History of the Germans in Baltimore

Thehistory of the Germans in Baltimorebegan in the 17th century. During the 19th century, thePort of Baltimorewas the second-leading port of entry for immigrants, afterEllis IslandinNew York City. Many Germans immigrated to Baltimore during this time.
In 1880, Germans made up the majority of the foreign-born population of Baltimore at 58% of all foreign born residents. 16.9% (56,354) of Baltimore residents were foreign born, 32,685 of them Germans (includingPrussians,Swabians, andBavarians).
In 1920, 19,813 foreign-born White people in Baltimore spoke theGerman languageas their mother tongue.
In 1940, 9,744 immigrants fromGermanylived in Baltimore. These immigrants comprised 16% of the city's foreign-born white population.In total, 23,889 people of German birth or descent lived in the city, comprising 17.1% of the foreign-stock white population.
As of 2000, 18.7%, or 478,646, of theBaltimore metropolitan area's population were of German descent, making it the largest European ancestral group.In the same year Baltimore city's German population was 48,423, 7.4% of the city's population.
As of 2011, immigrants fromGermanywere the seventeenth largest foreign-born population in Baltimore and theGerman languagewas the sixteenth most common language of those who spoke English "less than very well".
German immigrantsbegan to settle along the Chesapeake Bay by 1723, living in the area that becameBaltimorewhen the city was established in 1729.German Lutheran immigrants establishedZion Lutheran Churchin 1755, which also attractedPennsylvania Dutchsettlers to the region. Early German settlers also established the German Society of Maryland in 1783 in order to assist German immigrants.
Following theWar of 1812inNorth America, a wave of German immigrants came from thePalatinate,Hesse,Bavaria, andBohemia. Many fled from Germany between 1812 and 1814, during theWar of the Sixth Coalition, (1812-1814), the last of the series ofFrench Revolutionary Warsand theNapoleonic Wars, in order to avoid military conscription into theRoyal Prussian Army. The port of Baltimore was developed as a gateway for immigrants during the 1820s, and soon became the second largest gateway to America afterNew York City, (andEllis Island), especially at the terminals of theBaltimore and Ohio RailroadonLocust Point, Baltimore, which had made an agreement with theNorddeutscher Lloyd(North German Lloyd Line). By 1850, 20,000 German-born people lived in the city. Between 1820 and 1860, Germans were the largest group of immigrants to Baltimore.This wave of immigrants created numerous German institutions, including banks, insurance companies, and newspapers.German immigrants also created a thriving German-language press, including publications such as theBaltimore Wecker(Baltimore Alarm).
Immigration from Germany increased again after the variousRevolutions of 1848flaring up throughoutEurope, bringing thousands of "Forty-Eighters" to Baltimore. By the time of theAmerican Civil War, there were 32,613 German-born residents of Baltimore, not counting their American-born descendants of first generation along with the earlier wave of colonial and pre-revolutionary era settlers. Many German immigrants were politically active in opposingslavery, and German newspapers that editorialized against it were targets of attacks bynativistsand Confederate sympathizers.During theBaltimore riot of 1861, the office of theBaltimore Weckerwas destroyed by mobs; the publisher, William Schnauffer, and the editor,Wilhelm Rapp, left the city due to the violence. The population continued to surge after theCivil War, due in large part to the agreement signed on January 21, 1867 between theBaltimore and Ohio Railroadand theNorddeutscher Lloyd, a German steamship line which brought tobacco along with further German immigrants to the port of Baltimore fromBremen,Germany. German immigrants disembarked from the steamships at B&O's pier, which was located in Locust Point.By 1868, one-fourth of Baltimore's 160,000 white inhabitants were German-born and half of the remainder were of full or partial German descent.
Many of the German immigrants who arrived during the latter half of the 19th century were affluentGerman Jewswho created a number of cultural institutions, includingYiddish theatressuch as theConcordia Halland theConvention Hall Theater. Beginning in the 1870s, many wealthy German Jews built lavish homes in the northwest area of the growing city alongNorth Eutaw Street and Eutaw Placetowards the newDruid Hill Parkof 1860. They also built several synagogues, such as theEutaw Place Temple. By 1880, there were around 10,000 German Jews living in Baltimore, most of whom were ofBavarianandHessiandescent.
The German-born immigrant population in Baltimore peaked in 1890, when German-born Baltimoreans numbered 41,930 out of the total population of 365,863.
Holy Cross Churchon West Street offLight Streetin old South Baltimore nearFederal Hillwas founded in 1860 to serve the growing numbers of Germans moving onto the peninsula south of "The Basin" of thePatapsco River'sNorthwest Branch and theBaltimore Harbor, which had been annexed into the city in 1816.St. Elizabeth of HungaryRoman Catholic was later founded in 1895 inHighlandtownin east Baltimore to serve the German immigrant community in that part of the city.
In the year 1900, the city's German population was 34,000, according to theUnited States Census. Around 1900 there were over 30 congregations in Baltimore that were holding Sunday services in German.By 1914, the number had risen to 94,000, 20% of city's population. During the 19th Century, many of the city's public schools were known as "German-English". By the 1920s, one third ofBaltimore's public schoolsstill offered German-language curricula and a quarter of Baltimoreans could still speak German fluently.Up untilWorld War Ithe notes from theBaltimore City Councilwere published in both German and English.
Before and duringWorld War II, manyJewish refugeesfled from Germany to Baltimore. By the end of the War they numbered 3,000.
Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church, in theFederal Hillneighborhood, was listed as a German parish until 1959. The church had historically played an important institutional role for South Baltimore's large German community.
The last German-language publication in Baltimore, theBaltimore Correspondent(formerlyDer Deutsche Correspondent), finally ceased publication in 1976.
Aspects of Baltimore's German heritage remain, such as theZion Lutheran Church. The church has held services in both English and German for over 250 years. There is also an annual Maryland German Festival held in the Baltimore area, which is sponsored by the German-American Citizens Association of Maryland.
The German immigrants influenced the cuisine of Baltimore, introducing food items such asBerger Cookies. TheSchmidt Baking Companywas established by Elizabeth and Peter Schmidt, immigrants from Germany who used German recipes for their products.
Baltimore used to have a number of German restaurants, though by 2014 Eichenkranz was the sole remaining restaurant that servedGerman cuisine.That restaurant, in turn, closed down in 2015.