[ MUSIC ] >> THIS PROGRAM IS FUNDED UNDER A GRANT FROM THE LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES, A STATE AFFILIATE OF THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES AND THE WYES PRODUCERS CIRCLE, A GROUP OF GENEROUS CONTRIBUTORS DEDICATED TO THE SUPPORT OF CHANNEL 12'S LOCAL PRODUCTIONS.

[ MUSIC ] >> IN THE YEARS FOLLOWING THE CIVIL WAR, THERE WERE ABOUT 30,000 GERMANS LIVING IN NEW ORLEANS.

AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY, THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL INFLUENCE OF THE GERMAN CULTURE IN THE CITY REACHED A ZENITH EXPRESSED IN SONG AND STONE.

DURING WORLD WAR I, THE CURTAIN ON THIS GOLDEN AGE OF GERMAN ETHNICITY WOULD FALL WHEN, IN AN ACT OF ANTI-GERMAN HYSTERIA, THE LOUISIANA STATE LEGISLATURE PASSED ACT 114, WHICH MADE ALL THINGS GERMAN, INCLUDING THE LANGUAGE, ILLEGAL.

[ SINGING IN GERMAN ] THE CLIMATIC DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE NORTHERN EUROPEAN HOMELAND OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE AND THE SUB-TROPICS OF NEW ORLEANS WOULD SEEM TO BE REASON ENOUGH TO DISCOURAGE MASS GERMAN IMMIGRATION TO THIS CITY.

ADD THAT TO NEW ORLEANS' MEDITERRANEAN SENSIBILITIES AND THE MATCH BETWEEN PEOPLE AND PLACE SEEMS EVEN MORE UNLIKELY.

BUT, STILL, THE GERMANS CAME, IN WAVE AFTER WAVE, AND THEY BROUGHT WITH THEM SKILLS SO DESPERATELY NEEDED IN THE FLEDGLING COMMUNITY.

THROUGH THE YEARS, THEY FED THE CITY, THEY PAVED ITS STREETS, THEY ADDED A DIMENSION OF BEAUTY AND CHARM, AND ULTIMATELY, THEIR WORK ETHIC HELPED TRANSFORM NEW ORLEANS INTO A MODERN URBAN CENTER.

SO WHY, THEN, HAS THIS LONG AND ILLUSTRIOUS HISTORY OF GERMAN IN THE CRESCENT CITY BEEN LARGELY IGNORED?

THE FRANCO-SPANISH CULTURAL BIAS THAT PERVADES LOUISIANA HISTORY IS ONLY PART OF THE STORY.

ELLEN MERRILL, AUTHOR OF "THE GERMANS OF LOUISIANA".

>> I DISCOVERED THAT THE GERMAN HERITAGE OF NEW ORLEANS AND LOUISIANA HAS BEEN NOT ONLY OVERLOOKED BUT HAS BEEN CONSIDERED AN UNPLEASANT ASPECT BECAUSE OF THE TWO WORLD WARS.

ONLY IN THE, MAYBE, THE LAST 20 YEARS HAS SERIOUS RESEARCH BEEN DONE ABOUT THE GERMAN HERITAGE OF THIS AREA.

[ MUSIC ] >> A SMALL BUT HISTORICALLY IMPORTANT GROUP OF GERMANS WERE AMONG THE FIRST EUROPEANS TO COME TO LOUISIANA, LURED TO THE TERRITORY BY FRENCH PROMOTERS SOME EIGHT DECADES BEFORE THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE.

THE SAGA OF LES ALLEMANDS, THE GERMAN COAST, HAS ALL THE DRAMA AND INTRIGUE OF A BIG-SCREEN EPIC.

>> UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT, LOUISIANA NEEDED TO BE DEVELOPED, AND THEY NEEDED COLONISTS TO DEVELOP THE RICHES OF LOUISIANA, WHICH, UNFORTUNATELY, TURNED OUT NOT TO BE THERE.

IT WAS VERY DIFFICULT FOR THEM TO GET ANYONE TO WILLINGLY COME TO LOUISIANA.

AND, SO TO POPULATE THE TERRITORY, THEY CLEANED OUT THE JAILS.

>> THEY EMPTIED THE PRISONS AND THE HOUSES OF ILL REPUTE IN PARIS AND CHAINED PEOPLE UP AND EVEN HAD A BOUNTY TO BRING PEOPLE TO LOUISIANA.

>> INTO THE CHAOS THAT RESULTED FROM THIS MISGUIDED PLAN CAME A RATHER UNLIKELY VOICE OF REASON, A NOTORIOUS SCOTSMAN NAMED JOHN LAW.

>> HE WAS A MURDERER FOR ONE THING.

HE HAD TO LEAVE SCOTLAND BECAUSE OF A DUEL THAT HE'D GOTTEN INTO WHERE HE HAD KILLED THE HUSBAND OF THE WOMAN WITH WHOM HE WAS INVOLVED.

>> HE WAS A GAMBLER.

HE ALSO WAS VERY MUCH A BON VIVANT.

IN SOME PLACES, THEY THOUGHT HE WAS A BAD INFLUENCE.

IN VIENNA, THEY ORDERED HIM OUT OF THE CITY.

>> NEXT STOP, PARIS, WHERE LAW'S GAMBLING SPOILS ALLOWED HIM TO RUB SHOULDERS WITH PEOPLE OF INFLUENCE, PEOPLE WHO COULD MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN HIS LIFE, LIKE LOUIS PHILIPPE, THE DUKE D'ORLEANS, ACTING REGENT FOR HIS HIGHNESS, THE KING OF FRANCE, WHO WAS JUST FIVE YEARS OLD.

>> THE DUKE IS VERY TAKEN BY HIM AND HIS IDEAS AND ALL.

AND, AT THAT POINT, HE STARTS INTRODUCING IDEAS ABOUT THE ECONOMY OF FRANCE.

FRANCE HAD SOME TREMENDOUS DEBT, AND HE HAD THIS IDEA OF A BANK THAT ITS WEALTH WOULD BE BASED NOT JUST ON SPECIE, ON GOLD AND SILVER, BUT ALSO ON LAND.

AND, OF COURSE, THERE, IN COMES LOUISIANA.

LOUISIANA WAS GOING TO BE THIS LAND THAT THEY COULD ISSUE BANK NOTES ON.

>> HE WAS A VERY CHARMING MAN, AND HE TALKED THE DUKE D'ORLEANS INTO ESTABLISHING A COMPANY CALLED THE COMPANY OF THE INDIES, WHICH WAS TO POPULATE LOUISIANA.

SO, JOHN LAW, IN EUROPE, SENT AROUND RECRUITERS TO ALL PARTS OF CENTRAL EUROPE AND PARTICULARLY TO THE GERMANIC PARTS BECAUSE HE WANTED STABLE CITIZENS.

>> ENTICING PAMPHLETS WERE DISTRIBUTED TO GERMAN-SPEAKING PEOPLE ON BOTH SIDES OF THE RHINE, WHERE RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL STRIFE, NOT TO MENTION SEVERAL DEVASTATINGLY COLD WINTERS, HAD CREATED A CLIMATE OF DISCONTENT.

BACK IN FRANCE, EVERYONE OF MEANS WANTED A PIECE OF WHAT HAS COME TO BE KNOWN, HISTORICALLY, AS THE MISSISSIPPI BUBBLE.

AND BANKS SPRANG UP IN CITIES THROUGHOUT FRANCE.

SEEMINGLY, LAW HAD SINGLE-HANDEDLY CURED FRANCE'S ECONOMIC WOES.

>> IT SEEMED AS THOUGH HE HAD SOMETHING GOING VERY WELL FOR THEM UNTIL SOMEONE SAID, LET ME REDEEM MY NOTES FOR SPECIE.

AND, WHEN HE STARTED DOING THAT AND THEN A BANK RUN OCCURRED, HE SUDDENLY FOUND HIMSELF BANKRUPT AND HE HAD TO FLEE FRANCE.

>> IN THE MEANTIME, BY 1720, THE 4,000 OR SO GERMAN-SPEAKING IMMIGRANTS RECRUITED BY LAW HAD GATHERED IN THE FRENCH PORTS OF LAURENT AND PORT LOUIS.

WHILE THEY WAITED FOR UP TO A YEAR FOR THE SHIPS THAT WOULD TRANSPORT THEM TO LOUISIANA, CHOLERA AND PLAGUE KILLED THOUSANDS OF GERMANS.

>> THE ONES FOR LAW'S CONCESSIONS CAME BETWEEN MARCH OF 1721 TO SEPTEMBER 1721 ON SHIPS THAT WERE NICKNAMED THE PEST SHIPS BECAUSE THERE WAS SO MUCH PESTILENCE AND DEATH ON THOSE SHIPS.

>> ONCE THEY GOT TO LOUISIANA, AGAIN, NO PROVISIONS HAD BEEN MADE FOR THEM.

THEY WERE DUMPED ON THE BEACHES AROUND BILOXI AND ANOTHER HALF OF THEM DIED OF STARVATION.

>> WITH THEIR NUMBERS REDUCED TO A MERE FRACTION OF THE ORIGINAL GROUP, GOVERNOR BIENVILLE FINALLY INTERVENED AND SETTLED THE GROUP 30 MILES UPRIVER FROM NEW ORLEANS IN WHAT'S NOW ST. CHARLES PARISH.

THE FIRST CENSUS TAKEN ON THE GERMAN COAST IN 1722 INDICATES THERE WERE A MERE 257 GERMANS LIVING IN FOUR SETTLEMENTS LOCATED NEAR WHAT IS NOW THE NUCLEAR POWER PLANT IN TAFT, LOUISIANA.

DESPITE THE MANY HARDSHIPS THEY'D ENDURED, THIS SMALL BAND OF GERMANS IMMEDIATELY SET ABOUT FARMING, PRODUCING ENOUGH TO FEED THEIR FAMILIES AND A SURPLUS THAT FED THE 800 OR SO CITIZENS OF NEW ORLEANS.

>> THE GERMAN COAST REALLY SERVED AS THE BREADBASKET FOR NEW ORLEANS.

AND, IT'S VERY CLEAR THAT NEW ORLEANS, AS A CITY, WOULD NOT HAVE SURVIVED HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR THESE VERY INDUSTRIOUS GERMAN LABORERS UP ON THE COAST WHO WOULD BRING THEIR PRODUCE AND PRODUCTS IN PIROGUES DOWN TO WHAT'S NOT THE FRENCH MARKET AND SELL IT TO NEW ORLEANS.

>> THESE WERE A SMALL NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHEN YOU THINK OF -- WE HAVE, WHAT, 4 MILLION INHABITANTS OF LOUISIANA AND WE CAN ONLY GO BACK TO MAYBE 250 OF THESE ORIGINAL GERMANS.

BUT, YET, THEY LEFT A LOT OF DESCENDANTS.

