Another great piece! 👍 As someone who is second generation Irish, with a keen interest in Irish history, I can add another fact about the German Gymnasium location. It is here that Michael Collins was inducted into the Irish Republican Brotherhood by Sam Maguire. The latter was also a son of West Cork. Sam Maguire is still commemorated today through the GAA, with the All Ireland (Gaelic) Football Championship trophy named after him. Michael Collins should need no intro/bio to a Zeitgeist audience with an interest in history!
P.S. I love eating at German Gymnasium in the pre-Christmas period. A wonderful central Christmas 🎄 tree, and has a real Christmas ambience.
And here in south east London, particularly Herne Hill, Denmark Hill and Champion Hill, there were many wealthy merchants and bankers of German origin in the 19th century. They lived in grand houses that have almost without exception disappeared – though the Kleinwort mansion, The Platanes on Champion Hill (now part of King’s College), survives. They built a German church on Windsor Walk near Denmark Hill station, no longer with us. The Beneckes were one such German family. Felix Mendelssohn, whose wife was related to the family, came to stay with them on 1842 and composed probably his best known Song without Words (“Spring Song”) in the garden of their house – also gone, now part of Ruskin Park and commemorated in a sundial in the park.
The German Gymnasium is great. I’ve eaten there a few times and the food is excellent. I must admit when I first heard of it, and before I went there, I had wondered whether it had been a school!
It’s great that it’s still there and seems to be thriving.
Thanks for the information about Germans in London.
On the subject of German immigration, Daniel Defoe wrote a piece in 1709 defending the "Poor Palatine Refugees." These refugees, fleeing war and bad harvests, encountered resistance in the UK. In terms of immigration, I suppose one might even mention the Anglo Saxons themselves a bit earlier!
My German uncle used to refer to the English language, only half-jokingly, as "just another low German dialect." Thomas Hardy, in a bitter poem in the midst of WW I, "The Pity of It," wrote "kin folk kin tongued even as we are." These German, English, and in my case American connections are far deeper than generally realized.
I love the variety of your posts and learn from each.
As to the German Gymnasium, could it have been linked to the Turners (Turnverein)? Here in South Bend, Indiana we had a Turner Hall, built in 1869 which looks like a smaller version of the Gymnasium. They did sports, fencing etc, but also "mental gymnastics," "geistiges Turnen" and soon became the center for culture and social life in the growing town.
Like many others in the US, this one was founded by the Forty Eighters whose motto was " true freedom, prosperity, and education for all classes." The US Turners combined love for their homeland Germany with strong patriotism for America. On July 4, 1865 a reporter wrote about South Bend that without the Turners "it would have been as quiet and desolate in the town as in the streets of Pompeii, the coldest Fourth of July with the thermometer at 98 degrees Fahrenheit, that I had experienced in 28 years."
When I wrote my book I was fortunate to be able to talk to some old men who had loved Turner Hall and still felt forlorn when it closed with the entrance of the US into WW.
Well that was most interesting, do you know what i think there's a Katja tour in this ,visiting German bars bierkeller the odd gymnasium discussing German history in London and sinking a few pints along the way ,I mean I'd sign up for it 😉
A vibrant community, it’s a shame the two wars had such a severe effect. We have a good bar in Glasgow that serves only imported German beers, in fact my nephew and I may be back there this week, called the Bavarian Brauhaus. It does need to work on its curry wurst. Good to see the culture is growing again.
I agree, it's another great piece. Thank you, Katja! Please let me add a text contained in a book that was published in 1892 in Leipzig for German pupils learning English, entitled "In the Struggle of Life"". It's about a young German at the end of the 19th century trying to make a living in London: C. Massey, In the Struggle of Life, Ein Lesestoff zur Einführung in die Lebensverhältnisse und in die Umgangssprache des englischen Volkes Für den Schulgebrauch bearbeitet von Dr. Albert Harnisch, Leipzig
Chapter IX.
The Germans in London.
Before leaving his own country Werner had already found out how difficult it is to secure regular remunerative work, and he had not, of course, expected that in a foreign country the struggle for life — for bare existence — would be fought under more favourable circumstances. He eamed his living by giving lessons, but the competition was so great in London — the head-quarters of a whole army of German Professors of languages — that the remuneration he received only just covered his necessary expenses. At the German Athenæum Club — of which he became a member — he leamed that the German colony of the English capital numbered more than forty thousand, that, in fact, Germans were to be found in almost every possible position, but as to merchants, clerks, professors, and waiters they simply swarmed. There were German physicians, apothecaries, hotel-keepers, artists — especially musicians, literary and scientific men, and journalists. Again, German industries were well represented: there were watch-makers from the Black Forest, tailors from the North, the South, the East, and the West, bakers from Austria and elsewhere, and brewers from Bavaria. And in lesser numbers there were shoe- and hat-makers, joiners, locksmiths, mechanics — skilled and unskilled —, brick-layers, stone-masons, turners, coopers, glaziers, carpenters, bookbinders, gardeners, weavers, saddlers, tanners, and representatives of other trades. As to the German barbers, they were numerous and largely sought after, and the German street-musician was everywhere — at any rate every company of street-musicians went by the name of ‘German band’. Werner was surprised to find in London a great number of German schools — partly Roman Catholic, partly Protestant —, two German newspapers, a German Gymnasium, and a German hospital as well as other charitable institutions.
