Our Nation's Capital's Historic German-American Cemetery
Established 1858
Contributing articles on this page:
- 1858 Dedication of Prospect Hill Cemetery transcribed by Al Wenzel
- The German Cemetery of Washington, D.C. by Gary Carl Grassl
- Washington Saengerbund singing on Memorial Day by Al Wenzel
- Prospect Hill Cemetery and the Civil War by Jean Crabill
- First DC residents give their lives during the Civil War by Gary Carl Grassl (2014)
- The Forefathers of the Concordia Church by Gary Grassl
- Germans in Washington in the 1800s by Jean Crabil
- The Karl Braun Family
by Al Wenzel of the Washington Saengerbund
delivered on Memorial Day 2019
This year’s Memorial Day commemorates the 150th anniversary of the Washington Saengerbund singing at Memorial Day services. Here is the story based on historic newspaper reports and materials available at the Library of Congress.
It goes back to the time after the Civil War. Arlington National Cemetery is on plantation land that once belonged to the wife of Robert E. Lee, then a military officer in the U.S. Army. After Lee took command of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia at the onset of the Civil War in 1861 the family vacated the property. As the carnage of the Civil War entered its third year, fatalities began to outpace the burial capacity at Washington, D.C. area cemeteries, and in 1864 the federal government designated Arlington as a national military cemetery.
Here at Prospect Hill Cemetery nearly 200 casualties of the Civil War are buried. Two of them, Henry Ricks and Martin Ohl, died during a skirmish at Great Falls on July 7, 1861. They were the first casualties of the War in the Washington, DC area and were buried with full military honors at the “new German cemetery, near Glenwood”, i.e. Prospect Hill Cemetery. Henry Ricks was a member of the Washington Saengerbund.
After the Civil War ended General John A. Logan, commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in 1868 and then again in 1869, issued General Orders, which called for May 30 to be a national day of remembrance for Civil War dead. These orders served as the basis for what became the national holiday of Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, when Americans took time to decorate with flowers the graves of soldiers who gave their lives in the Civil War.
In the Memorial Day Record of Ceremonies in 1869 the Washington Saengerbund is shown as a participating chorus. One item says: “The poem HYMN OF PEACE - Angel of Peace, thou hast wandered too long! written by Professor Oliver Wendell Holmes for the Jubilee of Peace in Boston, and translated into German by Dr. Risler, was sung with fine effect by the Saengerbund;” the translation was titled Engel des Friedens.
The Jubilee of Peace in June 1869 in Boston was a huge musical festival to celebrate the end of the War. A new coliseum was erected with a stage large enough to hold a chorus of 10,000 voices and an orchestra of 1,000 pieces. The American Hymn by Matthias Keller had been chosen and Oliver Wendell Holmes agreed to write a new poem “Angel of Peace” to fit the music. The Washington Saengerbund did not go to the Boston festival but instead prepared for the Saengerfest of the Nordoestlicher Saengerbund in July 1869 in Baltimore where they participated in the Prize Singing competition popular at the time. They returned home with the first prize – a Grand Piano. However on Memorial Day on May 30 of that year at Arlington National Cemetery they selected to perform the same American Hymn that had been chosen for the Jubilee of Peace in Boston but they sang Dr. Risler’s German translation of “Engel des Friedens.”
On this year’s Memorial Day at Prospect Hill Cemetery it seems appropriate for the Washington Saengerbund to sing the same piece of music sung 150 years ago at Arlington National Cemetery. It is the musical composition of the American Hymn by Matthias Keller “Speed our republic, O Father on high”, then rewritten for the Jubilee of Peace by Oliver Wendell Holmes with a poem that begins with “Angel of Peace, thou has wandered too long!”. Today’s presentation is the text of the German translation done by Prof. Henry Risler in 1869 as “Engel des Friedens, wo weilet dein Fuß.”
Records show that the Washington Saengerbund has performed on Memorial Day and at Prospect Hill Cemetery many times.
1869 Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery
1872 Memorial Day at Prospect Hill Cemetery (Evening Star May 30, 1872)
1873 Memorial Day at Prospect Hill Cemetery (National Republican May 30, 1873)
1873 Prospect Hill Cemetery new Gatehouse dedicated June 22
1878 Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery (Evening Star May, 30, 1878)
1879 Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery (Evening Star May, 30, 1879)
1997 Prospect Hill Cemetery when the new Plaque was installed at the circle
2001 Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery for Re-Enactment ceremony
2002-2004 Memorial Day at Prospect Hill Cemetery
2005-2009 Totensonntag (All Souls Day) in October at Prospect Hill Cemetery
Since 2010 Memorial Day at Prospect Hill Cemetery continuously every year.