>> MUCH OF WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THESE EARLY GERMANS IN LOUISIANA IS DUE TO THE SCHOLARSHIP OF J. HANNO DEILER, A PROFESSOR OF GERMAN AT THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA, WHICH WOULD LATER BECOME TULANE, WHO CAME TO NEW ORLEANS IN 1871 FROM BAVARIA.

>> HE INTRODUCED US TO THESE GERMAN PEOPLES, AND HE FOUND OUT THAT THEY WERE ASSIMILATED INTO THE FRENCH CULTURE, THAT THEIR NAMES BECAME ASSOCIATED WITH FRENCH NAMES.

AND PEOPLE THINK THEY'RE DESCENDED OF FRENCH RATHER THAN GERMANS.

A FEW EXAMPLES ARE TROXLER, WAS THE ORIGINAL GERMAN NAME.

IT'S TROSCLAIR TODAY.

VICKNER IS VICKNAIR.

ROMMEL IS ROME.

>> A VERY FAMOUS EXAMPLE, OF COURSE, IS THE LABRANCHE FAMILY.

LABRANCHE WAS A GERMAN.

HIS NAME WAS ZWEIG.

Z-W-E-I-G. NOW, ZWEIG GOT OFF THE BOAT, AS THE TRADITION SAYS, AND HE GAVE HIS NAME TO THE FRENCH CUSTOMS AGENT WHO COULD NOT SPELL THE NAME.

AND THE GERMAN, IN FRUSTRATION, REACHED DOWN ON THE WHARF AND PICKED UP A TWIG, HELD IT UP TO THE FRENCH CUSTOMS AGENT AND SAID, "ZWEIG".

AND THE AGENT RESPONDED, "AH, LABRANCHE".

[ MUSIC ] >> IN 1848, THE OVERTHROW OF THE FRENCH KING SPARKED REVOLUTION THROUGHOUT GERMANY BY HUNGRY PEASANTS, CRAFTSMEN SEEKING FREE TRADE AND LIBERALS DEMANDING A UNIFIED GERMANY.

WHEN THE UPRISINGS FAILED, MANY OF THE INTELLECTUALS AND THE ARTISAN INSURGENTS FLED THE COUNTRY.

THESE 48'ERS, AS THEY BECAME KNOWN, FLOODED INTO NEW ORLEANS, WHICH WAS THE SECOND LARGEST PORT OF EMBARKATION FOR THE UNITED STATES.

>> THEY WOULD GET ON BOATS IN BREMERHAVEN OR HAMBURG AND BE SENT TO EITHER NEW ORLEANS OR NEW YORK.

IT JUST DEPENDED UPON THE SHIP CAPTAIN AND WHERE HE THOUGHT HE COULD GET A RETURN LOAD FOR GOING BACK TO EUROPE.

>> AND, AS MANY AS 35,000 ARRIVED IN 1853 ALONE.

NOW, TO MEET THIS ONSLAUGHT OF ALL OF THESE GERMANS COMING IN, THOSE GERMANS THAT HAD SETTLED EARLIER AND WERE SUCCESSFUL IN THEIR BUSINESSES COLLECTED TOGETHER.

THEY MADE AN ASSOCIATION CALLED THE DEUTCHEN GESSELLSCHAFT VON NEW ORLEANS.

AND THIS GROUP ORGANIZED IN MAY OF 1847, AND THEY WOULD MEET THE IMMIGRANTS AS THEY ARRIVED IN THE AREA WHICH IS NOW WOLDENBERG PARK.

>> THE GERMAN SOCIETY OF NEW ORLEANS OFFERED PRACTICAL ADVICE TO THE IMMIGRANTS, FOUND HOMES FOR ORPHANED CHILDREN AND HELPED GERMANS WHO WERE HEADING WEST TO TEXAS OR NORTH UP TO MISSISSIPPI.

FOR THE IMMIGRANTS WHO WANTED TO MAKE NEW ORLEANS THEIR HOME, THE SOCIETY ACTED AS AN EMPLOYMENT AGENCY AND FRIEND.

MANY NEW ORLEANIANS CAN TRACE THEIR GERMAN ROOTS TO THIS MID-19TH CENTURY WAVE.

>> MY FAMILY, I GUESS, IS A RELATIVE NEWCOMER.

WE'VE ONLY BEEN HERE SOME 150 YEARS.

AT SOME TIME IN EARLY 1847, I THINK THEY WERE LURED BY PROMISES TO COME TO AMERICA AND HAVE A BETTER LIFE.

MY GREAT AUNT MARY WAS ACTUALLY BORN IN FRANCE BEFORE BOARDING THE SHIP, THE FRENCH SHIP ANNA, OUT OF LAHAVRE.

AND MY GREAT GRANDMOTHER, SALOME MAY, WAS APPARENTLY WAS PREGNANT WHEN SHE LEFT GERMANY.

SO YOU HAD SEVEN CHILDREN, A PREGNANT WIFE, A CHILD BORN IN FRANCE AND THEN YOU WAITED 12 TO 15 MONTHS TO FIND A SHIP THAT WOULD TAKE YOU TO THE PROMISED LAND.

[ MUSIC ] >> IN NEW ORLEANS, THE GERMANS SETTLED INTO SELF-CONTAINED NEIGHBORHOODS WITH THEIR COUNTRYMEN.

>> WITH THIS INFLUX OF GERMANS IN THE 19TH CENTURY BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR, THREE SETTLEMENTS DEVELOPED.

ONE WAS BELOW CANAL STREET, ACTUALLY BELOW WHAT IS NOW MARIGNY, AND ALL THE WAY TO WHAT IS NOW THE INDUSTRIAL CANAL.

AND IT WAS CALLED LITTLE SAXONY.

ORIGINALLY, IT HAD BEEN CALLED THE BREWERY.

>> WHEN I WAS GOING UP, IT WAS ONE OF THE NEIGHBORHOODS OF NEW ORLEANS.

IT WAS THE 9TH WARD.

AND, IT WASN'T UNTIL LATER THAT I BEGAN TO REALIZE ALL OF THE GERMAN INFLUENCE.

HOLY TRINITY WAS THE GERMAN NATIONAL CATHOLIC CHURCH.

THERE WAS ST. PAUL'S LUTHERAN, WHICH WAS ONE OF THE FIRST GERMAN EVANGELICAL CHURCHES IN THE AREA.

THE STORES, THE MERCHANTS WERE GERMAN, LEONARD'S DEPARTMENT STORE AND SACKS DRY GOODS.

SCHWEGMANN'S GROCERY WAS THE ORIGINAL SITE.

ZANGER MEAT MARKET, KRANTZ'S HARDWARE.

>> OTHER GERMANS SETTLED UPRIVER IN THE CITY OF LAFAYETTE.

ALTHOUGH THIS AREA IS KNOWN TODAY AS THE IRISH CHANNEL, IN 1850, 40% OF THE POPULATION WAS GERMAN.

>> THE AREA AROUND JACKSON AVENUE HAD EVERYTHING OF A LITTLE NEIGHBORHOOD.

IT HAD A FERRY STOP.

IT HAD POLICE STATIONS.

THEY HAD SMALL LOTS THAT BASICALLY APPEALED TO THE WORKING CLASS.

IT WAS AN AREA WHERE THEY HAD THE DOCK WORKERS AND THEY HAD THE LIVESTOCK YARDS.

AND SO IT WAS JUST A NICE LITTLE SMALL PLACE WHERE THE BOURGEOISIE FROM EUROPE WOULD FEEL COMFORTABLE.

>> AS GERMANS MADE HOME FOR THEMSELVES IN LAFAYETTE, A SISTER CITY WAS BEING ESTABLISHED DIRECTLY ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.

FRANK EHRET KNOWS THE HISTORY.

HIS GRANDFATHER, JOHN EHRET, WAS THE FIRST MAYOR OF WHAT WOULD BECOME GRETNA.

>> GRETNA WAS SETTLED BY THE GERMANS.

WAY BACK, IT WASN'T NAME GRETNA.

IT WAS CALLED MECHANIKHAM AND HOW THE GERMANS GOT THAT SECTION OF MECHANIKHAM WAS NOELLE DESTREHAN OWNED BELLE PLANTATION, WHICH WAS WHERE HARVEY CANAL IS TODAY AND ALL THE WAY TO BARATARIA BOULEVARD AND EIGHT MILES DEEP.

IT WAS THE BELLE PLANTATION.

AND HE WANTED A BIG DITCH DUG CONNECTING BAYOU BARATARIA TO THE RIVER IN 1833.

AND HE DIDN'T WANT TO KILL HIS SLAVES DOING IT, SO HE HIRED THE GERMANS IN GRETNA TO DIG IT WITH WOODEN SHOVELS.

AND, FOR THAT, HE GAME THEM LAND IN GRETNA.

>> THE GERMAN IMMIGRANTS WHO SETTLED IN GRETNA WERE MECHANICS FOR THE MOST PART ON THE RAILROAD AND ENGINEERS.

MY AUNT ALWAYS SAID THAT EVERYONE JUST ABOUT IN GRETNA WAS RELATED, EITHER BY BLOOD OR BY MARRIAGE.

THESE GERMAN IMMIGRANTS HAD EIGHT AND NINE AND 10 KIDS.

THE 100 KIDS OF ONE FAMILY WOULD ALL INTERMARRY WITH THE MANY CHILDREN OF ANOTHER IMMIGRANT FAMILY.

AND THAT'S HOW THE RELATIONSHIPS DEVELOPED.

>> THE THIRD SETTLEMENT WAS AT THE BEND OF THE RIVER, CARROLLTON, AND IT DEVELOPED MORE SLOWLY.

THE GERMANS THERE MOSTLY WERE INVOLVED IN THE TIMBER INDUSTRY AND ALSO IN THE RESORT INDUSTRY.

THAT AREA HAD BEEN DEVELOPED AS A RESORT AREA IN THE 1830'S FOR WEALTHY NEW ORLEANIANS.

AND THERE WAS A BEAUTIFUL HOTEL AND LOVELY GARDENS AND GERMANS CONTRIBUTED GREATLY TO THAT AREA.

THAT'S WHERE THEY HAD A LOT OF THEIR DAIRY FARMS.

>> IN 1881, A GROUP OF DEVOUT CATHOLICS SEEKING FREEDOM FROM THE OFFICIALLY DECREED LUTHERANISM OF NORTHERN GERMANY ESTABLISHED ROBERTS COVE, A RICE FARMING COMMUNITY WEST OF LAFAYETTE.

BROUGHT FROM GERMANY BY FATHER LEONHARD THEVIS OF HOLY TRINITY CHURCH IN NEW ORLEANS, THESE COLONISTS ESTABLISHED A THOROUGHLY GERMAN WORLD IN THE MIDDLE OF FRENCH ACADIA.

>> IT'S A WORLD FOR THEMSELVES.

WE WERE ISOLATED FROM EVERYBODY.

WE ONLY HAD PRIVATE SCHOOLS.

WE DIDN'T GO OUT TO ANY OTHER SCHOOLS.

