During the height of the Revolutions of 1848 in Europe, thousands of political refugees sought out asylum in distant lands. In particular, a large influx of German “Forty-Eighter’s” immigrated to the United States in hopes of finding success in the “New World.” As German influence rapidly gained ground in the West, America began to adopt numerous “Old World” traditions and customs. In terms of food and beverages, German lager beer gained quick acceptance among American crowds (Poelmans and Swinnen). The exponential growth of lager beer brewing and drinking in antebellum America affected public views of German immigrants. As a result, American attitudes toward lager beer were heavily influenced by how Americans viewed these central European immigrants. At times when German neighborhoods and customs were viewed with skepticism and caution, lager beer became a symbol of drunkenness and violence. However, when citizens of all nationalities celebrated the growing cultural diversity in the States, lager beer became a symbol of diversity and pride.
Although German Americans made up a significant part of the populace since colonial times, “Old World” traditions were relegated to German neighborhoods in large, eastern cities. During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, around 5 million Germans immigrants arrived in America (Bade). Immigrants brought German lager beer—a pale, almost gold colored beverage that did not carry the strength of whiskey or the price of European wine. Furthermore, lager beer brewing became widespread due to new knowledge about the composition and function of yeast (Poelmans and Swinnen).
As German neighborhoods rapidly sprung up throughout the Midwestern and Eastern United States, lager beer pubs became synonymous with negative feelings towards immigrants. News outlets in cities with large German American populations began to highlight crimes associated with drunkenness and German pubs. In Philadelphia, a lager beer saloon served as the setting of a violent stabbing during which a German immigrant was mortally wounded by a group of intoxicated men (Public Ledger). An 1857 riot in a German neighborhood near a lager beer hall produced anti-German, ethnocentric sentiments in America’s most populated city. According to the New York Tribune, a trial was held after a group of rowdy German immigrants fought a policeman near the hall. The article notes that German immigrants attending the trial viewed the evidence against their community as obstructed. Specifically, the immigrants believed that the man assigned to translate for German witnesses was biased toward the police (New York Tribune).
For the German American owners of lager beer pubs, ruined reputations and failing businesses threatened their ability to pursue their rendition of the “American Dream.” Occasionally, some of these owners resorted to dramatic actions to maintain their livelihood in the United States. In 1861, a German owner was placed on trial for setting his lager beer saloon on fire as an attempt to salvage insurance from his failing business (New York Herald II). Similar cases portrayed lager beer saloons with a theme of violence, reinforcing American skepticism toward German culture.
Although German lager beer symbolized foreignness and drunkenness, the idea of an “American Melting Pot” of culture simultaneously gained favorable attention. For example, real estate owners offered property to sell lager beer in daily newspapers. One classified ad in the New York Herald offered “first rate stands” for liquors and lager beer to any wealthy businessman (New York Herald III). By 1854, increased availability of lager beer in the United States lead prominent newspapers to commemorate the beverage and its heritage. Readers in Washington, D.C. were provided with a raving account of the state of lager beer in the United States. According to the “Daily Globe,” lager beer pubs were commonplace in “almost every city and town” with a large German population. For the typical German travelers, it was typical to find their “national beverage” in cities around the world. Additionally, the paper provided a staggering estimation of the number of German breweries in the U.S. (as high as five-hundred in 1854), while praising famous New York breweries such as “Gilley’s” and “Shaefer’s” for their alcohol output (Daily Globe). Years later, when the country began to prepare for a costly Civil War, Union soldiers aboard German ships attempted to find solace in their newfound taste. According to one Civil War soldier in the early 1860’s, “a sigh for ‘lagor’” was one of the only forms of comfort considering the stern reality placed before him (New York Herald I). Incorporation of lager beer into the American diet enforced the idea of a blending of cultures in an “American Melting Pot.” By supporting the diversity inherent in the production and consumption of lager beer, Americans were also accepting a foreign culture.
