She will be a great addition to your family or any family who wants to learn more about Germany.

For more information on how to get involved in this very unique opportunity, please contact:
PAMELA HOFFMAN at pzab@comcast.net
Tel: 412-506-7422

This program is in collaboration with http://ciee.org/highschool

CIEE is a non-profit, non-governmental international exchange organization. For over 60 years, our mission has been: “to help people gain understanding, acquire knowledge, and develop skills for living in a globally interdependent and culturally diverse world.” We develop and administer programs, advocate for the advancement of international education, and build knowledge through CIEE research, publications, and conferences.

Additional ways you can help? Please forward this information to your contacts too!

The Teutonia Maennerchor grew out of an earlier chorus known as “Liederkranz” founded in 1851, later known as the “Freier Maennerchor” and in 1854 was named “Teutonia Maennerchor”. In 1858 the Nord Amerikanische Saengerbund brought the first Saengerfest to Pittsburgh. A total of 16 societies and 200 singers took part in this event. Not much is known about this first Saengerfest, but in the following decades the movement expanded and many new singing societies sprang up. To hold them together and develop a greater competitive spirit among the choruses, three Saengervereinigungen or associations were founded. Pittsburgh and Allegheny County by the 1880’s listed over 70 German societies. To mention just some, there was the Druiden Saengerbund, Frohsinn Gesangverein, Germania Liederkranz, Odd Fellow Saengerbund, Deutscher Schneider Kranken Unterstuetzungs-verein von Allegheny, Robert Blum Maennerchor, Caecilia Gesangverein, North Side Turnverein, Gambrinius Kranken Unterstuetzungsverein, Loreley Maennerchor, Mount Washington Maennerchor, Allegheny Turnverein, Schillers Glocke, Koerner Maennerchor, Central Turnverein, Schweizer Maennerchor Helvetia, Bloomfield Liedertafel, Lincoln Maennerchor, Mendelsohn Maennerchor, Orpheus Gesangverein, Arion Gesangverein von Manchester, Deutscher Handwerker Verein, Beltzhoover Liederkranz and many more. Only three of these organizations are still in existence, the Teutonia Maennerchor, Bloomfield Liedertafel and Schweizer Maennerchor Helvetia.

Two Saengerfeste, which were held in Wheeling, West Virginia need to be mentioned, they were attended by most of the then existing choruses. The first one was held in 1860 and was intended to inaugurate a series of Annual Music Festivals to be held in various cities in the tri-state area. However, the Civil War intervened and it was not until 1885 that the next Saengerfest was held in the “Nail City” as it was known then. The 1860 Saengerfest was held from August 21 to August 24. The festival attracted wide interest, and both steamboats and railroads ran special excursions to Wheeling. The participating societies from Pittsburgh were Germania Maennerchor and Harmonie. The Intelligencer Newspaper of the time reported that 3,500 singers and guests were present. The 1885 Saengerfest was held July 20 to 23, 1885. 500 singers took part in this Saengerfest, including the full Opera House Orchestra and assisted by the best musical talent of the time from Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Columbus. Three Grand concerts were held and the seating capacity at the new Magnificent Alhambra Palace of 4,000 was exceeded, with many guests sitting outside and listening to the singing as the sound drifted from the theater. The Festival Chairman was the Hon. Augustus Pollack, who was a tireless promoter of German choral singing as well as orchestral music. He was born in the Weser Valley of Westphalia in 1830. During the Revolution of 1848 in Germany he was offered a job at the Hambleton and Sons Co. in Baltimore, and on April 5, 1849 he sailed from Bremen for the United States. In 1852 he started his own Stogie Business in Wheeling and became one of the most prominent citizens of that city. The Festival Director, Mr. Arbenz, traveled to many cities to prepare the choruses for the Saengerfest. The choruses were listed in the Fest program together with the number of singers. From Allegheny the Robert Blum Maennerchor (47), Mount Washington Maennerchor (15) Teutonia Maennerchor (28) Odd Fellows Saengerbund (14) Caecilia Maennerchor (30) from Pittsburgh, Germania Maennerchor (19) Germania Liederkranz (19) and Suedseite Turngesangsektion (11) participated. Since at the time all societies had only male members, a 175 member mixed chorus from Wheeling provided 75 women voices to the concert. The Alhambra Palace with its 4,000 seats was again the site of the concerts and sold out. Special excursion rates were again provided by steamer and railroad, even the street cars had special rates for the visiting choruses and festival attendees.