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Poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes (1869) Spread thy white wings to the sunshine of love! Come while our voices are blended in song- Fly to our ark like the storm-beaten dove, Fly to our ark on the wings of the dove.- Speed o’er the far-sounding billows of song, Crowned with thine olive-leaf garland of love,- Angel of Peace, thou hast waited too long! Brothers we meet, on this altar of thine, Mingling the gifts we have gathered for thee, Sweet with the odors of myrtle and pine, Breeze of the prairie and breath of the sea,- Meadow and mountain and forest and sea! Sweet is the fragrance of myrtle and pine, Sweeter the incense we offer to thee, Brothers once more round this altar of thine! Angels of Bethlehem, answer the strain! Hark! a new birth-song is filling the sky! Loud as the storm wind that tumbles the main, Bid the full breath of the organ reply.- Loud let the tempest of voices reply.- Roll its long surge like the earth-shaking main! Swell the vast song till it mounts to the sky! Angels of Bethlehem, echo the strain! |
German translation by Dr. Henry Risler (1869) Schwing deine Flügel der Liebe zum Gruß! Komm, wir begrüßen mit Liedern dich reich. Bring, gleich der Taube, zur Arche den Zweig. Bring ihn als Bote des ew’gen Gebiets, Bring ihn auf tönenden Wogen des Lieds, Kränze die Stirn dir, der Liebe zum Gruß. Engel des Friedens, wo weilet dein Fuß? Bruderumschlungen an deinem Altar, Bringen wir unsere Gaben dir dar, Myrthenumblühung und Föhrengebraus, Prairiengeflüster und Meeresgebraus. Felder und Wälder und Berge und See’n, Süß sind die Düfte, die ihnen entweh’n. Süßer die Lieder, die wir im Verein Deinem Altare zum Jubelfest weih’n. Engel von Bethlehem, hört unser Lied. Hört, wie es jubelnd die Sphäre durchzieht! Laut wie der Sturmwind im Meeresgestöhn Schalle des Orgelklangs Jubelgetön. Laut wie der Sturmwind ertön’ unser Sang, Töne versöhnend die Welten entlang; Engel von Bethlehem, hört unser’n Chor, Tragt uns’re Lieder zum Himmel empor! |
Published in ‘The Washington Union’ newspaper
Washington city - Tuesday, September 28, 1858
source: Library of Congress digital newspapers
transcribed (as published) by Al Wenzel
OF MR. EBERLY AND REV. MR. FINCKLEY. (website note: his name was Rev. Finckel)
This association has been in existence some ten or twelve years, having been formed in the 1846 or 1848. There were then but thirty members, and their prospects were anything but encouraging. Since then, however, they have been rapidly increasing in numbers and influence, until they have enrolled at the present time upwards of one hundred members, and confidently expect a further increase to two hundred before the close of the present year. Their pastor, the Rev. Mr. Finckley, is an upright, conscientious Christian and a very useful man. He has done much to build up the church, and, by his consistent “walk and conversation,” has made many friends. Their church is located in the first ward, on the corner of G and Twentieth streets, where it is convenient of access to the members who reside in Georgetown. The members of the association are compelled to pay two dollars a year, the object of which is to prevent the possibility of their being without a pastor. Persons can become members of the church without joining the association; but every member of the association must be a member of the church. There are similar associations in all of the principal cities of the Union.
On Sunday afternoon last, about three o’clock, this cemetery was dedicated with appropriate ceremonies. The day was calm and pleasant, and the attendance was unusually large. There could not have been less than two thousand persons present, and, from the manner in which they conducted themselves, there were but few of them who did not feel the solemnity of the occasion. The scene was full of interest, and the impression which it left will be remembered for many a day. The sun light gilding the tree-tops, illuminating the Capitol, plainly seen in the distance, and glistening upon the Potomac, with the fond association of friends and home, could not but render life desirable; and yet the very object of their assembling kept their thoughts intent upon the close of life and their last resting place. All ages were represented: extreme old age, middle age, and youth were there. Many, no doubt, are thoughtless and careless of their most important interests, but they could not have witnessed the ceremonies without feeling that there is some preparation necessary to meet death.
Many of the spectators assembled upon the ground before the time fixed upon for the commencement of the exercises, but the majority formed a procession at the German Hall, on Eleventh street, between F and G streets. Two fine bands were in attendance, discoursing appropriate music. The procession was composed of the German school, numbering upwards of a hundred scholars, the Red Men, the Union Benevolent Society, and Franklin Lodge, with appropriate banners. The banner borne by the school children exhibited a faithful portrait of the “Father of his Country,” and that carried by the Franklin Lodge an excellent likeness of Franklin. The German school was instituted in September, 1854, and the Union Benevolent Society in January, 1847.
Upon arriving at the ground the congregation assembled around the stand which had been erected on the outskirts of the grove. After music from the band, and a prayer in German by the pastor, Rev. Mr. Finckley, Mr. Kaiser, president of the association, made an appropriate opening address in German; after which he introduced Mr. Eberly, who delivered the following address, also in German:
Geehrte Freunde und Mitbürger!
Wir haben uns hier versammelt zu einem außer-gewöhnlichen und feierlichen Zweck. Wenn wir Häuser, oder Schulen, oder Kirchen, oder Staatsgebäude bauen, so feiern wir die Eröffnung derselben durch irgend eine feierliche Handlung, und weihen sie für den Zweck wofür sie bestimt sind. Wenn wir aber zum ersten Mal, wie heute, den Platz betreten, wo nach des Lebens Mühe und Sorgen einst unser müder Leib die Ruhe finden wird die er im Leben vergebens suchte, so muß dieser Tag und diese Stunde von doppelter Wichtigkeit sein.
Den das arme Herz hienieden
Von Sorge und Angst bewegt,
Es findet wahren Frieden,
Nur wenn es nicht mehr schlägt.
Wir haben uns hier versammelt um diesen Platz zu einem Gottes-Acker zu weihen, zu einem Friedenshofe, zu einer Republik der Todten und zu einem Arsenal des Himmels.
Nur hier finden wir eine Republik im wahren Sinne des Wortes, wo jeder Unterschied von Rang und Stand, von Alter, von Religion und Nation verschwinden muß. Hier wird der Reiche neben den Armen, der Säugling und Greis, der Fremdling und der Eingeborene, der Christ und der nicht Christ, sie werden in Frieden bei einander wohnen; hier wird der Mann der in der Fülle der Manneskraft die Elemente zu trotzen wähnte sich unter den mächtigen Cepter des Todes beugen, und Der, der mit Stolz und Verachtung auf seinen Nebenmenschen herabblickte, wird am Rande des Grabes die Erfahrung machen, daß der beste Adelsbrief der ist, als Mensch redlich seine Pflicht erfüllt zu haben. Und mit welchen verschiedenen Gefühlen werden wir und unsere Nachkömmlinge diesen Platz betreten. Es erfordert nicht den Blick eines Sehers oder Propheten dieselben zu beschreiben, Kinder werden hier an den Gräbern ihrer Eltern weinen, trostlos und öde und verlassen wird ihnen die Welt als ein Jammerthal erscheinen, wo alle Freuden verblühen, bis von geweihten Dieners Munde ihnen die Worte des Trostes zugerufen werden: daß der Gott der die Raben ernährt, der die Lilien auf dem Felde kleidet, der die Haare ihrer Häupter zählt, der ihrer Väter Vater war, auch ihr Vater, Versorger und Beschützer sein wird, und getröstet werden Sie diese heilige Stätte verlassen.
