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Sebastian Walter: Enameling of German Immigrants

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Sebastian Walter: Enameling of German Immigrants Volume 28 No 1 • Winter 2018–2019 Germans at Old World Wisconsin Catherine Dallas Traditional German beer brewing demonstration at Old World Wisconsin ust as St. Patrick’s Day brings out drink, religious and political view- the Irish in everyone, Wiscon- points, and strong cultural identities Jsinites overwhelmingly embrace that still dominate the Badger State in the Gemütlichkeit that surrounds a a way we now lump together as “Ger- INSIDE host of German celebrations. Let’s man.” The state’s German immigrants face it, we couldn’t tell the story of are represented here at Old World • Annual Meeting 2019 Wisconsin without telling the story Wisconsin (OWW) on three different • Sebastian Walter: Enameling of German immigrants. People from Wisconsin farmsteads settled in the Pioneer and Benefactor 30-plus German states and city- 1860s, 1870s, and 1880s. The farm- • CD Review: Alpine Dreaming: states, speaking different dialects, and steads are composites—made up of The Helvetia Records Story, practicing distinctly different tradi- original buildings from thirteen dif- 1920–1924 tions immigrated to Wisconsin in the ferent German immigrant families all • Upcoming Events 19th century. By 1900, almost a third brought together here to preserve the • SGAS Symposium Program of all Wisconsinites had been born in structures themselves and to immerse a German state. They brought with our guests in their rich nineteenth- • Annual Meeting Registration them a diverse repertoire of food and Form Continued on page 8 Greetings, Friends in the context of local history and currently producing the material for culture, past and present. The post- the posters and working with a local and Readers! ers will address a number of topics, graphic designer. If all goes as planned, including immigration history, educa- the posters will be ready to display at ince neither Punxsutawney Phil tion, religion, language, community the SGAS Annual Symposium next nor our own Jimmy the Ground- life, and many more. Neighbors Past month! hog, a fellow resident of mine and Present will travel to communi- In addition to the symposium, we Sfrom Sun Prairie, saw his shadow this ties across the state, where the posters hope to see many of you at the MKI past February 2, we’re hopeful spring will be displayed in conjunction with Friends Annual Meeting, which will will indeed come early this year. In the various programming events featuring take place on Sunday, May 5, at Old meantime, MKI has been abuzz with MKI staff and local partners. During World Wisconsin. We are excited that activity. the grant period, we are planning to our banquet speaker will be long-time As I mentioned in our last newslet- bring the exhibit to Beloit, Eau Claire, MKI Friend and past Board Member, ter, we are excited to be hosting the Kiel, Marathon County, Milwaukee, Prof. Johannes Strohschänk, from Annual Symposium of the Society Oshkosh, and Spring Valley, but one UW–Eau Claire. for German-American Studies here exciting aspect of the project is that it Warm greetings to all our Friends, in Madison, April 11–13, 2019. The will continue for years after the grant and heartfelt thanks for your ongoing program features more than fifty di- has ended, with an aim to eventually support! verse presentations, with colleagues reach most of Wisconsin’s seventy-two — Mark joining us from across the country and counties. from Germany, Austria, and Brazil. Antje Petty, Kevin Kurdylo, and I are A special highlight is a public lecture on Friday evening by Professor Jürgen Overhoff, from the University of Mün- The Newsletter of the Friends of the Max Kade Institute for German-American Studies is ster, on the topic “Benjamin Franklin published three times a year at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Submissions are invited and the Germans: A Transatlantic and should be sent to: Encounter in the Age of Enlighten- Kevin Kurdylo ment.” Since this is the annual meeting Friends of the Max Kade Institute for German-American Studies of a professional organization, there is 432 East Campus Mall, UW–Madison, Madison, WI 53706–1407 a fee to attend, but students and MKI Phone: (608) 262–7546 Friends will receive special discounts. [email protected] All important information about the mki.wisc.edu symposium is accessible here: https:// sgas.org/symposium/. Just a few weeks ago we received Board of Directors, Friends of the Max Kade Institute the welcome news that MKI has been Joshua Brown Eau Claire awarded a Major Grant from the Wis- Karen Fowdy Monroe consin Humanities Council for a new Steven Geiger Wausau outreach project titled Neighbors Past Kay Gruling Wausau Mark Louden ex officio, Sun Prairie and Present: The Wisconsin German Fran Luebke Brookfield Experience. The