In June 1896, for the second time, the Nord Amerikanischer Saengerbund brought the 28th Saengerfest to Pittsburgh. By then 99 organizations and 2,750 singers responded. The city of Pittsburgh along with the city of Allegheny had never experienced an event of such magnificent splendor, according to reports of the then existing German Newspaper the “Freiheitsfreund”. A special message and greetings from the President of the US, Grover Cleveland, over a special telephone wire direct from Washington opened the festivities. This wire was later cut in small pieces and distributed to the singers as souvenirs. Cannon shots fired from the top of Mt. Washington was the signal for the start of the “Festparade” which moved 16,000 strong through the festively decorated streets of Pittsburgh and the City of Allegheny. Two divisions of the 14th and 18th Regiment of the National Guard together with their bands headed the parade, followed by the Festival Committee in 10 horse-drawn carriages. Mr. J. Johns, a singer and old veteran of the 1858 Saengerfest had the honor to carry the old flag of the North American Saengerbund. Hundreds of societies, most of them in uniforms, bands and many floats completed the parade.

The old Exposition Hall was transformed into a “Konzerthalle”, a stage was built to accommodate 2,600 singers and the auditorium and gallery held an audience of about 7,000. The concerts were held under the direction of Heinrich Zoellner, born in Leipzig, assisted by John Vogel, born in Allegheny, Carl Ahl, born in Fallersleben, Germany, and the Konzertmeister was Richard Arnold, also a German. With these distinguished directors and a glittering array of soloists, such as Gertrude Stein, the musical portion of the Festival was a tremendous success. The 28th National Festival in Pittsburgh was also of great significance as far as the North American Saengerbund was concerned. Prior to that time the Saengerbund was a loosely-knit organization, restricting itself to helping organize Saengerfeste. With the admission of Southern parts of the U.S. a delegate from New Orleans, J. Hanno Deiler, professor from Tulane University, proposed a new plan to reorganize the North American Saengerbund into a permanent, more closely-knit organization. He presented that plan in 1893 at the Saengerfest in Cleveland and it was adopted in Pittsburgh in 1896, thus laying the groundwork for today’s Nordamerikanischer Saengerbund.

The following years had the Pittsburgh Bezirk participate in Saengerfeste every three years. From the first Saengerfest in Cincinnati in 1850 with just 5 choruses attending with a total of 118 singers, to the first Pittsburgh 10th Saengerfest in 1858 attended by 16 choruses and 200 singers, to the second Pittsburgh Saengerfest in 1896 with 99 choruses and 2,300 singers present, the NASB kept growing in statue and singers. By far the largest amount of choruses and singers participating in a Saengerfest was in Chicago at the 39th Saengerfest, with 181 choruses and 5,882 singers. It took another 69 years before the singers returned to Pittsburgh in 1967 for the 46th Saengerfest. This time 66 choruses responded with 1,800 singers. The Festival Chairman was Louis Boettner and Co-Chair Regis Mitereder. Master of Ceremonies was Valentin Huber, Festival Director was Paul Rosskamp, and the Festival Orchestra was directed by Dr. Richard Karp, Music Director of the Pittsburgh Opera. The festivities were held at the Civic Arena, (just recently demolished). The Grand Festival Concert was opened with an invocation by then Bishop of Pittsburgh, The Most Reverend John J. Wright, followed by the National Anthems with Orchestra and the combined singers. The highlight of the Grand Concert was the final rendering of “God Bless America” when at the same time the roof of the Arena opened to let the sound of 1600 voices together with the Festival Orchestra go out in celebration of a momentous occasion.

Now, 50 years later, it is hoped that Pittsburgh again can shine for the celebration of the 62. Saengerfest of the North American Singers Association. (Nord Amerikanischer Saengerbund).

Willi Banzhaf

For our Spring Concert we have the Lancaster Liederkranz Hobby Chor joining us, the District Kinder/Jugendchor, Bloomfield Liedertafel and the Swiss Helvetia Chorus all will contribute to an evening of song and welcoming spring. The “Gaudi Buam” will be entertaining us with their special foot stomping music for the evening. This is a free concert for our members but please call Alice Weinbrenner at 412 821-6063 for seating reservations. It would also be helpful to call the club for dinner reservations. Please note that dinner will start earlier at 4:30 pm to give the singers plenty of time to have the concert start at 7:30 sharp. The singers will have a short period of time at 6 pm to do some “Einsingen” before the Sängerhalle will open to the public.