Eltern werden an den Gräbern ihrer Kinder weinen und gegen die Vorsehung murren, die ihnen die Stütze ihres Alters raubte, bis der Geist der diese geheiligte Stätte inneweht, ihnen zuruft, wie einst der Erlöser zu Nain und Capernaum, eure Kinder leben, ihr werdet sie wiedersehn in einer besseren Welt:
Und euch bis in des Alterstage,
Zu heben und zu tragen,
Das hat der Herr versprochen
Und sein Wort nie gebrochen.
Witwen werden an den Gräbern ihrer Gatten weinen und in den ersten herben Schmerzen an Gott und an der Menschheit verzweifeln, bis von geweihter Stätte von geweihten Dieners Munde ihr die Worte des Trostes zugerufen werden, dein Gatte lebt, es gibt ein Jenseits, es gibt ein Wiedersehn. Dieses heilige Band der Liebe, das die Geister vereinigt, kann auch der Todt nicht trennen. Die Vernunft wird sich Bahn brechen, und wird ihr zurufen, daß das Ebenbild Gottes der Geist des Menschen, der seinen Schöpfer so nahe verwandt, der den Lauf und Bau der Sterne mißt, der Welten in Systeme zieht, der den Elemente Zügel anlegt.
Der die beredeten Blitze durch den Boden des Oceans sendet und die Geister sich näher bringt, kann nicht für dieses kurze Erdenleben geschaffen sein, es muß ein Jenseits geben.
Die Religion endlich wird ihre Rechte geltend machen, durch die Simbole des Glaubens, der Liebe und der Hoffnung.
Der Glaube zeigt uns das verheißene Land,
Das Seelen einet die sich hier verwandt,
Die Liebe sagt das über’m Firmament,
Nicht mehr das Schicksal theu’re Herzen trennt,
Und daß der Hoffnung höhrer Himmelsstrahl,
Dort nicht mehr kämpft mit Müh‘ und Erdenqual;
Dem Jenseits über jener Silberfluhr
Blüht ewiglich ! und schöner die Natur.
(Special translation for the Union.)
Friends and Fellow-Citizens:
We have come to this place to perform an extraordinary and solemn act. After completing our dwellings, our school-houses, our churches, and other buildings, we inaugurate them in some formal manner, dedicating them to the purposes for which they have been destined. But when we enter for the first time the place we have prepared for the repose of the dead, where, after the sorrows and cares of life are past, our weary bodies are to find rest, the occasion must be of much higher importance.
Here, the heart that beneath is reposing
By sorrow pursued to life’s closing,
Finds peace in its lonely retreating;
Finds peace – when the heart ceases beating!
We are here assembled to celebrate this place as a “field of God,” as a “neutral ground,” as a republic of the dead, as an arsenal of Heaven. Here only may we find a republic in the truest sense of the word; where all distinctions of rank or position, of age, of religion, of nationality, must disappear. The poor and the rich, the infant and the man gray with age, the foreigner and the native, the Christian and the unbelieving – they all will dwell here in peace together. Here the man who, flourishing with the power of manhood, thought himself strong enough to defy the elements, will bow before the mighty sceptre of Death, and he who looked down upon his fellow-man with pride and contempt will learn at the brink of the grave that the best patent of nobility consists in a faithful discharge of the duties of life. With what different sentiments shall both we and our offspring enter this place? It requires not the eye of a seer or a prophet to describe. Here children will weep over the graves of their parents. The world will appear to them a disconsolate and desert waste – a vale of misery, where all joys have ceased to bloom, until the words of consolation which have been proclaimed from the mouth of the consecrated servant, that God who feeds the ravens, who clothes the lilies of the field, who counts the hairs of our heads, who was the father of their fathers, will also be their father, providing for and protecting them, so that they shall leave this holy place with feelings of consolation. Parents will weep at the graves of their children, muttering against Providence who deprived them of the support of their age, until the spirit surrounding this consecrated spot shall have spoken to them as the Redeemer did at Nain and Capernaum, “Your children live; you shall see them again in a better world.”
Religion, too, will assert its rights over the symbols of faith, love, and hope.
Faith calmly points the glorious promised land,
Where sympathetic souls walk hand in hand;
Love tells the story that, in yonder skies,
Fate will no more dissever gentle ties;
And that the holy beams of hope shall pour
Increasing light till sorrow be no more;
For, past the desolate boundary of the tomb,
Nature is joyous in eternal bloom.
A collection was taken up to aid in paying for the land and other necessary expenses, and whilst the stewards were making their rounds, a hymn was sung by the children in German. The performance was highly creditable to the children, and the proficiency which they evinced elicited considerable surprise from the audience. At the conclusion of this exercise the Rev. Mr. Finckley delivered the following address in English:
We are assembled here, dear friends, according to announcement, to dedicate with appropriate religious services this field and grove as “Prospect Hill Cemetery,” the property of the Union Benevolent Society of the German Evangelical church, of Washington city – to consecrate or set apart these grounds as the place to which we design to transfer the remains of our departed friends from the old grave yard, and to which we are to bring those who shall yet fall asleep in Jesus: yea, perhaps to be brought ourselves ere long, to rest from our labors till the Archangel shall sound the trumpet of the Resurrection, and the Judge of all shall welcome us to our eternal home, “where the wicked cease from troubling, and the wary are at rest.”