WE HAD OUR OWN LITTLE PARTIES.

WE HAD HOUSE PARTIES OR IN A WAREHOUSE, DANCES IN A WAREHOUSE.

THAT DAD WOULD PLAY A RECORDING OR SOMETHING.

IT REALLY WAS CLOSELY KNIT.

AND ALL GERMANS.

WHEN THE FIRST ONE MARRIED A FRENCH GIRL, BOY, THAT WAS SOMETHING.

THAT CHIPPED MY BEEF.

>> BECAUSE OF THE SETTLEMENT'S PHYSICAL ISOLATION, ROBERTS COVE RETAINED ITS TEUTONIC HERITAGE INTO THE 20TH CENTURY, EVEN SCHOOLING THEIR CHILDREN THE GERMAN LANGUAGE UNTIL 1922.

GERMAN IS STILL SPOKEN BY OLDER MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY AND THE FAMILIES OF ROBERTS COVER STILL GATHER ON DECEMBER 5TH TO CELEBRATE THE EVE OF ST. NICHOLAS IN OLD WORLD STYLE.

>> THEY GO TO ABOUT 10 TO 15 HOMES AT NIGHT ON THE 5TH OF DECEMBER.

AND, IN THESE HOMES, IT'S JUST PACKED WITH PEOPLE, CHILDREN AND ADULTS.

AND, IF THEY WERE GOOD, THEY GET CANDY.

OF COURSE, THEY ALL WERE GOOD TO HAVE A BAG.

AND, WHILE THEY'RE DOING THIS, THE CHOIR SINGS THE CHRISTMAS CAROLS, MOSTLY IN GERMAN.

IT'S REALLY A BIG FAMILY GATHERING.

>> EACH OF THESE COMMUNITIES WAS A LITTLE GERMANY.

>> THEY HAD THEIR OWN CHURCH CONGREGATIONS, WHICH WAS THE FIRST INSTITUTION THAT THEY ESTABLISHED BECAUSE THEY WANTED TO PRESERVE THE LANGUAGE AND THEY WANTED THEIR CHILDREN TO BE ABLE TO WORSHIP IN THE SAME LANGUAGE THAT THEY DID IN GERMANY.

>> THE GERMANS WERE VERY PROUD OF THEIR HERITAGE AND WANTED TO HAVE BEAUTIFUL ESTABLISHMENTS IN THE SENSE OF BUILDING FOR THEIR CHILDREN AND FOR THE PEOPLE COMING AFTER THEM.

THE GERMAN CHURCHES WERE MOSTLY DESIGNED BY GERMAN ARCHITECTS.

>> A NUMBER OF GERMAN ARCHITECTS WERE AMONG THE ARTISANS WHO CAME TO NEW ORLEANS IN THE 19TH CENTURY.

ONE OF THE MOST PROLIFIC OF THESE MEN WAS CHARLES LEWIS HILLGER WHO CAME TO NEW ORLEANS IN THE EARLY 1850'S.

A LIBERAL, HILLGER LEFT THE CITY DURING THE CIVIL WAR.

SOME OF HIS MOST VIGOROUS WORK WAS DONE AFTER HIS RETURN IN 1865.

>> THE GERMAN CITIZENS THAT HE HAD KNOWN BEFORE THE WAR HAD ACQUIRED WEALTH AND THE WHEREWITHAL.

THEY HAD BECOME SUCCESSFUL MERCHANTS.

HE BUILT FINE HOUSES FOR THESE PEOPLE SUCH AS JULIUS WEISS, WHO HAD A HOUSE ON THE SITE OF THE TRINITY PLAYGROUND.

>> BESIDES CREATING LITTLE PALACES FOR THE NEW IMMIGRANTS, HILLGER BECAME KNOWN AS THE PRE-EMINENT GERMAN CHURCH ARCHITECT, DESIGNING HOUSES OF WORSHIP FOR ALMOST EVERY RELIGIOUS ORDER.

>> PROBABLY THE MOST OUTSTANDING AND REALLY THE SADDEST LOSS THAT WE HAVE HAD IN RECENT YEARS WAS THE TEMPLE SINAI, WHICH WAS THIS TWIN STEEPLE CONSTRUCTION THAT RESEMBLED A GERMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IN SCHOENBURG.

IT WAS DONE FOR A JEWISH CONGREGATION BY AN ARCHITECT THAT WAS PROTESTANT.

>> ANOTHER ARCHITECT TO HELP SHAPE THE FACE OF THE CITY AND WHO ALSO WORKED WITHIN THE GERMAN COMMUNITY WAS WILLIAM FITZNER, HILLGER'S YOUNGER BROTHER-IN-LAW.

>> WILLIAM FITZNER BECAME THE ARCHITECT FOR THE GERMAN ESTABLISHMENT.

AND HE DID EVERYTHING THAT YOU CONSIDER FOR THE GOOD LIFE.

HE DID A NUMBER OF BREWERIES, HE DID THE COSMOPOLITAN HOTEL, WHICH STILL STANDS IN THE 100 BLOCK OF ROYAL STREET.

IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE SCENE OF POLITICIANS MEETING AND MAKING AND BREAKING OF DEALS AND THINGS OF THAT SORT.

>> FITZNER DID OVER 100 BUILDINGS IN NEW ORLEANS: WAREHOUSES, COMMERCIAL EMPORIUMS AND SEVERAL BUILDINGS IN STORYVILLE, WHICH POINTS TO AN INTERESTING LINK BETWEEN THE GERMAN BREWING INDUSTRY AND THE NOTORIOUS RED LIGHT DISTRICT.

>> THERE WAS A GREAT CONNECTION BETWEEN THE GERMAN COMMUNITY AND THE CREATION OF STORYVILLE.

THE AREA AROUND WHERE STORYVILLE WAS, WAS AN AREA WHERE GERMANS EVIDENTLY HAD BOUGHT PROPERTY.

THEY HAD RENTAL PROPERTIES THERE.

FITZNER HAD ACTUALLY DESIGNED HOUSES FOR PEOPLE IN THAT NEIGHBORHOOD.

THERE WAS SOMEONE NAMED EDWARD SCHLETER.

HE HAD ONE OF THE BREWERIES.

AND HE SOLD SOME OF THE PROPERTY TO TOM ANDERSON, WHO WAS THE MAYOR OF STORYVILLE.

SCHLETER FINANCED THE BUILDING OF HIS CHOPHOUSE.

FITZNER DESIGNED TOM ANDERSON'S CHOPHOUSE.

HE DESIGNED JOSIE ARLINGTON'S BROTHEL, TOO.

I THINK THERE WAS SOME DECLINE IN THE BREWERIES, AND IT SEEMS COINCIDENTAL AT THE TIME THAT ALL OF A SUDDEN THIS AREA BECAME THE LEGALIZED PROSTITUTION AREA.

>> AS A PARTNER TO THE IRISH ARCHITECT HENRY HOWARD, GERMAN ARCHITECT ALBERT DIETTEL PRODUCED A HUGE VOLUME OF WORK, BOTH WITHIN AND OUTSIDE OF THE GERMAN COMMUNITY.

DIETTEL IS BEST KNOWN AS THE ARCHITECT FOR ST. MARY'S ASSUMPTION CHURCH, A GERMAN BAROQUE STRUCTURE WITH OUTSTANDING BRICK DETAILS.

>> ALBERT DIETTEL DESIGNED ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST, MODELED AFTER A CHURCH IN HIS HOMETOWN OF DRESDEN, GERMANY.

AND, WHEN YOU SEE IMAGES OF THEM SIDE BY SIDE, YOU CAN TELL THAT THEY ARE PRETTY CLOSE.

AND YOU CAN SEE THE GERMAN INFLUENCE IN THAT.

>> BRIEFLY IN PARTNERSHIP WITH DIETTEL WAS ANOTHER NOTEWORTHY GERMAN ARCHITECT, WILLIAM THIEL.

>> HE DID THE TURNER HALL, WHICH STILL STANDS, AND THAT WAS FOR THE TURNER SOCIETY, THE TURNVERIENE, WHICH WAS A LIBERAL GERMAN GROUP WHERE THEY DID GYMNASTICS AND SOCIAL FUNCTIONS AND THINGS OF THAT SORT.

>> ALTHOUGH THEY HAVE NOT YET RECEIVED THE RECOGNITION THEY'RE DUE, THESE AND OTHER 19TH CENTURY GERMAN ARCHITECTS WORKING IN NEW ORLEANS LEFT THEIR DISTINCTIVE MARK ON THE CITY.

>> AMONG OTHER THINGS, I THINK THEY INTRODUCED A HIGH STANDARD OF CRAFTSMANSHIP.

THERE'S A VIVACITY TO THE BUILDINGS.

THEY EXPRESSED THE PROSPERITY OF THEIR CLIENTS AND WHO HAD COME OVER WITH NOT THAT MUCH AND HAD BUILT UP SO MUCH AND THE OPTIMISM THAT THEY HAD.

>> IN TERMS OF CITY IMPROVEMENT, ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT GERMANS TO COME TO NEW ORLEANS WAS FRITZ JAHNCKE, WHO MIGRATED TO NEW YORK AFTER SERVING IN THE GERMAN ARMY DURING THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR.

JAHNCKE CAME TO NEW ORLEANS IN 1872 TO FILL A SIDEWALK CONTRACT FOR HIS NEW YORK EMPLOYERS, SCHILLINGER PATEN CONCRETE.

LOCAL ARCHITECT, DAVIS LEE JAHNCKE, IS FRITZ JAHNCKE'S GREAT GRANDSON.

>> HE WAS IN NEW ORLEANS AT EXACTLY THE RIGHT TIME.

1872 WAS THE YEAR OF THE END OF RECONSTRUCTION HERE, SO THERE WAS A BIG CHANGE IN THE ECONOMY AND THE OUTLOOK FOR THE CITY.

THERE WAS A BIG UPSURGE OF INTEREST IN IMPROVING THE COMMUNITY AND PAVING THE STREETS AND SIDEWALKS WAS CERTAINLY A PART OF THAT.

SO FRITZ WAS WITH THIS CONCRETE PATENT, LAID ALL OF THE FIRST SIDEWALKS AND STREETS IN THE CITY.

>> BY 1875, FRITZ JAHNCKE HAD GONE INTO BUSINESS FOR HIMSELF AND HIS CONCRETE COMPANY BECAME THE LARGEST IN THE CITY, SUPPLYING THE MATERIAL FOR SOME OF THE CITY'S LANDMARKS INCLUDING LEE CIRCLE, THE HIBERNIA BANK BUILDING, TULANE STADIUM AND THE INTERNATIONAL TRADE MART.

JAHNCKE QUICKLY EXPANDED THE BUSINESS AND BECAME A LEADING IMPORTER OF BUILDING MATERIALS.