A short history of the Hobby Chor: The Lancaster Liederkranz Hobby Chor is an all-male chorus originally formed in 1978, one of the main cultural groups within the Lancaster Liederkranz. The idea of a “Hobby Chor” was first inspired from a performance that same year at the Liederkranz by “Der Hobby Chor des Lüdenscheider Manner Quartets”, a small, all-male chorus from Sauerland, Westphalia, Germany, who performed as, “a fun chorus singing just as a hobby”. In an effort to re-create some of the character and origins of the Liederkranz which was established in 1880 as a male-only German choral society (women were not permitted into the club until the early 1900′s. The Hobby Chor then came into existence singing primarily in German with a repertoire based on a collection of “fun” classic beer hall or barracks compositions written between 1500 and the 1940′s. Membership in our group is open to all male members of the Liederkranz.

Our singers are traveling to Milwaukee via bus, some will drive and a few are flying. Our program of songs are all in German and are from the 16 Länder or states of Germany. The Pittsburgh District will sing at the Empfangskonzert an old favorite from Schwaben “Muß I denn zum Städtele naus”. Over 1000 singers are expected to be in Milwaukee for the three day get- together of the Nord Amerikanischer Sängerbund (NASB). Since the next Sängerfest in 2016 will be in Pittsburgh we would like you to see the story about the Sängerfest tradition in the US from years past.

The Annual Life Member Dinner will be Sunday, May 5th. You must call the club to make reservations, also we apologize for having the wrong phone number on the postcard we sent out. The number you have to call is 412 231-9141 to make your reservations. Please indicate your choice of dinner Roast Beef or Stuffed Roughy. It is also the number you should call when needing information and to make reservations for lunch and dinner at the club. This year we will honor 20 members who have been members for the past 25 years and two who have been loyal Teutonians for 50 plus years. The dinner will start at 4 pm with free beer for the first hour. Life member pay $7.00 and guests pay $14.00.

A group of Bavarian Dancers and Musicians on their way to the Gaufest will stop in Pittsburgh on June 19 and will be featured at the Hofbräuhaus on the South Side. Since the Teutonia can’t host them for the evening maybe some of our members will welcome them to Pittsburgh for an evening of Bavarian Gemütlichkeit.

As announced before the Teutonia will host the Ermstal Musikanten from Germany on August 3rd and 4th. You can visit them on the web at Ermstalmusikanten.de more in the next News.

Dinner includes:

• Pepper Schnitzel – $13.95
• Wurst Platter (Knock, Brat, Weiss) – $12.95
• Herb Crusted Roughy – $14.95

Dinners include Salad, vegetables, Potatoes, Bread and Butter. Coffee, Tea and Dessert extra. Soup $2.00 per cup and $2.75 per bowl, Potato Pancakes three for $2.25 Please make reservations.

With music by the Ed Prem.

Dinner includes:

• Prime Rib – $16.95
• Jäger Schnitzel – $13.95
• Salmon with Sour Cream Dill Sauce – $14.95

Dinners include Salad, vegetables, Potatoes, Bread and Butter. Coffee, Tea and Dessert extra. Soup $2.00 per cup and $2.75 per bowl, Potato Pancakes three for $2.25.

Reservations required!

The Schützenkameraden will get ready for the 2012 Shooting Season with an informal Spring Shoot.

It’s a great time for interested shooters and friends of Schützen to come out to the Millvale Sportsmen’s Club to join us in this traditional German shooting contest. We do shoot with only 22 Sporting or Match Rifles at a distance of 50 meters. If you are not presently an owner of a Rifle, we will provide you with one. We also need to emphasize that we shoot in the Sporting Rifle category with open sights only, no scopes.

Refreshments and Lunch provided.

From 7:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.

Buffet Dinner from 5:00 p.m. –  8:00 p.m. for a separate charge. Please make Dinner reservations. For tickets call: (412) 398-0586 or (724) 444-6207.

Music by The Josef Wendel Orchestra.

Volunteers are needed to beautify the outdoor area of the Club to make it look good for the summer. Planting will start at 1:00 p.m. Please sign up on the paper on the Bulletin board and stay for refreshments after the planting.

For Life Members, their guests and members of the Board, dinner will be served in the upstairs Saengerhalle starting at 4:00 p.m. with a social hour and a few selections of songs by the Teutonia Choir. A Roast Beef or Fish dinner will be served at 5:00 p.m.

New Life Members will get their dinner free of charge, current Life Members pay $7.00 and guests $14.00. All monies will be collected at the door. Please make reservations by calling the Teutonia at (412) 231-9141 and be ready to state whether you order beef or fish for you and your guests.