The name we deem appropriate, as there opens to us a wide and beautiful prospect from the stand-point which we occupy, stretching away in the distance to the grave of the “Pater Patriae,” at Mount Vernon, the resting place of the hero, the patriot and statesman so dear to all; and we consider our people fortunate in securing this place as “God’s acre” for themselves, their friends and neighbors, “where the mourners who go about the streets of the city” may with the patriarch, “bury their dead out of their sight,” without reference to the name they bear or the denomination to which they belong. Yea, we deem them wise in making this selection, and engaging in an enterprise which supplies a vacuum hitherto not filled, but soon to be completed here. Here may the weary from the Fatherland repose in peace, and in the bosom of our common mother, Earth, may the home born or elsewhere born rest the mortal till they shall put on immortality, while the survivors are reminded to
“Think as those who fondly languish
O’er the graves of friends they love;
While their bosoms throb with anguish,
They are warbling hymns above.
While their silent steps are straying
Lonely through night’s deep’ning shade,
Glory’s brightest beams are playing
Round the happy Christian’s head.”
The nations of the earth have various modes in which they pay respectful tribute to the departed. The ancient Egyptians embalm their dead; the Hindoos burn them; the Jews entombed them; the Greeks and Romans gave them sepulture, or burned them, as they thought best; the Mohammedans bury them; but, since “life and immortality have been brought to light by the Gospel,” Christians of all denominations bury their dead with suitable religious ceremonies. This we conceive to be the most becoming mode, and well calculated to make salutary impressions upon the hearts and minds of those who remain “when the body returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit to God, who gave it;” and for this the burial place which we this day consecrate as “Prospect Hill Cemetery” is designed.
The society which I have the honor to represent intends to offer, on the most reasonable and liberal conditions possible, single grave and family lots of ground to all who may desire them.
In this city of the dead “the rich and the poor meet together,” the Lord being the God and Father of all. The lowly and the exalted are equal here. No contention and no discord shall disturb them in this quiet resting place. And we most devoutly pray that no unhallowed foot or word or act may ever desecrate the sacred spot whereon we stand, “for this is holy ground.”
At the conclusion of the Rev. Mr. Finckley’s address, the solemn service of consecration was read in German, and the assemblage was dismissed with the benediction.
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by Gary Carl Grassl
delivered on Memorial Day 2002
The dome of the U.S. Capitol consists of 36 cast-iron segments that fit together like slices of an orange. The plan for this complex design was devised and drawn by August Gottlieb Schönborn. This architect from Thüringen worked in the Office of the Architect of the U.S. Capitol from 1850 to the time of his death in 1902. He was called "the architect of the dome of the Capitol" in his obituary in the Washington Post. Schönborn lies buried in Prospect Hill Cemetery on North Capitol Street, which overlooks the U.S. Capitol and downtown Washington, D.C.
Originally known as "der deutsche Friedhof in Washington, DC," Prospect Hill Cemetery was founded in 1858 by members of the Concordia German Evangelical Lutheran Church. This church was completed in 1835 at 20th and G Streets, NW, four blocks from the White House. John Philip Sousa was baptized here in 1854. Many of the monuments of Prospect Hill Cemetery were designed by Jacques Jouvenal, who emigrated to the United States in 1853 from Elsaß-Lothringen; these include his own, whose inscriptions are in German. He designed the statue of Benjamin Franklin that stands in front of the Old Post Office Building at 12th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.
Commuting from the White House to his family's summer cottage at Old Soldiers' Home, President Lincoln rode about seven blocks to the west of Prospect Hill Cemetery. Riding north along Georgia Ave (old 7th St.), he passed W Street which led to Prospect Hill Cemetery about seven blocks away.
In 1862, Architect Emil Friedrich designed a major addition to the first building of the National Deaf Mute College. It was in this building that Abraham Lincoln signed legislation establishing this as the third educational institution in the United States to receive federal funding, the first being West Point and the Naval Academy. Several years later, Friedrich designed four more buildings for the school known today as Gallaudet University. He too lies buried in Prospect Hill Cemetery.
Here is also the Merchant-Taylor William A. Petersen of Hanover. It was in the house that Petersen built in Washington that the President died on Good Friday 1865.
Joseph Peter Gerhardt of Bonn fought in the German democratic revolution of 1848. During the Civil War, he served as the commander of a German regiment and finally of a brigade. He led the large German contingent that marched down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol at the funeral of President Lincoln. Brevet- Brigadier Gerhardt lies buried in the Cemetery along with about 40 other veterans of the Union Army.
Here lies also Attorney Louis Schade of Berlin, who also took part in the 1848 revolution and who published The Washington Sentinel for 30 years. When speculators wanted to buy the house in which Lincoln had died, he purchased it in 1879 to preserve it for posterity. It is known today to tourists from all over the United States as "The House Where Lincoln Died."
Here lies also Julius Frederick Viedt of Braunschweig, a lieutenant in the Union Army and the founding president of the Washington Sängerbund. They sang Goethe's "Gesang der Geister über den Wassern" under the dome of the Capitol before Lincoln's bier. In January 1893, members of the Sängerbund sang in Prospect Hill Cemetery at the funeral of their founding president.