HE BOUGHT A SHIPYARD IN MADISONVILLE WHERE HE BUILT BARGES TO TRANSPORT MATERIAL UP THE NEW BASIN CANAL AND STARTED MANUFACTURING HIS OWN MATERIALS.

>> IT'S SOMETHING I'M VERY PROUD OF.

FRITZ JAHNCKE HAD COME TO NEW ORLEANS IN 1872, WAS IN BUSINESS FOR HIMSELF BY 1875, YET HAD REACHED A POSITION IN THE CITY AS A BUSINESSMAN AND SOCIALLY THAT HIS OLDEST SON ERNEST WAS A DUKE IN REX IN 1904 AND 1905.

FRITZ JAHNCKE DIED IN 1911.

IRONICALLY, HE HAD JUST RETIRED FROM HIS BUSINESS AND HE HAD TURNED IT OVER TO HIS THREE SONS.

AND HE AND HIS WIFE WERE TAKING A CRUISE TO HAVANA AND WHILE THEY WERE VISITING THERE, HE HAD A STROKE ON THE STREET IN HAVANA.

>> FRITZ JAHNCKE'S SONS RAN JAHNCKE SERVICES UNTIL 1969 WHEN THE COMPANY WAS DISMANTLED.

DURING WORLD WAR I, THE COMPANY RECEIVED A CONTRACT FROM THE NAVY TO BUILD TROOP SHIPS AT THE MADISONVILLE SHIPYARD.

>> AND WITH SO MUCH OF THE FAMILY BUSINESS TO DO WITH DREDGING AND BRINGING IN MATERIALS FROM ACROSS THE LAKE, IT WAS NATURAL THAT THEY HAD NUMEROUS SAILBOATS, AS WELL AS YACHTS THAT WE USED FOR PLEASURE BUT ALSO FOR BUSINESS.

>> DAVIS LEE JAHNCKE SPENT WEEKENDS WITH HIS GRANDPARENTS ON THE AUNT DONNA, A LUXURIOUS HOUSEBOAT WHERE THEY WOULD HOST DINNERS AND PARTIES ON THE LAKE.

THE 150-FOOT CONVERTED RIVERBOAT BOASTED A LIVING ROOM WITH A BRICK FIREPLACE AND A DINING ROOM THAT COULD SEAT 24 PEOPLE.

>> I FELT WHEN I WAS GROWING UP WITHOUT REALLY BEING TOLD THAT IT WAS IMPORTANT TO WORK HARD AND TO GIVE TO THE COMMUNITY.

I HAD A VERY STRONG SENSE THAT I NEEDED TO DO SOMETHING IN MY GENERATION TO LIVE UP TO WHAT PREVIOUS GENERATIONS HAD DONE.

[ MUSIC ] >> SOMEONE ONCE ASKED ME WHAT WERE THE GERMANS DOING IN NEW ORLEANS.

AND MY REPLY WAS THEY WERE BAKING BREAK AND DIGGING DITCHES AND PASTURING CONGREGATIONS AND BURYING THE DEAD.

THEY WERE BANKING MONEY, THEY WERE INTO ALMOST EVERY TRADE POSSIBLE.

>> SINCE THE MAJORITY OF GERMANS COULD NOT READ ENGLISH, THERE WAS A HUGE MARKET FOR GERMAN LANGUAGE PUBLICATIONS IN NEW ORLEANS.

A NUMBER OF LARGE DAILY AND WEEKLY NEWSPAPERS COVERED BOTH LOCAL NEWS AND EVENTS IN GERMANY.

THOUGH MOST OF THE PUBLICATIONS WERE SHORT-LIVED, THE DEUTSCHE ZEITUNG STAYED IN BUSINESS FROM 1848 TO 1907.

THE LARGEST GROUP OF FOREIGN SPEAKING PEOPLE IN NEW ORLEANS FROM 1848 TO 1900, GERMANS MAY HAVE ALSO BEEN THE HARDEST WORKING SEGMENT OF THE POPULATION TO THE POINT THAT "IT TAKES A GERMAN TO DO IT" BECAME A NEW ORLEANS SAYING FOR ACCOMPLISHING THE NEAR IMPOSSIBLE.

THE LATE SCHOLAR JOHN F. NAU WROTE THAT THE FIRST LOVE OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE IS WORK.

THERE ARE COUNTLESS SUCCESS STORIES IN NEW ORLEANS TO BACK UP THIS ASSERTION.

GERMAN IMMIGRANTS ENTERED ALMOST EVERY TRADE AND PROFESSION IN THE CITY AND FREQUENTLY BEAT OUT THE NATIVE COMPETITION.

ONE SOLIDLY GERMAN ENTERPRISE WAS THE BEER INDUSTRY.

>> THE FRENCH PRIMARILY DRANK WINE.

THAT WAS THE BEVERAGE OF MOST OF NEW ORLEANS UNTIL THE GERMANS INTRODUCED BEER.

>> THE GERMANS PLAYED A MAJOR PART IN THE BREWING INDUSTRY IN NEW ORLEANS.

THEY BROUGHT THE LAGER BEER, WHICH REALLY WAS AN INNOVATION AT THE TIME.

BECAUSE, AT THE TIME, THEY HAD DAY BEER THAT YOU'D HAVE TO DRINK IT RIGHT AWAY OR IT WOULD GO BAD.

AND SO THEY WOULD SEND, THE OLDEST SONG, USUALLY, WOULD GO WITH THE BUCKET TO PICK UP THE BEER AND BRING IT HOME FOR SUPPER.

>> THE FIRST LARGE BREWERY IN NEW ORLEANS, THE SOUTHERN BREWERY, WAS BUILT IN 1882.

THE INDUSTRY CONTINUED TO GROW AND, BY 1885, THERE WERE 10 MAJOR LOCAL BREWERIES PRODUCING 125,000 BARRELS OF BEER ANNUALLY.

ONE OF THE LARGEST ENTERPRISES WAS THE JACKSON BREWERY, WHICH WAS ESTABLISHED BY THE FABACHER FAMILY IN 1890.

BEFORE THE BREWERY WAS SOLD IN 1970, LARRY FABACHER WORKING IN THE BUSINESS STARTED BY HIS GREAT-GREAT GRANDFATHER JOSEPH AND HIS GREAT GRANDFATHER LAWRENCE.

>> THE JAX OPERATION WAS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE FRENCH QUARTER, AND IT WAS A RELATIVELY UNUSUAL PLACE TO WORK.

IT WAS ACTUALLY WRITTEN INTO THE UNION CONTRACTS THAT A WORKER WOULD GET X NUMBER OF BEERS PER SHIFT.

EACH DEPARTMENT HAD ITS OWN KEG AND IT HAD ITS OWN KITCHEN.

>> THE BREWERY, AS WE KNOW IT TODAY, IS A MERE FRACTION OF THE COMPLEX OF BUILDINGS AND HOUSES THAT ONCE DOMINATED THE RIVERFRONT.

>> THE BREWERY EXTENDED FROM JACKSON SQUARE RIGHT TO THE EDGE OF WHERE WE'RE SITTING TODAY ON CANAL PLACE.

AND, IF YOU WORKED THERE, YOU WORKED UP AND DOWN DECATUR AND SOUTH PETERS.

AND WE HAD THE BREW HOUSE AND THE BOTTLE SHOP AND THE WAREHOUSE AND ALL THESE DIFFERENT OUTFITS THAT ONE COULD WORK IN.

>> JOSEPH FABACHER IMMIGRATED TO NEW ORLEANS FROM BAVARIA BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR, AND IN 1870, FOUNDED A GERMAN FARMING COMMUNITY IN SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA.

FABACHER RETURNED TO NEW ORLEANS WITH HIS LARGE FAMILY IN 1879 AND WENT INTO THE RESTAURANT AND HOTEL BUSINESS WITH HIS SON LAWRENCE.

THEY BECAME PROPRIETORS OF ONE OF NEW ORLEANS' MOST POPULAR RESTAURANTS: FABACHER'S ON ROYAL STREET IN THE FRENCH QUARTER.

THE FAMILY'S PROSPECTS ROSE CONSIDERABLY IN THE BREWING INDUSTRY.

THE LARGEST BREWERY IN THE SOUTH AT ITS HEIGHT, JACKSON BREWERY EMPLOYED UP TO 400 PEOPLE AND SOLD A MILLION BARRELS OF BEER A YEAR.

THE BREWERY SPENT A SMALL FORTUNE ON TELEVISION COMMERCIALS.

A SERIES OF CARTOONS FEATURING THE VOICES OF MIKE NICHOLS AND ELAINE MAY WERE LOCAL FAVORITES.

>> BARTENDER.

>> YES, MA'AM.

>> BARTENDER, ARE YOU MAKING FUN OF ME?

>> NO, MA'AM, I WOULDN'T DO THAT.

I WOULDN'T MAKE FUN OF YOU.

>> IN ANOTHER JAX BEER SPOT, A PRE-MASH MCLEAN STEVENSON ADDS HIS COMEDIC TOUCH.

[ MUSIC ] JOSEPH BUILT FABACHER'S ROW, A SERIES OF DUPLEXES ON PRYTANIA STREET WHILE LAWRENCE CONSTRUCTED A MANSION THAT TOOK UP AN ENTIRE BLOCK ON ST. CHARLES AVENUE.

>> THAT'S WHAT, IN MY FAMILY, WAS ALWAYS REFERRED TO AS "THE BIG HOUSE".

THE GOSSIP WAS THAT IT WAS DESIGNED BY A FAMOUS ARCHITECT, STANFORD WHITE AND WAS NOTABLE FOR MANY THINGS, NOT THE LEAST OF WHICH IT HAD ITS OWN DAIRY.

IT HAD ITS OWN GYMNASIUM.

IT HAD A SALTWATER SWIMMING POOL.

IT HAD ITS OWN ORCHARD.

>> THE DEPRESSION AND PROHIBITION FORCED THE BREWERY TO SWITCH TO SOFT DRINK PRODUCTION.

THAT TOOK ITS TOLL ON THE FAMILY'S FORTUNE AND THE FABACHER'S PUT THE HOUSE ON THE MARKET.

WITH NO PROSPECTIVE BUYERS, THE FABACHER MANSION AT 5705 ST. CHARLES WAS DEMOLISHED AND THE FIVE-ACRE LOT WAS DIVIDED TO ACCOMMODATE SEVERAL LESS OSTENTATIOUS HOMES.

LIKE THE BREWING OF BEER, THE BAKING OF BREAD IS SERIOUS BUSINESS FOR GERMANS, WHO EAT AN AVERAGE OF 185 POUNDS OF BREAD PER PERSON EACH YEAR.

IN THE MIDDLE AGES, BAKERS WERE PART OF THE GUILD SYSTEM AND HAD TO PASS A MASTERS EXAMINATION IN ORDER TO EARN THEIR BAKING CERTIFICATE.

IN NEW ORLEANS, THE STAFF OF LIFE IS FRENCH BREAD BUT THAT TERM IS REALLY A MISNOMER SINCE IT'S PRIMARILY GERMANS WHO HAVE BEEN MAKING THE CITY'S FAMOUS BREAD SINCE THE 19TH CENTURY.

