Overview and Brief History:
The people of Germany have had a presence in New Mexico since the Santa Fe Trail was opened and in Albuquerque since the coming of the railroad. An 1885 census lists 188 German-born residents in the city and by 1900 that number had grown to 239. Germans are Albuquerque and New Mexico’s largest immigrant group after Hispanics and Anglos. Some of Albuquerque’s most prominent families at the turn of the twentieth century were German immigrants. Although the 2000 U.S. Census shows 86,000 Germans as living in Albuquerque, the majority of these are of German descent rather than German born.

The area of Central Europe that is home to the German people has been home to many humans throughout history. Germanic tribes from the north of Europe began advancing into the central and southern areas of present-day Germany at about 500 BC. By 100 BC they had established themselves well enough to keep the Romans south of the river Rhine. The Frank tribes who conquered Rome in the fifth century are considered to be the founders of German civilization.

The Frankish ruler Clovis began the Merovingian dynasty in 486 AD that lasted for 250 years. Clovis introduced Christianity to the German people. Charlemagne’s rule followed in 768, and from this point until 1806, Germany’s historical destiny was inextricably tied to Catholicism and Rome. The treaty of Verdun that was put in place following the collapse of the Charlemagne’s empire in the mid-ninth century divided Germany into three parts: the East Frankish Kingdom (current Germany and Austria), the West Frankish Kingdom (current day France), and the Middle Kingdom For many centuries, the Eastern Kingdom was (the lands between modern Germany and France). The Eastern Kingdom was further split into the smaller duchies of Franconia, Sacxony, Bavaria, Swabia, and Lorraine.

Otto the Great regained German control over both the East and Middle Kingdoms in 962, and was crowned the Holy Roman Emperor. From this time until the nineteenth century, the interests of most German rulers were tied to and focused on matters in Italy. Because of the kings’ relationship with Rome, Germany continued to be a land ruled primarily by smaller and independent princes. These smaller duchies imposed their own levies and tolls which hindered travel and the flow of trade goods for centuries and prevented Germany from developing as rapidly as other parts of the world. Even though a governing body of representatives from all of the duchies, called the Reichstag, was created in the fifteenth century, progress was still slow.

Another development that hampered the progress of uniting Germany was the rise of the Protestant religions Lutherism and Calvinism in the sixteenth century. In-fighting between the Protestant Bohemian nobles and the Catholic Emperor Matthias in the seventeenth century brought about the disastrous and devastating Thirty Years’ War. Historians estimate that between a quarter and a third of Germany’s population perished from war-related causes during this period. It would take over one-hundred years for Germany’s economy to recover from the war.

By the eighteenth century, trade had increased and with it came enlightenment from some of Germany’s more intellectually advanced neighbors. Universities were founded and German culture had a fluorescence. Writers such as Goethe, and the composers Bach, Beethoven, Haydn, Handel, and Mozart contributed to this flowering. However, the French Revolution that followed created more havoc in Europe. Although Napoleon was eventually defeated by the combined armies of Germany and Britain, some changes that he imposed upon Germany remained. Primary among these were a more efficient public administration, reduced power if the trade guilds, and the Napoleonic Code. The Napoleonic Wars also resulted in a more unified Germany, with the creation of a Confederation with a body of representatives and an Austrian president. Clause Metternich was the dominant figure in this Confederation, and he instituted a conservative system of press censorship and regulation of universities in order to suppress the budding of liberal democratic principles and reforms that were taking hold across Europe at the time. Eventually though, extreme economic hardships during the 1840's brought about popular rebellions and revolts that resulted in the collapse of the Confederacy and Metternich fleeing to England.

This liberal victory was short-lived however, as the powerful Otto von Bismark became de facto ruler of Prussia. Under Bismark, Austria and France were attacked and lands were added to a newly created and finally united German Empire. This period has come to be known as the Second Reich (the first being Charlemagne’s rule). The unification came about with an agreement to create a monarchy, the Kaiser, and a representative body, the Reichstag, elected by universal male suffrage, and the Bundesrat, representing Germany’s princes. While each of these entities had limited control over each other, the Kaiser held the majority of power.

