Germans in Omaha immigrated to the city in Nebraska from its earliest days of founding in 1854, in the years after the Revolutions of 1848 in the German states. They continued to immigrate to Omaha in large numbers later in the 19th century, when many came from Bavaria and southern Germany, and into the early 20th century. Germans created and maintained a high cultural, social and political profile locally and nationally through the 1930s. In 1890, Germans comprised 23% of Omaha's population.Larsen, L.H., Cottrell, B.J. and Dalstrom, H.A. (2007) Upstream Metropolis: An Urban Biography of Omaha and Council Bluffs. University of Nebraska Press. p 122. By 1910, 57.4% of Omaha's total population of more than 124,000 identified as being of German descent.Luebke, F.C. (1999) Germans in the New World: Essays in the History of Immigration. University of Illinois Press. p 27.
By 1930 and the start of the Great Depression, immigration from Germany had virtually ceased. Although Germans comprised the second most numerous group of foreign-born nationals after Czechs, those foreign-born immigrants totaled less than one percent of the total population of the city.Larsen, L.H., Cottrell, B.J. and Dalstrom, H.A. (2007) Upstream Metropolis: An Urban Biography of Omaha and Council Bluffs. University of Nebraska Press. p 157.
German immigrants and German Americans in Omaha had a high rate of literacy. The mostly working class population supported numerous German-language newspapers that had national as well as local distribution in the early 20th century. Germans built and operated several successful breweries in the city, bringing good beer and beer-making skills to the upper Midwest. The German model of public education was established in states throughout the Midwest, which were quickly training teachers in normal schools to expand education in new villages.
Valentin J. Peter (1875-1960), editor of the German-language Omaha Tribüne, was chiefly responsible for the formation and leadership of the Nebraska chapter of the National German-American Alliance. This coalition was influential in representing and attempting to lead the German-American electorate across the United States between 1912 and 1940, although the community was very heterogeneous.Luebke, F.C. (1999) Germans in the New World: Essays in the History of Immigration. University of Illinois Press.
During the early years of World War I (the Great War), Peter was supportive of Germany and urged German-Americans to be so, too. He changed his position before the US entered the war in 1917 on the side of Great Britain and France, and supported the Allies.Luebke, F.C. (1999) Germans in the New World: Essays in the History of Immigration. University of Illinois Press. p 17. He also supported the US and its allies in World War II after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
History The first known German in the Omaha area arrived more than 20 years before the city was founded. Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied toured the Upper Missouri River in 1832, and recorded a stay at Cabanne's Trading Post in present-day North Omaha.Hunt, D.C., Orr, W.J. and Goetzmann, W.H. (eds) (1984) Karl Bodmer's America. Joslyn Art Museum. p 8. After arriving in Omaha en masse beginning in the 1860s, Germans in Omaha built their own churches. At church and in their businesses, including grocery stores and farm supply shops, they conducted daily life in German for years. Many young German immigrants from Omaha served in the Nebraska battalion during the Civil War,Scherneckau, A. (2007) Marching with the First Nebraska: A Civil War Diary. University of Oklahoma Press. as well as later serving throughout the country.
One early German settler in Omaha was Vincent Burkley. (He anglicized his name). After working as a grocer and farm laborer for three years starting in 1854, he opened his own printing company. He was almost immediately successful.Larsen, L.H., Cottrell, B.J. and Dalstrom, H.A. (2007) Upstream Metropolis: An Urban Biography of Omaha and Council Bluffs. University of Nebraska Press. p 76. Burkley was elected as a member of the Omaha City Council for several years,(1888) "History of Douglas County." Andreas' History of Nebraska. p 8. Retrieved 9/3/07. as well as the Omaha Board of Education.(1888) "History of Douglas County." Andreas' History of Nebraska. p 17. Retrieved 9/3/07.
Communities In the earliest days of Omaha, the "heart of the German settlement was in the large concentration between South 10th and 13th Streets. Here one could purchase food from several German merchants, including Volkmier's Meat Market, Schmid's Grocery, and the Schube Haus (bakery) ... The Emmel House (hotel) and Hottenroth and Bauer Boarding House were also located in this core".Fimple, K.L. (1989) An Analysis of the Changing Spatial Dimensions of Ethnic Neighborhoods in Omaha, Nebraska, 1880-1900. University of Nebraska at Lincoln, Department of Geography. p 13. The area south of the railroad corridor and west of South 16th Street contained an area of German Catholics. This settlement was centered on South 16th Street and Center Street and includes St. Joseph's Church, which was established in 1887 to serve German-speaking Catholics. Protestant Germans settled in a concentration centered on South 11th Street and Center Street, and built a German Methodist Episcopal Church in 1886.Mead and Hunt. (2001) . City of Omaha. p 6. Retrieved 1/20/08.
By 1900 Germans lived in more dispersed neighborhoods, including the Near North Side neighborhood, Florence, and South Omaha. Within 25 years they lived throughout the city, with large enclaves in the Dundee and Field Club neighborhoods.Chudacoff, H.P. (1973) "A New Look At Ethnic Neighborhoods: Residential Dispersion and the Concept of Visibility in a Medium-Sized City," The Journal of American History. 60(1). pp 76-93. Another "concentration was ... near South 19th and Vinton Streets ... The Bongardt Meat Market, Schmidt Saloon and Muller's Hall were located in the 1700 block of Vinton. Wilg Dry Goods was at 1810 Vinton, Strausburgh Druggist at 1822 Vinton, and the Schouboe Bakery at 3130 S. 18th St."Fimple. (1989) pp 110-13.
