Once upon a time in Hamden … a German Biergarten
- by Julie Hulten
Lost in time, forgotten by most, only a few older folks recollect their parents or grandparents fondly reminiscing about the old-time beer gardens that once enlivened the New Haven area.
|
 |
| New Haven Evening Register, April 30, 1933 |
|
The German community flourished in New Haven and its environs during the second half of the 19th century. Large numbers of folks from Germany emigrated as a result of the revolutions in 1848 Europe; they came in the 1850’s; by the late 1860’s numerous societies, lodges, churches and newspapers had brought a sense of home to those who settled in New Haven; the highest number of Germans population in the area came between the years 1880 and 1900.
|
The confluence of six railroad lines in New Haven brought a growth of industry and a commensurate demand for skilled labor. Many of the Germans who fled to this country had already completed apprenticeships and/or risen to the level of “master” in their homeland. They were able to step into relatively well-paying industrial jobs that soon resulted in financial comfort for themselves and their families. Then they set about making themselves at home, gathering in parks and creating ‘gardens’, where, on the weekends, they could enjoy the food, music, and activities remembered from the places from which they came. They created these areas outside the city, for they soon learned that any noisy festivities within the city limits, especially on Sundays was met with disapproval by the more sedate “Yankees” who thought a Sunday should be a day of prayer. In fact, Leon J. Barrett, a North Haven author, in his book Down through North Haven, mentions Schuetzen Park as the destination of a young ‘tramp’ one sunny Sunday afternoon. The farmer who picks him up advises him not to go as it is a place of perdition.
“Life in the societies” (Vereinsleben), formed the kernel of the transplanted Kultur and kept the German culture alive, forestalling homesickness and bringing back memories of life ‘at home.’ These societies also served as mutual benefit societies, as there was not social insurance such as they had left in Germany. They banded together not only to celebrate in familiar ways, but also to assist one another in times of trouble.
“To be sure, the Germans were enthusiastic about their new country. In 1879 Germans took part in the July 4th parade. There was music, marching groups like the Turnverein (gymnastic club), Schuetzen Verein (shooting club), and wagons with scenes representing George Washington, Steuben, De Kalb, and Muelenberg as well as Germania and Columbia. German boys marched, dressed as Minutemen and the Teutonia Maennerchor (Teutonic Men’s Choir) and the Schillerbund (Schiller Society) joined in. (New England Anzeiger, June 21, 1879). However, according to the New England Anzeiger, May 28, 1881, after participating in civic and patriotic celebrations, Germans retreated to such “notable establishments” as:
Frank Hugo’s Elysium on the corner of Grand and Franklin Street … a garden under shady trees formed the chief attraction on hot summer nights.
The Lokal of Herr Doerschuck at 985 State Street had a fine garden, 3 billiard tables, and a bowling alley.
|
 |
| Advertisement - New Haven Register, July 18, 1895 |
|
Kittler’s Eagle Grove in Hamden – “A lovely grove … A visit is regarded at any time for anyone – especially those who know how to enjoy themselves physically and intellectually at once."
|
Lion Park, run by the Loewen Brauerei, (Lion Brewery) in Allingtown, was a favorite Pic-Nic garden for families and societies.
Basserman’s Rock Brewery was a haven of refuge for the thirsty Sunday walkers. Ausfluege (excursions) to East Rock were often accompanied by a keg of Basserman’s and lots of singing.
“Schuetzen Park, the old standby, however, was the roomiest and most popular spot for large affairs with its shady grove, covered dance pavilion, and long tables under the skies.”1
In History of Hamden, Rachel Hartley describes the spot as a very large plot of ground, approximately 15.6 acres. It was managed by the Schuetzen Park Stock Corporation organized by John Miller, Friedrich Plueger, Frantz Doerschuck, Charles Volkman, Frank Tiesing, Roger Schlegel, Joseph Gilch, Friederick Buchholz, Louis Luft, Charles Schneider, William Englehardt, and Christain Streit. An article in the July 30, 1884 edition of the Hartford Courant reports that “the Union Shooting Park will be built on State Street in Hamden just over the New Haven city line, adjacent to the Cedar Hill RR yards and east of East Rock Park. The lot, measuring 720 ft. x 548 ft., was purchased by a group of prominent German Americans from New Haven, an offshoot of the German Turner Society, for the sum of $5,000. The park will consist of a 600-foot shooting range, a picnic grove, and a dancing pavilion. The entrance will be located at the end of the State Street trolley line. The cost to construct the park, including the purchase of the land, is estimated at $18,000.”
|
 |
| CLICK to enlarge |
|
|
Here, on summer Sundays, folks did not just socialize and share memories. They sang, played music, engaged in sport, and reveled in familiar food, most likely including sausages, cheese, cabbage salads, black breads, pretzels, pickled eggs and sauerkraut. Reports indicate they drank substantially of Rhine wine and lager-style beer, the manufacture of which was exclusively German in the New Haven area.
|
 |
| This group from Hartford would be typical of the Schuetzen Vereine that would have competed at the Park. (CLICK to enlarge) |
|
| Intercollegiate shooting matches were held at least during the years 1900 – 1902 at Schuetzen Park. In May, 1901 such a match was won by Yale with a score of 202 birds out of 250. Harvard placed second with 179 birds, Princeton third with 172, and Pennsylvania with 149. (Cornell Daily Sun, May 9, 1900). In 1904, plans were made to construct a gun clubhouse and traps, at Yale, as the Schuetzen Park was deemed insufficient, or perhaps not proprietorial enough.
|
 |
| SCHUETZEN PARK (c. 1900) - CLICK to enlarge image |
|
|
 |
| Photo Courtesy of New Haven Museum |
|
The park was also used for gymnastic events and Turnvereine (Gymnastic clubs) from far and wide competed for cash and other prizes. The New Haven Turn Verein was founded to afford “physical and mental development by fostering German Turnen [gymnastics] in all its branches, as well as singing, friendship and socialbility”2 There were calisthenics exercises, fencing, drill practice, pole vaulting, Indian clubs, and similar competitions.
|
And they danced!