On Memorial Day 2002 the Washington Sängerbund returned to Prospect Hill Cemetery, where it had in the years past sung at so many memorials for its singers. This time for the first time in its 151- year history it was under the leadership of a woman -- Carol Traxler. Under the direction of Herbert Traxler, it began with a moving hymn from the time of Germany's Thirty-Years War: "Meinen lieben Gott, trau ich in Angst und Not." With Rudolph Becker, a past president of the Sängerbund, officiating at the ceremony, the Sängerbund then sang Schubert's "Wanderers Nachtlied," the poem by Goethe. Jean Bischof Crabil presented a brief history of the Cemetery. Mindful that Prospect Hill Cemetery is what is known in Germany as a Waldfriedhof, the Sängerbund concluded with "Abschied vom Walde: O Täler weit, O Höhen." Volker Schmeissner, President of the German-American Heritage Society, emphasized in his address the importance of the Cemetery to German Americans in the Nation's Capital and the need to preserve it for future generations. Rev. Martin Burmeister, Assistant Pastor of the Concordia Church, developed this theme further in his Message. He said:
"Die Erinnerungen und Erfahrungen einer Generation gehen verloren, wenn sie nicht festgehalten werden. Jede Gesellschaft und jede Kultur errichtet deshalb Symbole und Zeichen der Erinnerung. Das können Denkmale sein oder besondere Feste und Gedenktage. Der französische Soziologe Maurice Halbwachs hat das einmal das 'kollektive Gedächtnis' genannt. Die Erinnerungen und Erfahrungen der vorangehended Generationen bleiben aber nur erhalten, wenn die Stätten der Erinnerung auch gepflegt werden. Kümmert sich niemand darum, dann verfällt das kollektive Gedächtnis,' und so wie das Unkraut über Steine wächst, wächst auch das Vergessen über die Geschichte der vorangegangenen Generationen."
Prospect Hill Cemetery is one such place of remembrance for German Americans in the Nation's Capital. Here the memory of the contribution of past generations of immigrants can be nurtured. But that will be possible only if the Cemetery is morally and financially supported by the German-American community of the Washington area. There are about 14,000 persons buried in Prospect Hill Cemetery, 9,000 to 10,000 of them adults. The vast majority are of German heritage. Most persons buried there immigrated to Washington in the 19th century. There are, of course, also recent burials, and quite a few lots are still available today.
Until the American Civil War, the U.S. Capital was little more than a village on the Potomac. It was noted for the magnificent distances between its few public buildings - but little else. Washington, D.C., did not become what might be called a city until the time during and shortly after the Civil War. Despite this building boom, Washington did not become a magnet for immigration. In the 1870's, about 9 percent of the adult male population of all races was Irish; 7 percent, German; and each of the other ethnic groups boasted no more than 2 percent. There was no large ethnic enclave in Washington. But despite their small numbers, the Germans made a unique contribution to the creation of the Cityof Washington; they provided an inordinate number of skilled craftsmen.
The Memorial Day ceremony was sponsored by the German- American Heritage Society of Greater Washington, D.C., Concordia Church and the Prospect Hill Lot Owners Association (President: Carol Holler; Secretary: Carolyn Rossmiller; Treasurer: Jean Bischof Crabill; Trustees: Rudolph Becker, Annita Carmank, Albert Reitz and Henry Fankhauser).
After the Memorial Day service, Superintendent Dennis Olson led the guests through the Cemetery. Everyone agrees that Mr. Olson and his wife Joan have performed far beyond the call of duty in maintaining and sustaining an important place in German- American collective memory-Prospect Hill Cemetery.
For more information on the Cemetery read The Immigrants and Their Cemetery: The Story of Prospect Hill by Jean Bischof Crabill available from Prospect Hill Cemetery, 2201 North Capitol Street, NE, Washington, D.C. 20002-1103. Tel. 202-667-0676. Also, The Families of Prospect Hill: Prospect Hill Cemetery, Washington, D.C., 1858-1997 by the same author and source. Website of Prospect Hill: http://www.prospecthillcemetery.org
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by Jean Crabil
delivered at Prospect Hill Cemetery on Nov. 1, 2009
at the Memorial Service in honor of ‘Totensonntag’
Prospect Hill Cemetery opened just a couple of years before the outbreak of the Civil War. Before the War’s end, nearly 180,000German immigrants nationwide enlisted and fought as soldiers almost totally on the Union side.
Some saw the war to save the Union as their second fight for freedom, a continuation of the German Revolution of 1848-49, especially since some of their leaders – Carl Schurz, Friedrich Hecker, Franz Sigel – were the same men under whom they served in Germany. They knew they were fighting not only for the preservation of the Union and democracy, but also for human rights – for the liberation of the slaves, and for themselves.
Although over the years little has been written about these German immigrant soldiers, their presence was very important in the outcome of the War. Confederate General Robert E. Lee is known to have said that if he could take the Dutch (Deutsche) out of the Union Army, the South could easily win the war. Their contributions were also recognized by Abraham Lincoln, who, in a letter to one of his generals, stated that ”the Germans are true and patriotic”.
The Union army allowed immigrants to form their own units, elect their own officers, and speak their native language. In Washington, DC, this was the 8th Battalion, especially Company A, of the DC Volunteers or Infantry. President Lincoln referred to them as his ”faithful Germans” and selected them to be his guards at his inauguration in March 1861.
Known as ”Gerhardt’s Company” (under the leadership of Joseph Gerhardt), or the ”Turner Rifles”, these young men were initially assigned to perform guard duty at Washington’s public building and at the roads and bridges which gave means of entrance into the city. Once the city because secure with the arrival of about 75,000 soldiers from the north, the 8th Battalion became the advance guard in the first movement into Virginia. They followed General Stone up the Potomac Rive as far as Harper’s Ferry. Later they were stationed at Great Falls to protect the waterworks which supplied Washington with water.
We know of nearly 200 Civil War veterans who now rest at Prospect Hill. More than half lived in Washington and served in its 8th Battalion. Others enlisted elsewhere, came to Washington, and remained here after the war. And most likely there are those buried here whose military status is unknown to us; this would be particularly true of those buried here during the war.
As you look out upon the grounds of this cemetery you can see numerous Civil War headstones; others have no stones by which to be identified. We owe our deepest gratitude to all of them for their role in keeping their – and our – homeland united.