Culture Germans built several Deutschekirchen - German churches - throughout Omaha. St. Joseph's was a Roman Catholic parish established in 1901 to serve Omaha's German-speaking Catholics. Nebraska State Historical Society. Retrieved 9/3/07.
The German community in Omaha was literate and large enough to support several German-language newspapers, which also had national distribution. They included the Omaha Tribune, the Volkszeitung Tribune, and the Sonntagspost, which was later called the AmericaHerold."German American Reading Room: The Germans in America." United States Library of Congress. Retrieved 9/3/07.
Edward Rosewater, the Czech editor at The Omaha Bee, used the slogan "Germania our Mother, Columbia our Bride" to describe the kind of "dual-sentimentality" many Germans in America felt toward their country of origin.Carlson, A.C. (2002) , The Family in America. 16(1/2). Retrieved 9/2/07. In the early 20th century, German immigrants came to Omaha for work and to escape state oppression led by Kaiser Wilhelm in Germany.Folsom, B.W. (1999) No More Free Markets Or Free Beer: The Progressive Era in Nebraska, 1900-1924. Lexington Books. p 11.
The German community in Omaha was noted for settling quickly throughout the city. Period sociological research also identified a range of reluctance among some German immigrants, as well as second- and third-generation Germans towards assimilation.Sullenger, T.E. (1937) "Problems of Ethnic Assimilation in Omaha," Social Forces. 15(3) pp. 402-410. During the early 20th century, Germans in Omaha were successful in ensuring that German culture, German history and German language lessons were included in the local public school system, because they comprised a large part of the electorate.Kaplan, M.M. (1967) Judaism as a Civilization: Toward a Reconstruction of American-Jewish Life. p 551.
Employment
Germans in Omaha were employed in many of the city's manufacturing industries, particularly its brewing sector, which was created by German immigrants. Leading German employers in the city included the Metz Brewery, Krug Brewery and the Storz Brewery. Gottlieb Storz, Frederick Krug and Frederick Metz built the success of their breweries by hiring German brewmeisters and laborers for their skills.Luebke, F.C. (1999) Germans in the New World: Essays in the History of Immigration. University of Illinois Press. p 15.
Many Germans in the Omaha area also worked at the Union Stockyards, and in farming in Douglas County. In 1910 the Union Stockyards reported to the United States Immigration Commission that 14.1% of its workers were German immigrants.Dillingham, W.P. (1910) Reports of the Immigration Commission. United States Immigration Commission (1907-1910). p 43. Retrieved 9/3/07. Numerous Germans worked at German-owned beer gardens, dry goods stores, farms, and milling operations throughout the city and Douglas County. The German work ethic was highly regarded throughout the city. Immigrant workers from Germany were readily employed in Jobbers Canyon and by the railroads in Omaha.
Politics German-owned breweries in Omaha sought to keep alcohol legal at a time when political pressure was widespread to establish Prohibition. German voters in Omaha were largely responsible for the election of Nebraska Governor Ashton C. Shallenberger in 1908, as Shallenberger ran on an anti-Prohibition slate. After he was elected, however, Shallenberger became pro-Prohibition. Temperance was strongly supported in most of Nebraska for 30 years before the national Prohibition movement.Luebke, F.C. (1999) Germans in the New World: Essays in the History of Immigration. University of Illinois Press. p 16. A statewide election seeking a prohibition of alcohol in 1890 won in almost every county across the state, except Omaha's Douglas County. The German vote there was credited for keeping the state "wet" during that period.Folsom, B.W. (1999) No More Free Markets Or Free Beer: The Progressive Era in Nebraska, 1900-1924. Lexington Books. p 15. When William Jennings Bryan returned to Nebraska after his third unsuccessful Presidential campaign in 1908 to advocate for Prohibition, he became "the arch enemy of das Deutschtum."
National German-American Alliance In July 1910 Germans in Omaha rallied with other immigrant organizations across the city to create the National German-American Alliance. At least 54 social, farming and cultural organizations from around Omaha were represented at the first meeting. This alliance brought together many German organizations around Omaha in July 1911 at the city's annual Sängerfest, which was a dance and rally for more than 5,000 attendees. By masking political objectives within a German cultural event, National German-American Alliance leaders were able to politicize the event without scrutiny from the mainstream press.
Bavarian-born Valentin J. Peter was the publisher of a German-language newspaper called the Omaha Tribüne. In 1914 Peter led the National German-American Alliance in strong opposition to women's suffrage during a statewide election on the issue. The Omaha Tribune editor denounced the effort as "chiefly ... to introduce state prohibition with the help of these women's voices."Folsom, B.W. (1999) No More Free Markets Or Free Beer: The Progressive Era in Nebraska, 1900-1924. Lexington Books. p 86.
In the years leading up the US entry into World War I, tensions in Europe were reflected in the US. During a 1915 address to the National German-American Alliance, Valentin Peter said,