16. The German Athenae'um, …, der bedeutendste deutsche Verein in London.
There are explanatory notes in Germnan to that book which in English translation read as follows: "The Germans in London.
The German Empire keeps an embassy in London - 9 Carlton House Terrace, and a consulate general - 5 Blomfield Street, London Wall, EC. There are lots of Germans in London and hardly half of the immigrants find their hopes fulfilled. It seems as though the wages are better, that is if one ignores the lesser value of the British currency, but for that the work is hard. Many skilled craftsmen, teachers, and governesses cannot find suitable work; young business men who used to find work easily if they had good knowledge of the language and were happy to work for little had their perspectives worsened significantly since the anti German feeling specifically took aim at them. Addresses of German doctors, pharmacists, restaurants (Royal Hotel, de Keyser by Ludgate Hill Station, Wedde‘s Hotel in Greek Street, Soho Square, and others), pubs (Tivoli, Strand and others), products and so on can be found in the German paper 'Hermann'.
A number of arrangements have been made for the entertainment, the protection and the support of the German fellow countrymen. More well off members of the German colony socialise in the German Club for art and science (German Artheneum) which was founded in 1869. The club takes an annual membership fee of 4 £. Apart from that there is a German gymnastics club, a club of German teachers in England, a German Society of Benevolence which supports Germans in trouble. The German YMCA runs a good quality and cheap hospice in 28 Finsbury Square EC, as well as an even cheaper German Christian workers and bakers hostel in 90 Leman Street, Whitechapel, E.
Since 1845 it is possible for destitute Germans when they are ill are to have free medical treatment or admission at the German hospital which exists since 1891 in Dalston, East London. The hospital has yearly earnings of about £ 10.000.
There are several German churches of both confessions as well as synagogues."
Another great piece! 👍 As someone who is second generation Irish, with a keen interest in Irish history, I can add another fact about the German Gymnasium location. It is here that Michael Collins was inducted into the Irish Republican Brotherhood by Sam Maguire. The latter was also a son of West Cork. Sam Maguire is still commemorated today through the GAA, with the All Ireland (Gaelic) Football Championship trophy named after him. Michael Collins should need no intro/bio to a Zeitgeist audience with an interest in history!
P.S. I love eating at German Gymnasium in the pre-Christmas period. A wonderful central Christmas 🎄 tree, and has a real Christmas ambience.
And here in south east London, particularly Herne Hill, Denmark Hill and Champion Hill, there were many wealthy merchants and bankers of German origin in the 19th century. They lived in grand houses that have almost without exception disappeared – though the Kleinwort mansion, The Platanes on Champion Hill (now part of King’s College), survives. They built a German church on Windsor Walk near Denmark Hill station, no longer with us. The Beneckes were one such German family. Felix Mendelssohn, whose wife was related to the family, came to stay with them on 1842 and composed probably his best known Song without Words (“Spring Song”) in the garden of their house – also gone, now part of Ruskin Park and commemorated in a sundial in the park.
How about the German Lutheran church of St George in Whitechapel? They have a very interesting programme of events to do with all things German.
The German Gymnasium is great. I’ve eaten there a few times and the food is excellent. I must admit when I first heard of it, and before I went there, I had wondered whether it had been a school!
It’s great that it’s still there and seems to be thriving.
Thanks for the information about Germans in London.
Didn’t realise there was and is such a thing , great piece 👏👏
On the subject of German immigration, Daniel Defoe wrote a piece in 1709 defending the "Poor Palatine Refugees." These refugees, fleeing war and bad harvests, encountered resistance in the UK. In terms of immigration, I suppose one might even mention the Anglo Saxons themselves a bit earlier!
My German uncle used to refer to the English language, only half-jokingly, as "just another low German dialect." Thomas Hardy, in a bitter poem in the midst of WW I, "The Pity of It," wrote "kin folk kin tongued even as we are." These German, English, and in my case American connections are far deeper than generally realized.
I love the variety of your posts and learn from each.
As to the German Gymnasium, could it have been linked to the Turners (Turnverein)? Here in South Bend, Indiana we had a Turner Hall, built in 1869 which looks like a smaller version of the Gymnasium. They did sports, fencing etc, but also "mental gymnastics," "geistiges Turnen" and soon became the center for culture and social life in the growing town.