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First DC residents to give their lives during the Civil War
by Gary Carl Grassl (2014)
WHEN ABRAHAM LINCOLN arrived in Washington for his first inauguration, he faced the threat of assassination. One of the few armed units the President-elect could rely on in pro-Southern Washington was the 325-member Deutsche Jäger or German marksmen. These volunteer militiamen had assembled in January 1861 to protect the Capital City. They consisted of members of the Turner Rifles, the Washington Schützenverein and other German- American organizations. They helped protect Lincoln during his inauguration on March 4. They shielded him from potential assassins by marching beside and behind the open carriage that carried him to the U.S. Capitol and back to the White House; at the same time, green-coated sharpshooters occupied roofs of houses along the Pennsylvania Avenue inaugural route. President Lincoln called them his "faithful Germans."
Gen. Winfield Scott, the supreme commander at the outbreak of the Civil War, ordered one of the first Federal offensives of the conflict when he sent a 2,500- man force under Col. Charles P. Stone to secure Montgomery County along the Potomac River. Scott intended to cut off the flow of supplies into Virginia and reopen the blocked Chesapeake & Ohio Canal.
By 11 June 1861, Stone had established his headquarters in Rockville, MD, and dispatched troops to nearby river towns and crossings. Captain Joseph Peter Gerhardt from Bonn was assigned the command of the 8th Battalion of District of Columbia Militia during this Rockville Expedition. In this unit were assembled the various German- American militia contingents including the Turner Rifles. On 10 June, the Battalion arrived at Tennallytown, District of Columbia. Tenleytown (modern spelling) is at the intersection of Wisconsin and Nebraska Avenues. From downtown D.C., the shortest route would have been via Wisconsin Ave. The 8th Battalion was ordered to Tennallytown to guard the lines of communications with Washington headquarters.
On 21 June 1861, the Battalion was ordered via Aqueduct Road (today MacArthur Blvd.) to Camp Great Falls on the Maryland side of the Potomac River. The 8th was sent there to protect the pipeline that carried Washington's drinking water beneath Aqueduct Road.
The Great Falls of the Potomac are about 14 miles north of Washington, D.C. The Potomac River Aqueduct Intake Dam (5900 MacArthur Blvd.) is a few hundred feet upstream from Great Falls. This dam is between Conn and Olmstead Islands, near the Great Falls Tavern Visitor Center. From there the water flows along the Aqueduct to two reservoirs just west of Georgetown. Construction began in 1853, and portions of the Aqueduct went online in 1859 (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, "Washington Aqueduct").
On July 7th, at an early hour, about 200 Rebels appeared at the Virginia side of the Great Falls and commenced firing. The German-American 8th Battalion returned the fire from the Maryland bank; after the exchange of a few volleys, the enemy retired. However, the secessionists returned in the afternoon about 5 o'clock with reinforcements comprising a body of cavalry. The firing was kept up with spirit on both sides for several hours, and two men of Company B were struck. They were Privates John Ricks (30) and Martin Ohl (29). John Ricks is called "Henry" Ricks in a German account of this incident, and he is listed among the active members of the Washington Sängerbund (Frank Pierce, The Washington Saengerbund: A History, p. 13). Why "John" and "Henry" for the same man? In the traditional German naming system, boys were routinely baptized John or Johannes after the chief saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist. To avoid confusion, a second name was added; this was the Rufname or call name. Thus to Germans, John Henry Ricks would be known as Henry Ricks except on a few formal occasions where John would also come into play. But for Americans, John would be the first name and Henry only the middle name, reduced to an H if used at all.
To continue with the action: Third Lieutenant Anton Becker, Adjutant, 8th Battalion D.C. Militia, reported to Brigadier General Joseph Mansfield:
“Have been fighting all day; fighting when I left at 7 o'clock this p.m. One man killed on our side. We want re- enforcements. Are not strong enough to hold our position. We want a surgeon. Please answer.”
The enemy fired from all along the Virginia shore from Dickey's Tavern (in old Mathildaville) to above the Great Falls. Gerhardt's sharp shooters emptied several saddles on the other side before the Rebs retired. However, Privates Ricks and Ohl died in this skirmish on 7 July 1861 at Great Falls. Both were married men. The last words of Ohl to his wife were not to grieve for him; "he died for liberty and his country." Their bodies were transported down the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal; the funeral was conducted from the District of Columbia Armory on Armory Square (the site of today's Air & Space Museum). There was a considerable turnout of the military, who escorted the two fallen comrades to the new German cemetery (Prospect Hill), at the head of North Capitol Street. Various companies were represented including the Turner Rifles. This was apparently the first burial of soldiers of the District of Columbia killed in defense of the Union. (Nearly 200 Civil War veterans are known to be buried in Prospect Hill Cemetery, which opened in 1859. One hundred thirteen lived in Washington and served in its 8th Battalion.)
This battalion of District of Columbia Militia returned to Washington, D.C., at 12 PM on 10 July 1861. As stipulated by law, it was mustered out of service between 10 and 24 July 1861. The muster role contained 397 names.
Colonel Stone, Inspector General, District of Columbia Militia, declared:
“I have commanded many troops in my time, but none more willing and anxious to do their whole duty as soldiers than were the majority of the District of Columbia Volunteers of April - July 1861. I know that they deserve well of this country. I firmly believe that they saved the nation from the disgrace and calamity of an abandonment of the capital by the constituted authorities of the time.”