When celebrating the contributions of German heritage toward the unique diversity of America, citizens and immigrants found common ground in lager beer. A hotbed for immigration from all European countries, New York City became a common host for large cultural parades. To the readers of the New York Herald, a German-theme parade in the 1860’s offered a positive outlook on the identify of America as a land of immigrants. During the parade, thousands of New Yorkers reveled in German music, banquets, and picnics.
Additionally, the roads of New York City were marked by “a heterogeneous mass” of lager beer glasses (New York Herald IV). Heritage parades similar to the German parade of New York City provided an ensuring picture of German immigration to the majority of Americans. After viewing the diverse traditions of a rich “Old World” culture, Americans were enlightened by the sense of community held by people previously living four thousand miles away. Festivals like the New York City parades highlighted America for its unique ability to foster the coexistence of diverse cultures.
In antebellum cities where German American communities thrived, hints of lager beer—a beverage enjoyed by “New” and “Old World” cultures—were evident. Therefore, when German community events garnered negative publicity, lager beer reprised its role as the great unifier. In 1854, media publicity attributed a destructive torchlight procession in Albany to the actions of German American citizens. Rallying pro-German American sentiment, an anonymous citizen wrote to the editors of the Albany Evening Journal. According to the citizen, it was improbable to believe the members of the German American community caused the chaotic event because the expenses from the procession actually cost German brewers a considerable amount of money. The writer also noted that it was unlikely that the German Americans would designate a lager beer hall as the site of the procession since it held a great sense of community and pride (Albany Evening Journal). The citizen’s strong defense of German Americans presents a gateway to popular views of the subject. Americans that defended German communities from anti-immigration sentiment highlighted the importance and adoption of culture diversity in the increasingly global United States.
While newspapers offered a written account of lager beer’s American legacy, advertisements provided a pictorial form. To this effect, it is not surprising that the Valentin Blatz Brewing Company decided to appeal to its German lineage in an 1879 advertisement for its “Milwaukee Lager Beer.” The Company may have created the advertisement due to the desirable position of Lager Beer as an everyday, light beer with a rich European history. Moreover, the advent of a “Milwaukee” lager beer promised for an assimilation of German and American preferences in alcohol. By devoting the bottom half of the advertisement to a portrait of the Valentin Blatz brewery, the advertisement creator is honoring American sensibilities. The “New World” brewery is in touch with industrial time—dark plumes of smoke and Victorian-style buildings bring about connotations of the Industrial Revolution. Meanwhile, the top half of the advertisement glorifies the rich, “Old World” heritage of German lager beer. The elderly German women—in a traditional dress—holds an outdated brewing vessel and a single glass of dark spirits. Instead of industrial buildings, she stands between leafy vines. Directly below her is the German phrase, prost – which shares a meaning with the English drinking phrase, toast (Val Blatz’s Advertisement). By paralleling the traditional Bavarian beer master with the industrial American brewery, the 1870’s advertisement manages to take advantage of the robustness of lager beer. The portrayal of German heritage as rich and enduring supplements the favorable opinion of an American version of lager beer. Yet even though it held an ambivalent reputation, German lager beer has become undoubtedly American since its remarkable early years in America
The rapid 19th century immigration of Europeans to the United States brought about an immediate impact on daily life and diversity in the streets of booming cities. The adoption of German customs, especially the consumption and distribution of lager beer, provided a unique landscape for celebration and condemnation of cultural diversity. European immigration provided Americans with new foods and traditions that successfully battled colonial customs. As a result, lager beer saloons exponentially grew throughout German neighborhoods, garnering high visitation from American crowds. Yet, the combination of plentiful alcohol and excessive drinking also made these saloons the sites of violence and crime. As ethnic German neighborhoods became associated with antagonistic values, lager beer acquired a troublesome reputation that added to the temperance movement of the time. Yet, even though it held an ambivalent reputation, German lager beer has become undoubtedly American since its remarkable early years in America. Today, billion dollar brewing companies such as Anheuser-Busch and Coors Brewing Company owe their livelihood to those 19th century German immigrants and their cherished beverage.
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Published by Wittemann Bros. Lith., New York. Lithograph possibly by Moritz Ulffers (1819-1902)