On August 27, 1881, the New Haven Anzeiger reported that “at the Teutonia Maennerchor Pic-Nic in Schuetzen Park the young people swung the dance-leg pretty actively despite the sultry weather while the old fellows --- especially the brothers-in-song --- found deep satisfaction at the “spring” [beer keg].”
On July 8, 1882, the same newspaper reported, “To the Arion Fourth of July celebration in Schuetzen Park ‘a long line of trolleys brought nearly one thousand persons. Dancing began right after the arrival of this party.”
In August 1892, the Retail Butchers gave a huge barbeque at Schuetzen Park attended by 1500 people; there were over 300 wagons in the march out to this imposing affair (New Haven Anzeiger).
In the early 1900’s dances were held, presumably year round, on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, as well as on Sundays in the summertime.
Other news snippets indicate that the Second Infantry of the Connecticut National Guard used the shooting ranges and the park itself throughout 1905 for rifle practice and marching practice. They would often meet at the New Haven Armory and march out to Schuetzen Park in parade formation.
|
.
The first rail for the State Street Horse Railroad, as it was called, was laid Dec. 2, 1858.3 State Street Horse Railroad Company was consolidated in 1893 with several other companies previously operating in New Haven to form the New Haven Street Railway.4 At various times both the New Haven Street Railway Company and the Fair Haven and Westville Railroad Company operated lines to Schuetzen Park. One route ran from Church Street through State Street to Schuetzen Park.
In the December 1907 Report of the New Haven Civic Improvement Commission it was stated that over 7,000 people per day were carried on the Schuetzen Park route.
|
The photo to the left shows “open cars loading at New Haven Green in 1910 … Destination … Light House Point Park.” This scene could just as likely have shown picnickers headed for Schuetzen Park.
|
While the Hartford Courant article referenced earlier indicates that the Park was constructed in 1884, news articles relate dancing and picnicking activities as early as 1881. There is reference to the Park being sold in 1888 for debt, and leased to a New Jersey firm and re-opened in 1894. That New Jersey firm was possibly Feigenspan Brewing Company of Newark.
By the late 19-teens, several factors coalesced to signal the demise Schuetzen Park. Certainly the older generation was passing, and their children and grandchildren were less interested in keeping “the old ways”. Especially during and after World War I, the descendants of those Germans who originally settled here were more interested in being considered “American” than in preserving their German heritage. In 1917 the Connecticut Agricultural Station Bulletin reported that they were seeking funds to drain a serious malarial breeding swamp between Schuetzen Park and the railroad just north of the New Haven town line. Already declining toward the end of the decade, it was most likely the passage of the National Prohibition Act (1919-1920) that sealed the fate of this once popular and vibrant establishment.
Subsequent inhabitants of the property may have been the United Smelting and Aluminum Company for in American Machinist (vol. 49 no. 17 – Oct 24, 1918), it was reported that “the United Smelting and Aluminum Co Schuetzen Park is building a 1-story 65 x 130 ft addition to its plant.” A New York Times article in the July 23, 1924 edition indicates that a fire caused $100,000 in losses to the United Smelting and Aluminum Company. This would sync with the move to that location by Botwinik Brothers who moved there from a New Haven location in August 1925. Botwinik was engaged in the business of brokering, and rebuilding new and used machinery.
|
 |
| Photo courtesy of Porce-Len Specrail (CLICK to enlarge) |
|
|
 |
| Author's Photo (CLICK to enlarge) |
|
|
An article in the Connecticut Business Journal, December 9, 2002, indicates the property was subsequently home to Meyer’s Company, a rigging operation, until 2002 when Porcelen Specrail, Inc. took over the property and rehabilitated the 76,000 square foot building.
As the German’s say, "Es war ein mal… Once upon a time … ," perhaps if you head down that way, on a still summer’s evening, you might catch the strains of an Oompah Band and lusty singing echoing forth. That movement just out of the corner of your eye just might be a group that is staying for one more nostalgic song, linking arms and swaying back and forth; schaukeln just like “back home."
A map site comparison shows the difference between 1934 and 2012.
|
 |
| 1934 Aerial View . . . . . . . . .(CLICK TO ENLARGE) . . . . . . . . .Satellite View - 2012 |
|
|
 |
| Close-up of 1934 Welton Street. The Schuetzen Park buildings can still be seen. |
|
|
Citations:
1. Eldredge, H. Wentworth. The New Haven German Community. A Field and historical Study of German-American Institutions and Group Life. Yale Ph.D. Dissertation, 1935. A Dissertation presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Yale University in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, 1935. [Note: all references to German language publications are from this dissertation.]
2. Ibid.
3. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-10-27/news/ct-per-flash-transport-1027-20131027_1_streetcars-first-trolley-chicago-transportation
4. http://metro.wikia.com/wiki/State_Street_Horse_Railroad_Company Comparison map: 1934 vs 2012: "Neighborhood Change in Connecticut, 1934 to Present." University of Connecticut Libraries Map and Geographic Information Center - MAGIC . Web. 19 Jun. 2012. <http://magic.lib.uconn.edu/otl/dualcontrol_aerialchange.html>.
|
|