Unification finally allowed Germany’s economic engine to get going and rapid industrialization commenced. Germany soon lead the world in the electrical and chemical industries. The nation also began producing weapons of war, such as battleships, and building up the county’s infrastructure of roads and railroads. World events, changing alliances, and the collision course of the armies of Europe eventually lead to the First World War.

Following the disastrous war and the Treaty of Versailles, Germany’s power was significantly reduced. A government that came to be known as the Weimar Republic was established with a democratically elected president and parliamentary system. From its inception, radicals on both the left and right tried to undermine and destroy the government. The right eventually won with the rise to power of Adolph Hitler in 1933. Hitler’s regime was an extremely repressive dictatorship. Through fear and manipulation of information via propaganda, and preying upon Germanic shame over the loss of the First World War, Hitler rapidly propelled the nation into the Second one. The Second World War was equally disastrous for Germany, but with help from America’s post-war Marshall Plan, the country once again reclaimed its place as a leader in the world economy.

Immigration to the United States and Albuquerque:
The first documented Americans who emigrated from Germany were part of the group that settled Jamestown in 1608. In 1683, thirteen German immigrant families founded Germantown, north of Philadelphia. Over the next century, many thousand other Germans emigrated to America, often small sects fleeing religious persecution in their homeland. The British brought in Hessian soldiers during the Revolutionary War to fight against the Colonials, and many of these soldiers remained after the hostilities had ceased. The tumultuous revolutions in Germany in the mid-nineteenth century caused over a million refugees to emigrate between 1848-60; but the 1880's saw an even greater wave of German immigration. However, by the turn of the twentieth century, German immigration had considerably slowed, and after the First World War, it had turned to a trickle. The rise of the Nazi’s in the 1930's caused an out-migration of well over one-hundred-thousand German intellectuals and artists with many, such as Albert Einstein, coming to the United States.

Many of the earliest German immigrants to arrive in New Mexico were German Jews who were traders and merchants on the Santa Fe Trail. The first documented settler was Jacob Solomon Speigelberg, who accompanied Kearney in 1847 as a sutler. Spiegelberg’s Albuquerque-based salesman, Albert Grunsfeld, bought out his boss and by the late nineteenth century, he and two other German Jews, Charles Ilfeld and Max Nordhaus were the most successful merchants in the Territory. In 1881 St. Paul’s Lutheran Church was established and became known as the German Lutheran Church. A “Club Germania” was formed in the early 1880's to promote German immigration to Albuquerque. Franz Huning built his famous two million dollar “Castle” in 1883. German Jews are credited with having helped establish Temple Albert (named after Grunsfeld) in 1897. A German Ladies’ Aid Society was established at about the same time. By the turn of the twentieth century, Germans immigrants were well established in Albuquerque and by 1910, they constituted twenty per-cent of the city’s population, and were primarily living west of downtown in an area known as the Fourth Ward. In 1908, a club called Einigkeit Lodge was established. It’s members would gather together to speak German so that the language would not be lost to their children.

As with the rest of the nation, German immigration in the southwest slowed considerably following the First World War. However, the post-World War II era saw an increase in German immigration to New Mexico by German scientists who had been working on rocket and weapons programs in their homeland. Dr. Wernher von Braun, the father of the German V-2 rocket, and many of his fellow scientists moved to White Sands Missile Range and helped launch the U.S. Space Program. Other German scientists came to work at Los Alamos and Sandia Labs. Today there is a wing of the German Luftwaffe stationed at the German Air Force Flight Training Centre at Holloman Air Force Base near Alamogordo.

Cultural Traditions:
Before 1848 and a unified Germany, the region was divided into many different kingdoms. Each of these kingdoms had their own religious sects and regional dialects as well as music and dance. Many of these dialects have been assimilated into the language, but the regional music and dance forms still remain.

Most of the early German immigrants to Albuquerque rapidly assimilated into American culture and have long lost their cultural heritage. any of the Germans who arrived after the Second World War tried to assimilate as rapidly as possible due to the negative stereotypes of Germans as Nazis pervasive at the time. This negative portrayal of Germans in the U.S. media after the war made life difficult for many immigrants.