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| The skirmish line of the 8th Battalion of D.C. Militia would have reached from the Great Falls Tavern parking lot down to Bear Island. They were there to protect the Aqueduct that conveyed drinking water from the Potomac river to Washington, D.C. As can be seen on the map, the Aqueduct Dam directs the flow of water to the Aqueduct intake near the Great Falls Visitor Center. From there the Aqueduct conducts the water beneath MacArthur Boulevard to reservoirs in Georgetown. | Above is the fenced-in D.C. Armory Square between 4th and 7th Streets, SW, on Independence Avenue (where horse-drawn vehicles may be seen). The tall building on the right is the D.C. Armory, which was erected in 1856. The funeral of Privates Henry Ricks and Martin Ohl was held in the Armory prior to their burial in Prospect Hill (German) Cemetery on North Capitol Street. The bodies were conveyed by canal boat from Great Falls, MD, down the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal; its extension called the Washington City Canal ran about three blocks north of the D.C. Armory (along today's Constitution Ave.). The smaller buildings in Armory Square are temporary hospitals. The Smithsonian's National Air & Space Museum stands here today. The artist placed the Capitol in a visually advantageous (but wrong) position. |
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Die Urväter der Vereinigten Kirche
by Gary Grassl
delivered at Prospect Hill Cemetery on Nov. 1, 2008
at the Memorial Service in honor of ‘Totensonntag’
Jacob Funck, who had laid out Hamborg in Foggy Bottom, declared that in 1768 he had received 5 pounds current money for a lot and burial ground for a German Presbyterian Church and likewise 5 pounds for a German Lutheran Church. These lots passed into the ownership of the church founded in 1833 at 20th and G Streets, NW, Washington, D.C. They formed the material basis for this church. It is known today as the United Church?Die Vereinigte Kirche. This congregation celebrated its 175th anniversary this year. From this church emerged the Washington Sängerbund and Prospect Hill German Cemetery.
Funck’s statement was witnessed by Anthony Gosler and Daniel Reinzel. Gosler is mentioned in the 1783 assessment and the 1790 census as living with his family in Georgetown. We know a little more about Daniel Reinzel or Reintzel. Johannes Daniel Reintzel was born in 1755 in Berks County, Pennsylvania. The 1783 assessment has him living in Georgetown. In the fall of 1793, Daniel was appointed by the Commissioners of the new Federal City to help conduct a drawing to raise money for the construction of public buildings. At the beginning of the 19th century, he is living in his house on M and 33rd Streets. (It stood there until 1967.) We also know that he was Presbyterian; therefore, we may assume that he represented the German Presbyterians or Reformierte. Gosler probably represented the Lutherans. Reformed and Lutherans united as die Deutsche Evangelische Gemeinde Concordia. Evangelisch means Protestant.
Daniel Reintzel’s father, Johannes Valentine Reintzel Sr., arrived in Philadelphia in 1738 aboard the ship Friendship. The English spelled his name on the ship’s manifest as “Valatin Rinisell.” He was a Palatine or Pfälzer, and he boarded the ship in Rotterdam, Holland.
Daniel’s mother was Maria Sarah Riegel; she was from around Kaiserslauten, Rhineland. They were married in 1740 in Pennsylvania. After her death, the father moved to Georgetown, Province of Maryland, around 1767. He died in Georgetown after 1790.
Funck’s statement is not dated, but it was written around 1770. In that case, Daniel Reintzel would have been only 15 when he witnessed Funck’s affidavit. It is unlikely that the German Presbyterians of Georgetown would have sent an underage representative; therefore, it is more likely that he personally represented his father, Valentine Reintzel Sr. Thus, we may assume that it was Reintzel Sr. who put up the 5 pounds for the Presbyterian lot.
Daniel Reintzel became an officer of the Georgetown Masonic Lodge as did his brother Anton Reintzel. Masons enjoyed great prestige in 18th century America. Not only were George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Paul Revere, Lafayette as well as Lewis & Clark Masons but so were nine signers of the Declaration of Independence and thirteen signers of our Constitution. And so was Jacob Funck.
Daniel’s younger brother, Johannes Valentine Reintzel Jr., was a Georgetown Councilman and merchant.
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source: History of The Grand Lodge of Masons, District of Columbia |
Valentine Reintzel became Worshipful Master of the Georgetown Lodge of Masons in 1793. As such, he assisted George Washington in laying the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol. After crossing the Potomac, Washington was received in Georgetown by his Alexandria Lodge and by the Georgetown Lodge headed by Valentine Reintzel. From there they marched in solemn procession to the President’s Square, where they refreshed themselves. (The President’s House was still in the process of construction.) Then, “The procession marched two a- breast, in the greatest solemn dignity, with music playing, drums beating, colors flying, and spectators rejoicing; from the President's Square to the Capitol, in the City of Washington…” (Columbian Mirror & Alexandria Gazette).
They reached the SE corner of what was to become the Capitol of the United States. There Washington, Reintzel and three other Masonic dignitaries stepped into a trench. Here they helped Washington cement a large silver plate to a stone bed. It read, “This South East corner Stone of the Capitol of the United States of America in the city of Washington, was laid on the 18th day of September 1793, in the thirteenth year of American Independence, etc.” The cornerstone was lowered onto this plate by means of block and tackle. After the ceremony, the participants feasted on a roasted oxen weighing 500 pounds. Washington handed the gavel that he had used to Worshipful Master Reintzel. This gavel is being kept to this day in the vault of Riggs Bank on M Street and Wisconsin Avenue. It may be seen from the lobby through a window when the vault is open. It has been used on some other solemn occasions by the Queen of England and by several U.S. Presidents. In the Capitol building is a sculpture that shows Reintzel aiding Washington in laying the cornerstone. This ceremony is also captured in a huge mural in the George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria, VA.
From 1803 to 1808, Valentine Reintzel served as Mayor of Georgetown. Reintzel lived in a three-story brick house on the west side of Jefferson Street between the C&O Canal and K Street. Here’s where his lodge met. In 1811, the lodge erected a hall at the NW corner of Thomas Jefferson St. and the C&O Canal; this building is still standing. In 1811, Reintzel became the first Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia. He died in 1817 and was buried in the Presbyterian Cemetery in Georgetown. When this cemetery was moved, his Brother Masons re-buried his remains in 1907 in Glenwood Cemetery, which borders on Prospect Hill Cemetery. He lies in the Masonic Circle near the entrance to the cemetery. The Grand Lodge has instituted the Valentine Reintzel Medal, as an award for Meritorious Service; it bears his likeness.