LOUISIANA'S LARGEST FRENCH BREAD BAKERY WAS FOUNDED BY THE GERMAN-BORN GRANDFATHER OF COMPANY PRESIDENT ROBERT WHANN, III.

>> HE CAME OVER IN THE MIDDLE 1800'S.

HIS NAME WAS GEORGE H. LEIDENHEIMER, AND HE WAS MY GRANDFATHER.

HE DECIDED TO COME HERE, I THINK, PRIMARILY, BECAUSE THERE WAS A RELATIVELY LARGE GERMAN POPULATION IN NEW ORLEANS AT THAT TIME.

IN FACT, IT'S VERY STRANGE THAT MOST OF THE FRENCH BREAD BAKERS WERE EITHER ITALIAN OR GERMAN.

THERE WERE OVER 200 FRENCH BREAD BAKERS IN THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS.

AND NOW THERE ARE ONLY REALLY FIVE SIGNIFICANT FRENCH BREAD BAKERS.

>> GEORGE LEIDENHEIMER STARTED THE BAKERY ON THE CORNER OF DRYADES AND MELPOMENE RENAMED MARTIN LUTHER KING BOULEVARD.

IN 1905, HE MOVED THE BUSINESS A FEW BLOCKS TO THE BAKERY'S CURRENT LOCATION ON SIMON BOLIVAR AVENUE.

WHANN'S GRANDFATHER WHO ALSO SERVED ON THE BOARD OF THE GERMAN TEUTONIA BANK ON DRYADES STREET STARTED THE FRENCH BREAD BAKING PROCESS EVERY DAY AT 3:00 A. M. >> IN NEW ORLEANS, IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN AND STILL IS, BASICALLY, A WHITE SLICE BREAD OR FRENCH BREAD CITY.

I WOULD IMAGINE THAT'S A RECIPE THAT'S BEEN HANDED DOWN IN HIS FAMILY BECAUSE WAY BACK IN THE 1700'S ONE OF HIS ANCESTORS, IN FACT, I THINK IT WAS HE GREAT-GREAT-GREAT GRANDFATHER, WAS A CERTIFIED MASTER BAKER.

>> LEIDENHEIMER BREAD IS STILL BAKED ON A OPEN HEARTH, A PROCESS THAT PRODUCES ITS SIGNATURE CRISPY CRUST AND AIRY CENTER.

THOUGH THE PRODUCT IS THE SAME, BEHIND-THE-SCENES IMPROVEMENTS HAVE ALLOWED THE BUSINESS TO GROW AND PROSPER.

GENERATIONS OF NEW ORLEANIANS GREW UP MAKING GROCERIES SCHWEGMANN STYLE.

AT ITS PEAK, THERE WERE NEARLY 50 SCHWEGMANN SUPERMARKETS IN LOUISIANA, MISSISSIPPI AND ALABAMA.

AND THE CHAIN EMPLOYED OVER 7,000 EMPLOYEES.

IT WAS THE GERMAN GREAT GRANDFATHER OF JOHN F. SCHWEGMANN WHO OPENED THE CORNER STORE THAT LAUNCHED THE FAMILY IN THE GROCERY BUSINESS.

>> WE BELIEVE THAT HE CAME OVER IN THE 1850'S.

WE BELIEVE THAT HE CAME FROM HANNOVER, GERMANY.

HE WAS EITHER DRAFTED OR JOINED THE UNION ARMY SOON AFTER COMING AND FOUND HIMSELF STATIONED IN NEW ORLEANS.

THEN, WHEN THE WAR ENDED, HE STAYED IN NEW ORLEANS AND OPENED A SMALL MOM AND POP GROCERY STORE ON THE CORNER OF PIETY AND BURGUNDY.

>> JOHN F. SCHWEGMANN'S FATHER, JOHN SCHWEGMANN, WAS THE BACKBONE OF THE FAMILY BUSINESS, WHICH HE PURCHASED FROM HIS UNCLES, WHO WERE NOT INTERESTED IN THE GROCERY BUSINESS.

>> MY FATHER WAS THE FIRST SCHWEGMANN TO CONVERT THE STORE FROM FULL-SERVICE WHERE YOU HAD TO POINT OUT AND ASK FOR SOMETHING BEHIND THE COUNTER AND THEN THEY WOULD RETRIEVE IT AND MAYBE TAKE A LONG POLE AND KNOCK A BOX OR A CAN OR SOMETHING OFF THE SHELF AND CATCH IT AND GIVE IT TO YOU.

AND CONVERTED THAT TO SELF-SERVICE.

>> IN 1946, THE FAMILY OPENED ITS FIRST SCHWEGMANN'S SUPERMARKET AT THE CORNER OF ST. CLAUDE IN ELYSIAN FIELDS.

AS THE CHAIN EXPANDED, SCHWEGMANN'S FATHER MADE INNOVATIONS THAT REVOLUTIONIZED THE GROCERY BUSINESS.

>> I DON'T WANT TO SAY THAT JUST THE SCHWEGMANN'S OR JUST GERMANS ARE UNIQUE IN THIS WAY, BUT MY FATHER WAS EXTREMELY DRIVEN.

HIS LIFE, HIS DRIVE, EVERYTHING WAS ALL GEARED TOWARD THE EXPANSION OF HIS BUSINESS.

MY FATHER DRILLED INTO ME A CERTAIN WORK ETHIC.

I REMEMBER, IF HE WOULD CALL ME AT HOME AND IF IT WAS MUCH BEFORE 9:00 AT NIGHT OR SO, HE WOULD SAY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HOME SO EARLY?

>> THE SCHWEGMANN'S SOLD THE BUSINESS IN 1997 TO A FAMILY FROM NEW YORK.

ABOUT TWO YEARS LATER, THE NEW OWNERS FILED FOR BANKRUPTCY AND A LOCAL INSTITUTION WAS LOST FOREVER.

WHILE SOME GERMAN BUSINESSES TOOK CARE OF THE NEEDS OF THEIR KINSMEN IN LIFE, OTHERS CARVED OUT A COMMERCIAL NICHE SERVING THEM IN DEATH.

>> WE HAVE A NUMBER OF GERMAN FUNERAL HOMES LIKE SCHOEN AND MUHLEISEN.

AND THESE PEOPLE DIDN'T START OFF THAT WAY.

THESE PEOPLE WERE DRAYERS.

THEY HAD A WAGON AND A HORSE.

WHEN A PERSON DIED, THEY HAD TO GET THEM FROM THEIR HOME TO THEIR BURIAL AREA.

AND SO THE DRAYERS WERE HIRED TO DO JUST THAT.

AND, EVENTUALLY, IT BECAME SUCH A COMMON THING THAT THEY BECAME UNDERTAKERS.

>> JOHANN BULTMAN'S FAMILY OWNED BULTMAN FUNERAL HOME FOR FIVE GENERATIONS BEGINNING IN 1883.

THE BUSINESS WAS ACTUALLY FOUNDED BY MAGDALENA BULTMAN, THE WIDOW OF ANTON, WHO ARRIVED IN NEW ORLEANS IN 1845 FROM OLDENBURG GERMANY.

>> MAGDALENA WAS LEFT A WIDOW WITH A VERY YOUNG CHILD.

SHE MOVED ABOVE THE LIVERY STABLES ON MAGAZINE STREET, AND BEING FAMILIAR WITH HORSES, GOT INTO THAT PART OF THE BUSINESS.

ALL FUNERALS AT THAT TIME, THERE WAS A LOT OF CHOLERA DEATHS THAT WERE CONDUCTED FROM THE HOMES.

MAGDALENA, BEING A FRUGAL GERMAN WOMAN, REALIZED THAT THERE WAS A WHOLE MARKET THERE OF RENTING FURNITURE FOR THESE HOME FUNERALS BECAUSE PEOPLE WERE POOR.

SO SHE TOOK THE HORSE DELIVERY BUSINESS, COMBINED IT WITH THE FURNITURE RENTAL BUSINESS AND LAUNCHED THE FUNERAL BUSINESS.

>> IN 1883, MAGDALENA'S SON ANTHONY FREDERICK BULTMAN BOUGHT THE FIRST FUNERAL HOME IN THE 800 BLOCK OF MAGAZINE STREET.

>> POPULATION DENSITY OF THE IRISH CHANNEL, BOTH OF THE IRISH AND THE GERMAN IMMIGRANTS, WAS VERY, VERY DENSE.

AND THAT DENSITY WAS WHAT LED TO THE FUNERAL BUSINESSES DEVELOPING ALONG THERE.

LEITZ-EAGAN FUNERAL HOME, BULTMAN FUNERAL HOMES ALONG THERE, AND ON THE CORNER OF LOUISIANA AND MAGAZINE, THERE WAS ACTUALLY A SONTHEIMER FUNERAL HOME AT ONE POINT.

>> AS THE CONCEPT OF FUNERALS BEING HELD AWAY FROM THE FAMILY PARLOR CAUGHT ON, THE BULTMAN'S BEGAN BUYING OTHER FUNERAL HOMES AND EXPANDING DELIVERY BUSINESS.

>> THE RINK, WHICH IS NOW A SHOPPING CENTER, WAS ORIGINALLY A LIVERY STABLE THAT MY FAMILY WAS INVOLVED IN.

THEY KEPT THE HORSES ON THE GROUND FLOOR AND ALL OF THE CARRIAGES AND ROLLING STOCK ON THE SECOND FLOOR.

>> THERE ARE PREDOMINANTLY GERMAN CEMETERIES IN THOSE SECTIONS OF THE CITY WHERE THE GERMANS LIVED.

ST. ROCH CEMETERY IS THE RESTING PLACE OF MANY RESIDENCE OF LITTLE SAXONY, THE GERMAN SETTLEMENT BELOW NEW ORLEANS.

THE VOTO CHAPEL IN ST. ROCH NO.

1 WAS MODELED AFTER THE FAMOUS SACRED CHAPEL FOR THE GERMANS, ADJACENT TO ST. PETERS IN ROME.

THE SMALL GOTHIC-STYLE MORTUARY CHAPEL WAS BUILT BY FATHER THEVIS, THE PASTOR OF THE HOLY TRINITY CHURCH IN NEW ORLEANS AS A DEVOTION TO ST. ROCH FOR SPARING HIS CONGREGATION DURING A YELLOW FEVER EPIDEMIC.

FATHER THEVIS HIMSELF IS BURIED IN THE CHAPEL FLOOR IN FRONT OF THE ALTER.

MANY PROMINENT GERMANS OPTED TO JOIN THE CITY'S RICH AND FAMOUS IN METAIRIE CEMETERY WHERE THEY BUILT LAVISH TOMBS THAT SYMBOLIZED THEIR SUCCESS IN LIFE.