Today there is much more tolerance toward the German people and many in the second and third generations are again learning their language and customs. Several people interviewed during our survey said that they often travel to Germany in order to help keep their language and traditions alive.

Food traditions are still alive among these newer immigrants. Some of the more popular German cuisine that can be found in Albuquerque consists of sausages such as knockwurst and bratwurst and sauerkraut and brötchen (bread). Albuquerque has the Alpine Sausage Kitchen, specializing in German sausages and cold cuts, and at least one German restaurant.

Artistic Traditions:
There are two traditional German dance groups active in Albuquerque, Alpenland Schuhplattler Verein and Enzian Schuhplattler. The men in these dance groups perform in Trachten wear lederhosen (leather pants), and the women wear dirndls (peasant dresses) imported from Germany.

Die Polka-schlingel is a Bavarian-style band who play oom-pah music and polkas on accordions, flugelhorns, tenorhorns. and tubas, saxes, clarinets, trumpets, and trombones. They dress in traditional Trachten wear and play frequently around the Albuquerque area. They have a web site and a CD.

Annual Events and Celebrations:
The German winter holiday of St. Nicholas Day (December 6) is still celebrated by several families in Albuquerque. On St. Nicholas Day, children put their shoes by the fireplace or door for the Patron Saint of Children who knows if they have been doing their homework and going to bed on time. If they have been good he will leave chocolate in their shoes but if they were bad they will only receive twigs. The Edelweiss German Club in Albuquerque also observes the St. Nicholas tradition and members hand out gifts or sticks and coal to children.

Oktoberfest is the main public German celebration that is carried out in Albuquerque. Oktoberfest grew from a wedding party for Prince Ludwig (later to become King Ludwig I) and Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen, that was held in Munich, Germany on October 12, 1810. The occasion was royally celebrated with free beer and food for all. The tradition has continued ever since. Oktoberfest began being celebrated in Albuquerque in 1985 but has since moved to Rio Rancho. This annual event now draws over ten thousand revelers. Oktoberfest is celebrated at the Edelweiss club as well.

Fasching is also celebrated at the German-American Edelweiss Club. Since the 12th century, Carnival has been a time of frolic before the forty days of Lenten fasting. Many Fasching customs are considered to pre-date Catholicism and be pagan in origin that art based upon ancient cult and magic acts. These acts invoke protection from demons and evil spirits, while chasing away winter and awakening spring. In Germany, the name and festivities can vary significantly by region.

In Albuquerque, the event begins on November 11 at 11:11 AM and continues through the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. At the opening ball at the Edelweiss Club they crown a Prince and Princess of Fools as well as a Junior Prince and Princess of Fools. Photographs of previous royalty are hung around the Edelweiss Club. The crowning is presided over by the Elferrat, which is a court of eleven men, and it can only be men, who in Germany were usually wealthy. Again, the specific traditions vary by region. In Albuquerque the mayor is invited to the festivities and seven have attended in the past. A band plays at the opening event.They used to have a parade, but the city police limited it to a one block area and it became too expensive for such a short distance. German food is plentiful at the event as well.

Conclusions:
The needs of the German people we spoke with were similar to other groups. They sorely miss Summerfest and wish it would return to its multi-cultural ethnic origins. They also lament how difficult it is to interest the youth in retaining their cultural heritage. They had tried to maintain an exchange program sending students to Germany, but it was difficult to continue because German schools are so much more scholastically advanced than their American counterparts. The two dance groups are having difficulty recruiting new, younger members.

Educating people in Albuquerque about the rich cultural heritage of Germany was also considered to be very important to this community. Many are concerned that even though Germany has over a thousand years of rich history and culture, most Americans only identify them with the aberrant twelve years of Nazi rule.

The Edelweiss German-American Club, Enzian Schulplattler, and Alpenland Schulplattler are the organized groups in Albuquerque. The Edelweiss Club was founded in 1965 and is named after an everlasting flower that blooms in the Alps in spite of the cold.