For more information visit the web page Tour of German-American Sites in Georgetown, District of Columbia
1 This was actually the 16th year of
Independence.
2 This was actually the 17th year of
Independence.
by Jean Crabill
delivered at Prospect Hill Cemetery on Nov. 1, 2008
at the Memorial Service in honor of ‘Totensonntag’
In the 19th century, European emigrants typically had little property or education. The Germans were an exception. They came from all areas of Germany and represented all regional origins, educational levels, economic standing, and religious and political orientations. A sizable number were craftsmen who hoped to preserve their method of earning a living. Some chose Washington, DC as their new home.
Washington is unique because it is a planned capital city. George Washington envisioned the city not only as a seat of government but also as a thriving industrial metropolis. However, over the years the city never gained an industrial base, which until 1860 was one factor that kept the city from growing.
Until the Civil War began, Washington, DC, was a small Southern city. However, during this war the District of Columbia experienced a phenomenal growth of population, from 61,000 in 1860 to 110,000 citizens in 1870.
Meeting the needs of such rapid growth was not an easy task. Since Washington could not provide for its growing needs through increased local factory production the talents of craftsmen were especially important. It was especially during this period the German immigrant craftsmen made major contributions to the successful growth of the capital city.
A study of nearly 30,000 male workers in the 1870 federal census for the District of Columbia indicated that only 7% were from Germany. In addition, 9% here from Ireland and 2% from England. Men from many other countries made up another 3%. About one-quarter of American-born workers were skilled craftsmen, as were one-fifth of those from Ireland and a little more than one-third of those from Great Britain. In comparison, half of the Germans were skilled workers.
As the city grew so rapidly, it was the Germans who disproportionately helped meet the everyday needs of its citizens. More than half of the city’s bakers and confectioners were of German birth. Of skilled workers helping to meet the city’s need for nourishment and clothing, one-third were German, as were one third of the city’s cabinetmakers and upholsterers.
These immigrants also helped bring culture and beauty to the city. Four of the city’s five piano makers were German, as were nearly half of its watchmakers, and two-fifths of its jewelers. Saddle makers, gunsmiths, locksmiths, turners, instrument makers and model makers, they all made significant contributions to the rapidly-expanding nation’s capital city. It is important to remember that these percentages come from a group that made up only 7% of the city’s working male population.
Of the men buried here at Prospect Hill, who lived and worked in Washington in 1870, more than three-fifths were skilled craftsmen. Therefore, they not only reflect the total 1870 German immigrant percentage of skilled craftsmen, they exceeded it.
The German-American Prospect Hill Cemetery, established in 1858 and chartered by Congress in 1860, is one of the very few remaining reminders of the contributions German immigrants made to the growth of Washington during and after the Civil War. They enriched the nation’s capital city with their so-called “average presence” that made for a stable community. Their work and their place in the history of Washington, DC, should not be forgotten.
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Karl C. Braun and Frieda Rose Blank Braun
Karl C. Braun was born in Stuttgart, Germany, in February 1870. Frieda Rose Blank was born in Württemberg, Germany, on October 25, 1877.
Karl grew up attending a German preparatory school. He learned a variety of languages-French, German and English. After his schooling experiences, he fulfilled his two-year military service requirement by serving in the German Cavalry Unit. He was knowledgeable about proper military procedures for special events of state. This knowledge and expertise helped him gain employment as the personal valet to the Ambassador in Washington, DC. This was the beginning of Karl's career in the United States.
In 1896, at the age of 26, Karl traveled to America with the German Ambassador's entourage. They traveled by ship to Ellis Island, New York, and then by train to the German Embassy in Washington. In 1899 his wife, Frieda, came to America to make a new home.
Karl worked as the German Ambassador's personal valet. He eventually became the head butler supervising state dinners and special events.
The couple had five children. One son was born in Germany, and four children (three daughters and one son) were born in Washington, DC.
In 1911 Karl and Frieda decided to open the K.C. Braun Saloon and Restaurant. Karl was experienced in serving drinks made with any kind of spirits; Frieda was an outstanding cook who prepared hearty, home-cooked meals. Together they created an amiable atmosphere where Washingtonians could enjoy good food and drink. Their first place of business was at 1139 7th Street, NW; later they moved to 907 7th Street, NW, in Washington, DC.
The Braun family lived on the second and third floors over the saloon and restaurant. The saloon and two dining rooms were located on the first floor. Delicious German and American food and spirits were served to customers every day of the week except Sunday.
Karl and Frieda were members of the Lutheran Church. Karl belonged to the Masons and Shriners (3rd order) and also to a German singing society. The Braun family enjoyed singing engagements at German family gatherings around the Washington, DC, area. Frieda was a member of the Eastern Star. She enjoyed cooking, knitting, crocheting and embroidering.
When Prohibition became the law of the land, Karl and Frieda closed the K.C. Braun Saloon and Restaurant. They were not very happy about this political event in our nation's history. Purchasing one hundred acres of farmland in Aspen Hill, Maryland, they became tillers of the land and growers of crops. They often drove a truck filled with fresh fruits and vegetables into Washington, DC, to sell at the farm markets in town.
Karl C. Braun, 57, died on June 18, 1927, at his farm in Aspen Hill, Maryland. He died before the end of Prohibition in the United States. Frieda died on July 24, 1946, at the age of 68. "Karl and Frieda were wonderful German-born people who enjoyed life to the fullest. Throughout their lives, they shared their friendship and hospitality with friends, neighbors and relatives. These two unique individuals are buried in Prospect Hill Cemetery."
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