Like many others in the US, this one was founded by the Forty Eighters whose motto was " true freedom, prosperity, and education for all classes." The US Turners combined love for their homeland Germany with strong patriotism for America. On July 4, 1865 a reporter wrote about South Bend that without the Turners "it would have been as quiet and desolate in the town as in the streets of Pompeii, the coldest Fourth of July with the thermometer at 98 degrees Fahrenheit, that I had experienced in 28 years."
When I wrote my book I was fortunate to be able to talk to some old men who had loved Turner Hall and still felt forlorn when it closed with the entrance of the US into WW.
Well that was most interesting, do you know what i think there's a Katja tour in this ,visiting German bars bierkeller the odd gymnasium discussing German history in London and sinking a few pints along the way ,I mean I'd sign up for it 😉
A vibrant community, it’s a shame the two wars had such a severe effect. We have a good bar in Glasgow that serves only imported German beers, in fact my nephew and I may be back there this week, called the Bavarian Brauhaus. It does need to work on its curry wurst. Good to see the culture is growing again.
Loved this article. I often think about the same traces of history in my city of Cincinnati. Many places the Germans have left their fingerprints!
I agree, it's another great piece. Thank you, Katja! Please let me add a text contained in a book that was published in 1892 in Leipzig for German pupils learning English, entitled "In the Struggle of Life"". It's about a young German at the end of the 19th century trying to make a living in London: C. Massey, In the Struggle of Life, Ein Lesestoff zur Einführung in die Lebensverhältnisse und in die Umgangssprache des englischen Volkes Für den Schulgebrauch bearbeitet von Dr. Albert Harnisch, Leipzig
Chapter IX.
The Germans in London.
Before leaving his own country Werner had already found out how difficult it is to secure regular remunerative work, and he had not, of course, expected that in a foreign country the struggle for life — for bare existence — would be fought under more favourable circumstances. He eamed his living by giving lessons, but the competition was so great in London — the head-quarters of a whole army of German Professors of languages — that the remuneration he received only just covered his necessary expenses. At the German Athenæum Club — of which he became a member — he leamed that the German colony of the English capital numbered more than forty thousand, that, in fact, Germans were to be found in almost every possible position, but as to merchants, clerks, professors, and waiters they simply swarmed. There were German physicians, apothecaries, hotel-keepers, artists — especially musicians, literary and scientific men, and journalists. Again, German industries were well represented: there were watch-makers from the Black Forest, tailors from the North, the South, the East, and the West, bakers from Austria and elsewhere, and brewers from Bavaria. And in lesser numbers there were shoe- and hat-makers, joiners, locksmiths, mechanics — skilled and unskilled —, brick-layers, stone-masons, turners, coopers, glaziers, carpenters, bookbinders, gardeners, weavers, saddlers, tanners, and representatives of other trades. As to the German barbers, they were numerous and largely sought after, and the German street-musician was everywhere — at any rate every company of street-musicians went by the name of ‘German band’. Werner was surprised to find in London a great number of German schools — partly Roman Catholic, partly Protestant —, two German newspapers, a German Gymnasium, and a German hospital as well as other charitable institutions.
16. The German Athenae'um, …, der bedeutendste deutsche Verein in London.
There are explanatory notes in Germnan to that book which in English translation read as follows: "The Germans in London.
The German Empire keeps an embassy in London - 9 Carlton House Terrace, and a consulate general - 5 Blomfield Street, London Wall, EC. There are lots of Germans in London and hardly half of the immigrants find their hopes fulfilled. It seems as though the wages are better, that is if one ignores the lesser value of the British currency, but for that the work is hard. Many skilled craftsmen, teachers, and governesses cannot find suitable work; young business men who used to find work easily if they had good knowledge of the language and were happy to work for little had their perspectives worsened significantly since the anti German feeling specifically took aim at them. Addresses of German doctors, pharmacists, restaurants (Royal Hotel, de Keyser by Ludgate Hill Station, Wedde‘s Hotel in Greek Street, Soho Square, and others), pubs (Tivoli, Strand and others), products and so on can be found in the German paper 'Hermann'.
A number of arrangements have been made for the entertainment, the protection and the support of the German fellow countrymen. More well off members of the German colony socialise in the German Club for art and science (German Artheneum) which was founded in 1869. The club takes an annual membership fee of 4 £. Apart from that there is a German gymnastics club, a club of German teachers in England, a German Society of Benevolence which supports Germans in trouble. The German YMCA runs a good quality and cheap hospice in 28 Finsbury Square EC, as well as an even cheaper German Christian workers and bakers hostel in 90 Leman Street, Whitechapel, E.
Since 1845 it is possible for destitute Germans when they are ill are to have free medical treatment or admission at the German hospital which exists since 1891 in Dalston, East London. The hospital has yearly earnings of about £ 10.000.
There are several German churches of both confessions as well as synagogues."