphony Orchestra of Cincinnati joined the Society at that time. The name of the Cincinnati settlement is Schlaraffia Cincinnatia. The official language used during meetings and correspondence is German.

 

Many customs and some semantics of medieval times are used at the sessions, since Schlaraffia maintains its relationship to civic societies of the Medieval Age.

 

The Society venerates the owl, called UHU in German, as the emblem of wisdom. The owl was honored at the times of the Antike (Greek and Roman antiquity) as the representative of prudence and wisdom. Of the three goals of Schlaraffia, the most important one is the sincere friendship that glues the membership together and obligates each Schlaraffe to provide mutual aid and assistance according to his potential.

 

Schlaraffia Baltimora

Klaus Wallis 410-672-6446

19912 Buhrstone Dr.

Gaithersburg MD 20879

 

Society for the History of Germans in MD- FOUNDED: 1886; PURPOSE:  To collect and preserve records and historical material relating to Germans in Maryland

The Turners

-The name Turner is derived from the German word for 'Gymnast'.  The turnvereins were organizations dedicated to physical activity, especially gymnastics, but also had a 'patriotic' spirit and nature.  Read about the American Turners.  There were several Turnerverein.  One of the Turnerverein was located on Hollins Street, there was another on Pratt Street.