The German-American Experience by Don Heinrich Tolzmann

It is difficult to remember how troubled those times were, now that Bockfest booms, people drink Rhinegeist and every new house is seemingly a 'haus.' But in 1914, when the war began, things began to feel uncomfortable in the German-American and German immigrant community.Īt the time, more than half the residents of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky were either born in Germany or had German parents, according to Tolzmann. 'It was a way to uncover the fear and honor our German heritage,' Seelbach said. Seelbach knew the city's history, he knew of the fear and hysteria, and he thought it was time to correct at least one thing. It felt important,' Murphy said.Ĭity Councilman Chris Seelbach, a longtime resident of OTR and a descendant of German immigrants, fully supported the change and helped clear the path. 'It was something we really wanted to do. When it was time to paint the building, Murphy said it was time to bring back history. Kelly Murphy, who owns the building with her husband, first learned of the covered name when they bought the building five years ago. For a long time Tolzmann hoped to bring the building back to its original state. 'It honors the German heritage of the city, and it rights a wrong of the past,' said Don Heinrich Tolzmann, president of the German-American Citizens League of Greater Cincinnati. The name of this lovely building was covered up for a century, never seen again – until now. The language stopped being taught in public schools, people were fired from their jobs, street names were changed and pretzels disappeared from bars.

That became a problem starting 100 years ago when World War I began, the Lusitania was torpedoed and everything German became suspect. It was built by an immigrant named Rattermann, it had a statue of Germania built into the design, and then there was the name: Deutsche Gegenseitige Versicherungs Gesellschaft von Cincinnati.

The Renaissance revival building at 12th and Walnut streets went up in 1877, and even in a German part of town, Over-the-Rhine, this building was extraordinarily Teutonic. What made it so wrong was that it represented a brief but ugly chapter in Cincinnati history. It has always been a lovely building – four stories of limestone and intricate detail.

The German-American Experience by Don Heinrich Tolzmann