Germania Männerchor concert programs

Collection

Identifier: PIMS-0088

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The collection contains programs to at least 40 concerts by Baltimore's Germania Männerchor from 1898 to 1917.

Dates

Creation: 1898 - 1917

Creator

Germania Männerchor (Baltimore, Md.) (Organization)

Language of Materials

Programs are primarily in German. Some German song lyrics are printed beside corresponding English translations.

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for use at the Arthur Friedheim Library Archives of the Peabody Institute. Contact peabodyarchives@lists.jhu.edu for more information.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. Researchers are responsible for determining any copyright questions. It is not necessary to seek our permission as the owner of the physical work to publish or otherwise use public domain materials that we have made available for use, unless Johns Hopkins University holds the copyright. All requests for permission to publish or perform materials in this collection must be submitted in writing to the archivist of the Arthur Friedheim Library.

Biographical / Historical

Baltimore's Germania Männerchor (men’s choir) was active from 1856 to 1929. Many of the city's inhabitants were of German origin or ancestry that gave Baltimore a rich choral tradition. The Germania Männerchor was one of 40 German singing societies in Baltimore in the last decade of the 19th century. With the anti-German reaction to World War I, German cultural activity reduced in Baltimore, including the cessation of German-language teaching in schools and the closing of Baltimore’s German-language newspapers. The Germania Männerchor continued to perform but was not listed in the City Directory after 1917. German cultural events continued to be held in Lehmann Hall, the Männerchor’s last venue, into the late 1930s.

Theodor Hemberger became director of the Germania Männerchor in 1903, a post he would hold into the 1920s, and composed a number of pieces for the choir. Hemberger also taught violin at the Peabody Conservatory of Music from 1910 to 1915.

Extent

0.38 Cubic Feet (1 full-size letter box)

Additional Description

Abstract

Baltimore's Germania Männerchor (men's choir), active from 1856 to 1929, was composed primarily of men of German origin. The choir held numerous concerts in the 1890s and early twentieth century, but it reduced its public activities after 1917 due to anti-German public sentiment in response to World War I. The collection includes Germania Männerchor concert programs from 1898 to 1917.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Most programs in the collection were probably acquired in 1994. Source of the collection is unknown.

Related Materials

Additional materials about German singing societies in Baltimore can be found in the Otto Ortmann papers (PIMS.0077) and the Theodor Hemberger papers.