tangible product of Todd Michalek Secretary, South Milwaukee this project will be a series of four- William Petig Watertown Antje Petty ex officio, Fitchburg teen high-quality retractable banner- John Pustejovsky President, Whitefish Bay posters that highlight the experiences William G. Thiel Vice President, Eau Claire of Wisconsin’s German-speaking Luanne von Schneidemesser Treasurer, Madison population and their descendants Don Zamzow Schofield 2 ANNUAL MEETING Friends of the Max Kade Institute Annual Meeting Sunday, May 5, 2019 Old World Wisconsin W372 S9727 HWY 67, Eagle, WI We look forward to holding the 2019 annual meeting of the Friends of the Max Kade Institute at Old World Wisconsin, in Eagle, WI. Founded in 1976, Old World Wisconsin is an open air museum with more than 60 historic structures brought from around the state, including three German immigrant farms from the 1860s, 1870s, and 1880s. We will enjoy a pri- vate, guided tram tour of all the grounds, followed by a walking tour of the German sites. Afterward we will move to the Clausing Barn for our annual meeting and a German-style buffet dinner. The Clausing Barn is an octagonal two-story structure that was built by German barn builder Ernst Clausing in 1897 in Mequon, Ozaukee County. Tying our day to- gether will be a lecture by Johannes Strohschänk, Professor of German at UW-Eau Claire, on “Old Wine in New Bottles, or Is Heimat Portable?” 1:00 - 1:30 Gathering for private tram tour after entering the grounds, next to the Ramsey Barn (entrance) * Admission to the OWW grounds is required. SEE BELOW for details and options 1:30 - 3:30 Private tram tour of OWW and walking tour of the German sites 3:30 - 4:00 Walk or ride the tram to Clausing Barn 4:00 - 5:00 Friends of MKI Business Meeting 5:00 - 5:30 Socializing / Cash Bar 5:30 - 6:30 Dinner 6:30 - 7:30 Presentation by Johannes Strohschänk Details, including registration information, a map of OWW, and directions, can be found at mkifriends.org PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED BY APRIL 15 See page 16 for registration form, or register online at mkifriends.org/annual-meetings/ Cost of program and dinner: $28 In addition, admission to Old World Wisconsin is required and allows you to stay on the grounds all day. Special MKI rate for admission: $16 Admission is free for members of the Wisconsin Historical Society. If you are not a WHS member, consider joining the WHS, and get free admission for yourself and a guest to this and all other WHS sites! Go to wisconsinhistory.org. Bring a friend — Make a Friend! Dinner purchase includes Friends of the MKI membership for the year 2019 for new Friends. If you have questions, contact Antje Petty at the Max Kade Institute (608-262-7546) [email protected] 3 Sebastian Walter: Pioneer of the Enameling Trade in America and Benefactor of His Hometown Helmut Schmahl, translated by Alex Halloway tanding before the town hall in Ober-Flörsheim, a municipality south of Alzey in the Rhine- Sland-Palatinate district of Germany, is an elaborate war memorial. It is adorned with a larger-than-life metal figure of a warrior and is dedicated to the veterans of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871. A plaque attached to the pedestal reveals the monu- ment was donated “out of love and gratitude” by Sebastian Walter from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, an emigrant from Ober-Flörsheim who had pros- pered as a manufacturer in the United States. Sebastian Walter was born in Ober- Flörsheim on March 29, 1848, the son of a day laborer. He completed an apprenticeship as a tinsmith in Sebastian Walter, ca. 1900 Alzey, and in 1866, at the age of 17, he emigrated to live with relatives in Streets, turning out product valued at annual turnover was half a million Milwaukee. He first worked in a hard- $300,000. dollars and the business capital was ware store and lived with his aunt. In The Kieckhefer Brothers and Sebas- one million dollars. Markets for 1874 he married Henrietta Harzbeck- tian Walter introduced several inno- enamel products such as lunch boxes, er, the daughter of a bricklayer who vations in the production of enamel steam boilers, cookware, tea and had emigrated from Saxony. After dishware, which soon prevailed coffee pots, ladles, and measuring working as a tinsmith for a while, nationwide. In 1890, Walter patented cups were primarily in the American Walter joined the Kieckhefer Brothers an invention, the jacketed can, which West, whose population was grow- Company as a foreman, and he soon provided a protective cover for oil ing faster than average. The firm had rose to the position of Superintendent cans made up of sheet metal, wood, branches in the Pacific coast cities of and partner. Kieckhefer Brothers be- and several straps. San Francisco and Portland as well as gan in 1880 making tinware and sheet Kieckhefer’s production facil- Denver.
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