MICHAEL HAHN, THE FIRST GERMAN GOVERNOR OF LOUISIANA, IS BURIED THERE, AS IS MARTIN BEHRMAN, THE POPULAR GERMAN-AMERICAN MAYOR OF NEW ORLEANS.

SEVERAL OF THE MARBLE AND GRANITE TOMB DESIGNERS AND BUILDERS OF THE 19TH CENTURY WERE GERMAN, INCLUDING ALBERT WEIBLEN, A STONECUTTER TRAINED IN STUTTGART WHOSE COMPANY PRODUCED THE LARGEST PERCENTAGE OF MONUMENTS IN METAIRIE CEMETERY.

WHILE SOME GERMANS HAD AN EYE FOR DESIGN, OTHERS HAD GREEN THUMBS AND TURNED THEIR TALENT TO RAISING FLOWERS AND ORNAMENTAL SHRUBBERY IN NEW ORLEANS.

>> GERMANS HAVE A LONG, IMPORTANT HISTORY IN HORTICULTURE.

I MEAN, THEY ARE CONSUMMATE GARDENERS, BOTH VEGETABLES GARDENS, FLOWER GARDENERS AND FRUIT TREE GARDENERS.

THE GERMANS HAVE A REAL AFFECTION FOR FLOWERS.

>> THE CREOLE GARDEN HAD BEEN BASED ON SMELL, WHITE FLOWERS WITH HEADY AROMAS.

AND THE GERMANS INTRODUCED THE CONCEPT OF COLORFUL FLOWER GARDENS.

IT'S EVEN SAID THAT OUR GARDEN DISTRICT WAS NAMED THAT BECAUSE OF THE WEALTHIER GERMANS WHO HAD MOVED THERE AND PLANTED THEIR WONDERFUL GARDENS.

>> THERE WAS A LOT OF RURAL LAND AND SO FORTH, AND THERE WERE A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT WERE FROM RURAL AREAS THAT GREW THINGS AND SO FORTH.

AND, IT WAS NATURAL FOR THEM TO GET INVOLVED IN FIRST THE NURSERY BUSINESS AND THEN THE FLORISTRY BUSINESS.

IT WAS A NICHE THAT NEEDED FILLING.

AND I THINK THE GERMANS WERE HERE ABOUT THE TIME THAT BUSINESS WAS DEVELOPING AND THEY FILLED THAT NICHE.

THERE WERE A LOT OF GERMAN FLORISTS: THE CROCK'S, THE SCHEINUK'S, THE EBLE'S, OF COURSE.

>> ONE OF THE MOST PROMINENT FLORISTS IN NEW ORLEANS WAS CHARLES EBLE, FOUNDER OF A FAMILY FLORIST BUSINESS THAT WOULD LAST FOR THREE GENERATIONS.

>> THE ORIGINAL BUSINESS WAS CALLED CHARLES EBLE FLORIST.

IT WAS FOUNDED BY MY GRANDFATHER AND HE CAME FROM GERMANY, FROM BADEN-BADEN GERMANY AS A SMALL CHILD.

AND HE STARTED AS A HELPER IN ONE OF THE LARGEST STATES ON ST. CHARLES AVENUE.

>> EBLE EVENTUALLY BECAME THE OWNER OF A SEED AND FEED STORE IN THE FIRST BLOCK OF CAMP AND STARTED ADVERTISING HIMSELF AS AN ARTIST IN NATURAL FLOWERS.

ALWAYS STAYING IN THE VICINITY OF CANAL STREET, THE EBLE FLORIST BUSINESS CHANGED LOCATIONS SEVERAL TIMES.

>> THEY MOVED TO THE GRUNEWALD HOTEL, WHICH IS NOW THE ROOSEVELT.

AND HE WAS VERY SUCCESSFUL IN THAT.

HE HIRED A DECORATOR FROM NEW YORK TO COME DOWN AND TO REDECORATE HIS STORE, AND HE START ADVERTISING, TOO.

>> MY GREAT GRANDFATHER WAS RIGHT ON THE EDGE OF THE TECHNOLOGY AT THAT TIME.

HE HAD A VERY PRESTIGIOUS LOCATION IN THE GRUNEWALD HOTEL.

HE HAD A CATALOGUE OF WHAT MUST HAVE BEEN 50 PAGES OF DIFFERENT FLORAL ARRANGEMENTS.

>> A LARGE VARIETY OF FLOWERS WERE SHIPPED IN BY RAIL FROM WHOLESALERS IN OTHER PARTS OF THE COUNTRY.

BUT THE FAMILY ALSO MAINTAINED A NURSERY WITH SEVERAL GREENHOUSES ON UPPERLINE AND PITT STREETS.

>> THEY HAD HORSE-DRAWN TRUCKS, DELIVERY TRUCKS, AND THEN THEY WENT TO ONE OF THE VERY FIRST TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS WITH A STEAM-POWERED DELIVERY TRUCK, WHICH WAS THE LATEST THING AROUND THE TURN OF THE CENTURY.

AND THAT HAD AN ACETYLENE-POWERED HEADLAMP.

>> IN THE 1920'S, CHARLES EBLE MOVED THE GREENHOUSE TO THREE ACRES IN JEFFERSON PARISH.

EBLE THE FLORIST, LOCATED ON JEFFERSON HIGHWAY, REMAINED IN THE FAMILY UNTIL 1972.

>> AS JEFFERSON PARISH BEGAN TO DEVELOP, ESPECIALLY JEFFERSON HIGHWAY, YOU FIND A GROUP OF GERMANS THAT WERE PART OF CARROLLTON MOVING INTO THE SUBURBS BECAUSE, FIRST, IT WAS CHEAPER, THERE WAS MORE LAND.

SO THE MEIERBAUM'S COULD HAVE ALL THEIR COWS AND THE EBLE'S COULD GROW ALL THEIR FLOWERS, JUST LIKE MY FAMILY COULD.

[ MUSIC ] >> THE HARDWORKING AND PROPER GERMANS OF THE 19TH CENTURY HAD THEIR OWN STYLE OF RELAXATION AND PLAY THAT NEARLY ALWAYS INCLUDED FAMILY PARTICIPATION.

THEY INTRODUCED THE REST OF THE CITY'S POPULIST TO A THOROUGHLY GERMAN INSTITUTION, THE BEER GARDEN.

ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR OF THESE ESTABLISHMENTS WAS THE TIVOLI GARDENS LOCATED ON BAYOU ST. JOHN.

>> TIVOLI GARDENS WAS ONE OF THE PLEASURE DOMES THAT WAS DESCRIBED AT THE TIME AS VERY ENJOYABLE.

THE WHOLE FAMILY WOULD GO TO THE BEER GARDEN, AND THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY, THE ADULTS WOULD DRINK.

AND THEY HAD DANCE PAVILIONS WHERE THEY WOULD DANCE TO OMP-PA-PA MUSIC.

>> AS GREAT LOVERS OF PARADES AND LARGE GATHERINGS, THE GERMAN IMMIGRANTS ADDED THEIR OWN CELEBRATIONS TO THE CITY'S ALREADY ACTIVE SOCIAL CALENDAR.

>> THE VOLKSFEST PARADE WAS ALWAYS IN MAY AND STARTED AT CANAL STREET AND MARCHED DOWN CANAL OVER TO BAYOU ST. JOHN WHERE THERE WAS A LARGE AREA FOR FESTIVALS.

AND HERE YOU HAD GAMES FOR THE CHILDREN, SHOOTING MATCHES, "SCHUTZEN" MATCHES, FOR THE MEN AND GYMNASTIC CONTEST, RACES.

>> ONE OF THE BIG CELEBRATIONS THAT THE GERMAN COMMUNITY HELD ANNUALLY WAS ITS FOLK SCHUTZENFEST, WHICH WAS A FOLKEN SHOOTING CONTEST FESTIVAL, WHICH STARTED OUT WITH A WONDERFUL PARADE ALONG CANAL STREET ALL THE WAY TO WHAT IS NOW METAIRIE CEMETERY, THEN IT WAS UNION RACE COURSE.

>> THE GERMANS FORMED CLUBS AND SOCIETIES FOR THE PURSUIT OF THEIR MANY INTERESTS.

THE TURNVEREIN WAS A POPULAR BENEVOLENT SOCIETY WITH PRUSSIAN ROOTS.

THE NORTH AMERICAN MISSION OF THIS PHYSICAL FITNESS CLUB WAS TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE GERMAN ELEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES.

>> THE TURNVEREIN, THE GERMAN TURNER'S HALL, WHERE THE LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES IS NOW LOCATED, WAS ONE OF THEIR PRINCIPLE INSTITUTIONS WHERE THEY CONGREGATED.

THE WORD "TURNER" MEANS "GYMNAST," AND SO THERE WAS A LOT OF EMPHASIS UPON PHYSICAL CULTURE, AS WELL AS CULTURE OF THE MIND.

>> MUSIC WAS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT CULTURAL PURSUITS OF THE GERMANS.

MUSIC FILLED THE HOMES, CHURCHES AND CLUBS OF THE GERMAN COMMUNITY.

NOT SURPRISINGLY, THE TWO MOST SUCCESSFUL MUSIC PUBLISHERS IN NEW ORLEANS WERE GERMAN.

>> ONE OF THEM WAS PHILIP WERLEIN OF THE WERLEIN FOR MUSIC, WHICH IS THE LARGEST FAMILY-OWNED MUSIC STORE IN THE UNITED STATES, FOUNDED IN THE 1840'S.

THEY PUBLISHED A NUMBER OF PIECES OF MUSIC AND PARTICULARLY FAMOUS AS BEING ONE OF THE FIRST PUBLISHERS OF THE SONG "DIXIE".

>> THE OTHER MUSIC PUBLISHER, LOUIS GRUNEWALD, CAME TO NEW ORLEANS IN 1852 AND STARTED OUT AS A MUSIC DEALER IN LAFAYETTE CITY.

TWENTY YEARS LATER, HE WAS PROSPEROUS ENOUGH TO COMMISSION ARCHITECT CHARLES LEWIS HILGER TO DESIGN GRUNEWALD HALL, AND ORNATE COMPLEX WITH A MUSIC STORE, SHOWROOMS AND A LARGE CONCERT HALL.

>> THEY PUBLISHED POPULAR SONGS, MARCHES, DANCES AND A VARIETY OF KINDS OF MUSIC THROUGH THEIR STORES.

THEY ALSO SOLD PIANOS AND REED ORGANS AND MADE A SUBSTANTIAL CONTRIBUTION TO GERMAN MUSICAL LIFE AND CULTURE.

>> THE GERMAN LOVE OF SONG IS A TRADITION THEY IMPORTED FROM THE FATHERLAND.

IN NEW ORLEANS, A NUMBER OF GERMAN SINGING ORGANIZATIONS WERE ESTABLISHED.

THESE GESANGSGRUPPE PERFORMED AT GERMAN FESTIVALS AND CELEBRATIONS.

