Despite their large ethnic presence in Wisconsin, German immigrants faced prejudice and discrimination in the upper Midwest in the mid-19th and early 20th centuries. From removing Beethoven and Bach from concert programs, banning German textbooks and renaming Sauerkraut as “liberty cabbage,” anti-German hysteria grew from cultural intolerance to lynching.
In 1852, 12 German immigrants founded Madison Maennerchor, a men’s chorus inspired by the tradition of German men stopping at local bars after work to sing four-part harmonies. The choir is currently the second-oldest German men’s chorus in the United States. Member Alan Shepard said each member has two of three criteria: an interest in German culture, liking to sing or being with people and having a good time.
“You need someone who's got the drive and the enthusiasm, who likes the camaraderie — the camaraderie can offset the lack of musical knowledge,” Shepard said.
Nowadays, German culture is a widely accepted part of Wisconsin culture — Oktoberfest, beer and brats define the Badger State as much as they do the European country. Today, the Madison Maennerchor represents a beacon for not only the continuation of immigrant culture through arts-based organizations, but hope that prejudice toward immigrant communities may pass as immigrants become more accepted in the “melting pot” of the U.S.
Arts organizations can offer a specialized way to continue immigrant culture, engaging in community building, language diffusion and cultural preservation beyond first-generation immigrants. Without this group, it’s likely that some German songs would be largely forgotten in Wisconsin.
“It really speaks to how much the arts, not just music, play a role in culture. Coming to a new country and being able to hear and sing the same songs you grew up with — I imagine — must have made the process of getting a new home at least a little more comfortable,” said music director Garrett Debbink. “Then mix in the community-building power of making music with other people, and you have the makings of a great way for a community to stay connected in a new place.”
Current Madison Maennerchor bass Fred Berger came to the U.S. from Germany at 13 years old in 1955 but didn’t join the choir until the 1990s after running into a few members at Essen Haus. At that point, about 16 members were German natives, a number that’s decreased to six today.
Klaus Bodenstein, a tenor who has been singing with the group since 1966, echoed this sentiment.
“When I started here, we had mostly Germans. Nobody’s coming over anymore, so we are glad to have the Americans join us,” Bodenstein said.
Bodenstein remains loyal to the group because of the friendships he’s formed. Across nearly six decades of involvement, he said the biggest change he’s seen with the group is the diversification of song origin and member ethnicity.
Without being able to rely on waves of German immigrants anymore, the Madison Maennerchor has focused its efforts on recruitment and has begun incorporating music from other cultures and continents, becoming a true American melting pot of music. The group is purposeful to not exclude any interested singer based on ethnicity — there is no requirement to be German or of German descent, although many of its members are. Three years ago, the choir welcomed their first woman.
Tenor and social chair Tim Hughes joined Madison Maennerchor after moving from Milwaukee in 1986. The chorus he sang with there later disbanded due to members aging out without enough new interest from the community, a common ending to groups like this. A few years into his involvement with the choir, Hughes found out his great-grandfather had been a member in the 1930s — a shining example of the choir’s long lasting legacy in the Madison area.
Hughes majored in German in college and continues singing to maintain his knowledge of the language and the culture. The largest change he’s noted across his tenure with the group is the growing share of ethnicities, as the group becomes more “Americanized,” he said.
Madison Maennerchor has also diversified its repertoire from German-only songs to songs in English, Serbo-Croatian, Italian, Spanish Latin and, recently, Japanese.
“We try to mix it up a little bit so we're not always singing the same songs all the time,” said president Joe Johnson.
But traditional German songs still drive the essence of the choir, especially to its older members. Debbink jokes that some members of the group have been singing the traditional songs longer than he’s been alive.
“These are the songs that people would have been singing around the house and would have been taught at school,” Debbink said. “There really isn't a perfect comparison today as culture and technology have changed the conditions so much, but at the time, everyone knew these songs. Many of our older singers still sing these songs by heart.”
Members of the Madison Maennerchor remain optimistic about the group’s future. The group works to continue its goal of perpetuation of choral music, both German and American, German culture and Gemütlichkeit — loosely translating to geniality, enjoying beer and German food, music, and dance with friends, exhibiting humor and emotions and being merry and easygoing while still maintaining order and good-naturedness.
Gemütlichkeit is maintained after rehearsal each week during social hour, allowing the singers to bond beyond music alone. It’s this connection that keeps members together and the German culture alive in the heart of Wisconsin beyond first-generation immigrants.
“German culture survives somewhat. It’s diminishing, but we’re surviving, as long as we can,” Berger said.
Debbink is cautious to respect the balance of honoring the choir’s traditions while evolving a niche organization to stay afloat and continue its legacy. Thankfully, he has the group’s Gemütlichkeit to rely on.
“At the end of the day, getting together with other people and engaging in food, drinks and music-making, in my opinion, will always have an appeal when done correctly,” he said.
Across its 170-year history, Madison Maennerchor has developed its own culture and traditions. From annual cemetery visits to past members, singing “Wiedersehen” — translating to “until we see you again” — at the end of each rehearsal and weekly social hour, the group has become a melting pot to celebrate cultural diversity, supporting the sentiment that almost everyone in the U.S. is an immigrant.
Bryna Goeking is an arts editor for The Daily Cardinal. She also reports on campus news. Follow her on Twitter @BrynaGoeking.