>> THE GERMANS FORMED AN IMPORTANT ENOUGH GROUP OF SINGERS HERE IN NEW ORLEANS THAT THE NORD-AMERIKANISCHER SANGERBUND, THE NORTH AMERICAN SINGERS ASSOCIATION, WHICH WAS A NATIONAL GERMAN ORGANIZATION, HELD ITS CONVENTION IN 1890 HERE IN NEW ORLEANS.

THEY BUILT A HUGE AND BEAUTIFUL STRUCTURE WHERE LEE CIRCLE NOW IS.

THEY HAD SOMETHING LIKE 1700 SINGERS AND OVER 100 MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

AND THAT'S THE MUSIC THAT WENT ON FOR THREE DAYS.

IT WAS PACKED.

PEOPLE STOOD IN THE STREETS JUST TO HEAR AS MUCH AS THEY COULD BECAUSE THEY COULDN'T GET IN.

>> ALL OF THOSE VOICES RAISED IN SONG, I WISH THEY'D HAD SOME WAY TO RECORD IT SO WE COULD HEAR WHAT IT SOUNDED LIKE.

>> THE SANGERBUND RETURNED TO NEW ORLEANS IN 1958 AS ONE OF THE FEW GERMAN TRADITIONS TO SURVIVE THE IMPACT OF WORLD WAR I AND WORLD WAR II.

IN 1917, AS 300,000 AMERICANS BATTLED THE KAISER'S TROOPS IN EUROPE, GERMAN AMERICANS IN NEW ORLEANS WERE STRUGGLING AGAINST THE ANTI-GERMAN FEVER THAT GRIPPED THE NATION DURING THE GREAT WAR.

>> OUR LEGISLATURE PASSED DRACONIAN LAWS, WHICH MADE IT ILLEGAL EVEN TO SPEAK GERMAN ON THE STREET.

YOU COULDN'T OWN ANYTHING OF GERMAN ORIGIN.

THEY COULD NO LONGER PRINT ANYTHING IN GERMAN.

GERMAN WAS TAKEN OUT OF THE SCHOOLS.

THE NEWSPAPERS ALL HAD TO CLOSE.

GERMAN CULTURE HAD TO GO UNDERGROUND AT THAT TIME.

>> DURING WORLD WAR I ANYTHING GERMAN WAS TAINTED.

SO BERLIN STREET WAS RENAMED GENERAL PERSHING AFTER THE COMMANDER OF THE AMERICAN FORCES IN EUROPE.

>> I HAD A GRANDMOTHER WHO WAS PARTIALLY GERMAN MANY GENERATIONS BACK.

AND SHE WAS SUBCONSCIOUS WHEN THE FIRST WORLD WAR BROKE OUT THAT NO ONE REALLY WANTED ANYONE TO KNOW THEIR GERMAN HERITAGE.

SO I THINK REALLY WHAT HAPPENED IS THAT THE COMMUNITY WAS JUST OBLITERATED.

>> EVEN THOSE GERMANS WHOSE FAMILIES HAD IMMIGRATED TO THE UNITED STATES 50 YEARS BEFORE THE WAR WERE NOW VIEWED AS FOREIGNERS.

SPIES, IT WAS BELIEVED, LURKED EVERYWHERE AND NO GERMAN WAS ABOVE SUSPICION.

>> MY GRANDFATHER WAS A HAND RADIO ENTHUSIAST, AND IT WAS DISCOVERED BY GOVERNMENT THAT HE HAD THE ABILITY TO PROBABLY SPEAK WITH PEOPLE IN VARIOUS PARTS OF THE WORLD.

AND HAVING BEEN FIRST GENERATION SCHWEGMANN BORN IN AMERICA, THE GOVERNMENT CONFISCATED HIS RADIO.

>> I REMEMBER MY GRANDMOTHER SAYING THAT HE GOT IN SOME KIND OF TROUBLE OVER HERE BECAUSE OF TRIPS THAT HE'D MADE BACK TO GERMANY.

BUT THOSE TRIPS WERE BECAUSE HIS FAMILY WAS STILL BACK IN GERMANY.

>> WE HAVE A VIDEO IN THE CENTER HERE, A STORY ABOUT A FAMILY WHO ACTUALLY DESTROYED ALL OF THEIR GERMAN RECORDS BECAUSE THEY WERE AFRAID THAT THEY WOULD BECOME INCARCERATED BECAUSE OF THEIR HERITAGE.

>> THE BIGGEST BLOW LANDED BY ACT 114 ON THE GERMAN POPULATION IN NEW ORLEANS WAS THE LOSS OF ITS LANGUAGE.

>> MY GRANDMOTHER LOVED TO SPEAK GERMAN BUT MY GRANDFATHER DIDN'T LIKE IT BECAUSE DURING WORLD WAR I, ANY GROUP OF PEOPLE TOGETHER SPEAKING GERMAN IN PUBLIC, THEY WERE ARRESTED.

>> I HEARD MY GRANDFATHER AND HIS MOTHER AND HIS BROTHER SPEAK GERMAN BUT IT WAS ALWAYS INDOORS, IT WAS ON A QUIET TONE AS IF THEY WERE SUSPECT, THAT SOMEONE WOULD EVEN HEAR THAT THEY WERE SPEAKING GERMAN IN THEIR OWN HOME.

>> AFTER WORLD WAR I, WHAT GERMAN SOCIETIES WERE LEFT FELL ON HARD TIMES.

>> SO THEY DECIDED, AS EARLY AS 1927, THAT FOR THESE ORGANIZATIONS TO CONTINUE TO EXIST, THEY NEEDED TO UNIFY.

AND THIS WAS BEGUN UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF SIGMUND ODENHEIMER WHO WAS THE PRESIDENT AND OWNER OF THE LANE COTTON MILLS.

AND, IN NOVEMBER OF 1928, THE DEUTSCHES HAUS, WHICH WAS AN UMBRELLA ORGANIZATION BECAME INTO BEING AS AN ENTITY.

>> IN 1929, A PROPERTY OFF CANAL STREET WAS PURCHASED AND DEUTSCHES HAUS MOVED INTO THE BRICK STRUCTURE WHERE IT REMAINS 75 YEARS LATER.

BETWEEN THE WARS, THE CLUB WAS VERY ACTIVE WITH OVER 300 MEMBERS FROM THE GERMAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY WHO FOUND A SOURCE OF COMFORT AND SUPPORT IN DEUTSCHES HAUS DURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION.

THIS RALLY OF ENTHUSIASM COULD NOT WITHSTAND WORLD WAR II, HOWEVER, AND BY 1941, THE DEUTSCHES HAUS ROLES HAD DWINDLED TO A HANDFUL OF MEMBERS.

WORLD WAR II REVIVED THE FEELINGS OF HOSTILITY TOWARD GERMANS AND FURTHER DROVE THE CULTURE UNDERGROUND.

>> IT WAS DURING WORLD WAR II, AND I REMEMBER HAVING A LITTLE BABY IDENTITY CRISIS BACK THEN.

WELL, I'M A GOOD GIRL.

HEARING THE ADULTS TALK ABOUT THE GERMANS IN THE WAR, THEY SEEMED TO BE THE BAD PEOPLE AND I WAS THE GOOD GIRL SO I WASN'T GOING TO BE GERMAN ANYMORE.

>> GERMAN NATIONALS WERE REQUIRED TO REGISTER AS ALIEN ENEMIES AND RESTRICTIONS WERE PLACED ON THEIR MOVEMENTS.

THOUGH OVERT DISCRIMINATION AGAINST GERMAN-AMERICANS WAS RARE, SOCIAL AND PROFESSIONAL EXCLUSION WAS NOT UNCOMMON.

TAKE THE CASE OF DORIS ANN GORMAN'S FATHER.

>> HE AND A GROUP OF HIS FRIENDS WENT TO HIGGINS AND SIGNED UP TO WORK, EXCEPT THAT ALL OF HIS FRIENDS WERE GIVEN JOBS BUT MY DAD WASN'T.

AND, WHEN MY DAD HAD GONE UP TO APPLY, HE HAD SAID THAT HIS NAME WAS HERMAN GEORGE VON DEVEREAUX.

AND THEY TOLD HIM, WE HAVE NO WORK FOR YOU.

WELL, ONE OF HIS FRIENDS HEARD THAT AND HE PULLED HIM ON THE SIDE AND HE SAID, HERMAN, GET BACK IN THE LINE AND THIS TIME, DROP THE VON, WHICH HE DID.

AND, FROM THEN ON, HE WENT AS H.G.

DEVEREAUX.

>> LOCAL PRISONER WAR CAMPS AND GERMAN U-BOAT ACTIVITY IN THE GULF OF MEXICO BROUGHT THE WAR HOME TO THE VERY DOORSTEP OF NEW ORLEANS GERMAN-AMERICANS.

OPERATION PAUKENSCHLAG OR "ROLL OF THE DRUM" WAS THE NAME FOR THE GERMAN U-BOAT CAMPAIGN AGAINST U.S.

MERCHANT MARINE SHIPS IN AMERICAN WATERS.

FOR A PERIOD OF FOUR MONTHS IN THE SUMMER OF 1942, U-BOATS PROWLED THE GULF STRIKING OIL TANKERS BOUND FOR EUROPE.

ACCORDING TO A STORY IN CJ CHRIST, PLANS FOR THE OPERATION WERE MADE BEFORE THE WAR AND INVOLVED THE GERMAN COUNCIL TO NEW ORLEANS BARRONE VON SCHLEGEL.

>> HE WAS SENT TO NEW ORLEANS, I THINK 1937 AND HE SET UP ON ST. CHARLES IN THE COUNCIL GENERAL'S OFFICE.

AND THROUGHOUT THE TIME HE WAS IN NEW ORLEANS, HE ALWAYS THOUGHT "U-BOAT".

>> THE GERMAN PLAN FOR TARGETING OIL TANKERS AS THEY LEFT THE REFINERIES WAS A SUCCESS.

IN MAY OF 1942 ALONE, 41 SHIPS WERE SUNK IN THE AREA CALLED THE GULF SEA FRONTIER.

>> THE SHIPS WERE SAILING SINGLY, NOT WITH ESCORTS AND NOT IN CONVOYS.

AND THEY WERE SAILING WITH THEIR RUNNING LIGHTS ON AND THE CITIES ALONG THE BEACH ALL HAD THEIR LIGHTS ON.

SO IT WAS EASY PICKINGS FOR THE GERMAN SUBMARINES.

>> A GULF PATROL SYSTEM WAS PUT IN PLACE UTILIZING NON-MILITARY AND RESERVE PERSONNEL.

LOCAL CIVILIAN PILOTS FLEW ANTI-SUBMARINE PATROLS FROM THE LAKEFRONT AIRPORT 100 MILES OUT OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO AS MEMBERS OF THE 122ND OBSERVATION SQUADRON OF THE LOUISIANA NATIONAL GUARD.

LOCAL SAILORS PATROLLED THE WATERS OF THE GULF.

BERNARD EBLE WAS A COMMANDER OF A SCHOONER COMMISSIONED BY THE COAST GUARD.

>> THEY HAD ABOUT FOUR OR FIVE SCHOONERS OVER THERE, SAILING VESSELS.

THEY WERE LARGE ENOUGH TO DO THIS WORK.

THE GULF WAS DIVIDED INTO SQUARES AND YOU WERE GIVEN A CERTAIN SQUARE TO PATROL IN.

>> BY THE END OF THE SUMMER OF 1942, WE WERE GETTING PRETTY GOOD.

AND WE SANK THREE U-BOATS IN A ROW, AND THAT'S WHEN THE GERMANS LEFT THE GULF.

IT WAS NO LONGER THE SOFT UNDERBELLY OF THE ENEMY, IF YOU WILL.

>> THOUGH RUMORS OF NAZI SPIES AND SYMPATHIZERS ABOUND, THERE'S NO EVIDENCE OF ANY CONTACT BETWEEN GERMAN U-BOAT PERSONNEL AND LOUISIANA CIVILIANS.

THERE WAS CONTACT DURING THE WAR, HOWEVER BENIGN, BETWEEN GERMAN-AMERICANS AND GERMAN P.O.W.S.

STARTING IN 1943 WITH THE MASS SURRENDER OF HITLER'S AFRICA CORPS, OVER 400,000 GERMAN PRISONERS OF WAR WERE TRANSPORTED TO THE UNITED STATES WHERE THEY WERE HELD FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE CONFLICT.

ABOUT 20,000 OF THESE MEN WERE SENT TO PRISONER OF WAR CAMPS SCATTERED THROUGHOUT LOUISIANA.

LOCALLY, 179 P.O.W.S WERE HOUSED AT JACKSON BARRACKS IN ARABI WHILE 1,500 P.O.W.S WERE KEPT AT CAMP PLAUCHE IN JEFFERSON PARISH.

>> CAMP PLAUCHE UP HERE, THEY WERE TRYING TO DECORATE THE GROUND.

MY FATHER, HE OFFERED THEM THE CREPE MYRTLES.

HE SAID, BUT I DON'T HAVE HELP TO GET THEM TO YOU.

THEY SAID, WELL, WE'RE TAKE CARE OF THAT.

AND, WITH THAT, THERE WERE A BUNCH OF GERMANS AND SOME ITALIANS IN THE TRUCKS.

AND THEY WERE THE ONES THAT THE ARMY WAS SENDING TO DIG THESE THINGS UP AND TAKE THEM UP TO THE ARMY CAMP AND PLANT THEM.

>> THE GERMAN PRISONERS WERE PRETTY MUCH IN THE FARMING AREAS, RUSTIN, LAFAYETTE, WHERE THEY NEEDED MANPOWER TO SUBSTITUTE FOR AMERICANS WHO WERE DRAFTED OR VOLUNTEERED FOR ARMED SERVICE.

>> I WAS WORKING IN THE RICE FIELDS OF CROWLEY, LOUISIANA, AREA, AND I WAS TOO YOUNG TO DO BIG MANUAL LABOR BUT I WAS RIDING AROUND ON A HORSE WITH TWO WATER JUGS.

AND I WAS GIVING WATER TO THE GERMAN PRISONERS THAT WERE WORKING IN THE FIELD.

THEY WERE VERY, VERY FRIENDLY WITH ME, AND THE ATMOSPHERE WAS ALSO VERY FRIENDLY BECAUSE ALL OF THE FARMERS WERE GERMAN.

>> WE HAD ONE WORKING ON OUR FARM, HE WOULD SING TO ME.

IT WAS SO HOT AND THEY WERE NOT USED TO THAT.

YOU HAD TO BRING THEM ON OUR PORCH AND FAN THEM AND WASH THEM AND ALL.

AND, HE SAID, I NEVER DID WORK ON A FARM.

I WAS A DRUGGIST.

BUT THEY GAVE HIM AS A FARMER SO THEY COULD GET OUT.

>> UNABLE TO CELEBRATE THEIR GERMAN HERITAGE DURING THE TIME OF TURMOIL, THIS IMMIGRANT GROUP FERVENTLY EMBRACED THEIR AMERICAN IDENTITY BUT IN THE PROCESS LOST THEIR NATIVE LANGUAGE AND CUSTOMS.

ONLY IN THE PAST 30 YEARS HAS THERE BEEN A RESURGENCE OF GERMAN-AMERICAN PRIDE.

[ MUSIC ] DEUTSCHES HAUS, WHICH HAS SURVIVED DECADES OF CHANGE, IS STILL THE HEART AND SPIRIT OF THE GERMAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY IN NEW ORLEANS.

FOR FIVE WEEKENDS EACH FALL, THE CLUB'S OKTOBERFEST DRAWS AS MANY AS 1,000 PEOPLE AT NIGHT FOR A SPIRITED CELEBRATION OF THE GERMAN CULTURE FEATURING TRADITIONAL FOOD, DANCE AND SONG.

BESIDES ITS FESTIVALS, DEUTSCHES HAUS IS HOME TO A VARIETY OF SPECIAL INTEREST CLUBS, INCLUDING SCHLARAFFIA, AN ORGANIZATION FOR GERMAN-SPEAKING MEN FOUNDED IN PRAGUE IN 1859.

>> IT'S A PARODY ON NOBILITY.

AT THE TIME THAT SCHLARAFFIA WAS FOUNDED, OF COURSE, THE NOBLES WERE VERY POWERFUL AND VERY, IN MANY CASES, VERY HAUGHTY.

WHAT WE DO IS TONGUE-IN-CHEEK.

WE HAVE MEDALS, AS DID THE NOBLES IN THE AUSTRIAN EMPIRE.

AND THE IDEA BEHIND SCHLARAFFIA IS TO ENJOY ARTS, TO FOSTER FRIENDSHIP AND TO ENCOURAGE HUMOR.

IN THE EARLY DAYS OF SCHLARAFFIA AND NOVOLIANA, WE HAD SOME PEOPLE WHO WERE VERY PROMINENT IN THE COMMUNITY.

FOR EXAMPLE, THE FAMOUS KOLBS RESTAURANT, A LANDMARK GERMAN RESTAURANT THAT EXISTED FOR MANY, MANY YEARS IN THE CITY.

THE FOUNDER OF THAT WAS A MEMBER OF SCHLARAFFIA.

>> WE HAVE BEEN FORTUNATE TO HAVE A NUMBER OF HERITAGE SOCIETIES BEING FORMED, WHICH ARE REVIVING AND CONTINUING THE OLD GERMAN CUSTOMS.

>> THE SEAMEN'S MISSION CHOIR PERFORMS REGULARLY AT ST. MATTHEW GERMAN EVANGELICAL CHURCH, ESTABLISHED IN 1890, ON CARROLLTON IN THE RIVER BEND.

SERVICES AT ST. MATTHEW WERE IN GERMAN, AS WELL AS ENGLISH UP UNTIL 1922.

TODAY THE CHURCH OFFERS GERMAN LANGUAGE CHURCH SERVICE ON THE FIRST SUNDAY OF EVERY MONTH, WHICH IS CONDUCTED BY THE PASTOR OF THE GERMAN SEAMEN'S MISSION HEINZ NEUMANN.

ACROSS THE RIVER, THE GERMAN-AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER IN GRETNA HAS A TREASURE TROVE OF ARTIFACTS ON DISPLAY, PHOTOGRAPHS, CLOTHING DOCUMENTS AND OTHER MEMORABILIA FROM THE GERMAN PEOPLE OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER DELTA.

>> WE HAVE PEOPLE COME FROM ALL OVER THE UNITED STATES AND FROM EUROPE AND GERMANY.

SOME OF THE GERMAN VISITORS ARE SO AMAZED THAT WE HAVE SO MUCH STUFF IN THE MUSEUM.

GERMANS HERE DON'T THROW THINGS AWAY.

THEY'RE SAVERS.

THEIR ARCHIVE IS THEIR HEART.

>> THE CENTER WAS CREATED IN 1999 AS A COOPERATIVE SITE OF THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE.

THE PROJECT WAS SPEARHEADED BY GRETNA NATIVE FRANK EHRET IN CONJUNCTION WITH HIS DEVELOPMENT OF JEAN LAFITTE NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK AND PRESERVE.

>> I'M A FIGHTER.

I FOUGHT FOR THIS PARK TOO LONG AND I WANTED IT.

THE PEOPLE WANTED IT.

I THOUGHT, IT'S ABOUT TIME WE DO SOMETHING FOR THE GERMAN CULTURE.

>> THE OLD WOUNDS HAVE HEALED AND TODAY THERE IS ONCE AGAIN A PUBLIC GERMAN PRESENCE IN NEW ORLEANS.

GERMAN-AMERICANS ARE NOW EAGER TO LEARN ABOUT THEIR REMARKABLE HISTORY AND TO PRESERVE THE VESTIGES OF THEIR CULTURE.

>> GERMANS, YOU MIGHT SAY, HAVE COME OUT OF THE CLOSET TO FIND THEIR CONNECTIONS TO THE OLD COUNTRY, THE BRIDGE ACROSS THE ATLANTIC.

>> IF THEY HAVE A LEGACY, MY FAMILY AND ALL THESE OTHER FAMILIES, IT IS A LEGACY OF AN INSIGHT INTO A VERY INTERESTING TIME IN HISTORY AND PARTICULARLY THE HISTORY OF NEW ORLEANS.

AND I THINK THAT IT WOULD'VE BEEN A GOOD TIME TO LIVE.

>> WE HAD A SAYING IN GRETNA THAT, IF YOU WANT SOMETHING DONE, GIVE IT TO A GERMAN.

[ MUSIC ] >> THAT FAMILY WAS A VERY CLOSE-KNIT FAMILY.

THEY WERE TACITURN ALMOST TO THE POINT OF DOLOR.

[ MUSIC ] >> HE WAS VERY MUCH A GERMAN.

HE HAD A VERY STRONG WORK ETHIC.

APPARENTLY, OVER THE DOOR TO HIS PRIVATE OFFICE WAS A SIGN THAT SAID, "A CONTRACT IS A CONTRACT."

[ MUSIC ] >> WELL, THEY'RE STUBBORN.

THEY'RE STUBBORN AND YOU'RE LOOKING AT ONE RIGHT HERE.

THEY WERE VERY TENACIOUS PEOPLE AND HARDWORKING.

[ MUSIC ] >> I THINK THEY GAVE THE CITY ITS BACKBONE.

I REALLY, REALLY DO.

>> THIS PROGRAM IS FUNDED UNDER A GRANT FROM THE LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES, A STATE AFFILIATE OF THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES AND THE WYES PRODUCERS CIRCLE, A GROUP OF GENEROUS CONTRIBUTORS DEDICATED TO THE SUPPORT OF CHANNEL 12'S LOCAL PRODUCTIONS.