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Truth & Wisdom
North Bergen, NJ
Verein Geschichten - 2
German Club Histories -  2
Plattduetsche Vereen - Seattle, WA
German Heritaqe Society

       Plattduetsche Vereen - Seattle
      100th Jubilee - September 2007
                    German House
                   613 - 9th Avenue
         Seattle, Washington 98104




                 

The Management

Johnny Meyer
President
Phone & Fax: 425-226-7842
E-Mail: Plattsnackerjohn@aol.com
18257 SE 144th Place
Renton, WA 98059

Christel Koehler
Vice-President
Phone: 425-483-9118
E-Mail: Lutzkohler@yahoo.com

Bruno Slam
Oldgesell
Phone: 425-487-2059

Christa Pulse
Schrieversche
Phone: 425-486-2062
E-Mail: Pulsgoy@aol.com

Lutz Koehler
Treasurer
Phone: 425-483-9118
E-Mail: Lutzkohler@yahoo.com

Doete Happ
Welcome Board
Phone: 425-392-9128
E-Mail: DHapp2@aol.com

Meetings:

2nd Sunday of the Month
2:00 P.M.
German House

                       History of

The Plattdeutsche Verein Seattle

                       By Johnny Meyer
                  President, 1996 - Present

A look back into the history of the Plattdeutsche Verein, Seattle.....

To some of you, especially our new members, it may sound a bit strange,
but our old timers, they went right through it.  They experienced all the
changes over the years.  And I hope none of you will ever forget these
changing times.

It started in 1907 as a Club that helped other immigrant members overcome
hardship.  Seattle was a hustling, bustling, rough, tough town.  There were
no high rise buildings.  This town catered to the lumberjacks and later on to
the gold diggers bound for Alaska.

The founders of the Plattdeutsche Verein were mainly from the northern
region of Germany, from the borders with Holland to the eastern borders of
Schlesien.  Our founders came from the regions of Ostfriesland,
Ammerland, Munsterland, Oldenburg, Bremen, Osnabruck, Hannover,
Hamburg, all of Schleswig Holstein, all of Mecklenburg, and all of Pommern
and Schlesien.  All of these regions spoke Plattdeutsch; each region in
their own way.  Sometimes one could not understand the other, even so, it
all was Plattdeutsch.  That is how it is even today, but the keyword was
Plattdeutsch or Low German.

In the early years, if anyone wanted to become a member of this Club, here
in Seattle, he or she had to go outside of the meeting room, and the
membership would talk about him or her to either accept or reject that
person.  Then there was a time when new members would be voted in by
the board only, with the help of a Box with black and white marbles.  This
brown box had the Motto of the men,
Jungs holt fast, inscribed on one side
and
Plattdeutscher Verein on the other side.   The ceremony went like this:  
A volunteer out of the membership would give each board member one
black and one white marble.  After a few minutes the impartial volunteer
would come by again with the wooden box which had a sliding lid on it and
two compartments to collect the marbles.  He woule hold the box in front of
each board member and collect one marble from each, five in all.  After
collecting the marbles, the voiunteer would count the marbles and show
the membership the color of each marble.  If one black marble emerged, the
applicant for membership was rejected and no one kew who said no.  This
term was also known as being black balled.  A full time guard stood by the
door and would either let that person back in, or inform that person that he
or she had been black balled.  If a person was accepted, then numerous
questions had to be answered, to make sure that the Plattdeutsche
language was understood and spoken, because from  then on, every word
tat was not spoken in Plattdeutsch, would cost the speaker five cents.  That
is how they raised money.

The Box, the Table as well as the Books that were used in those early days
to keep track of and or establish membership or rejecton , still exist to this
day, but of course are no longer being used.

All of the correspondence, the club had to do, was individually sealed with
a stamped seal.  This was done with letters as well as Membership cards,
certificates, and some special admission tickets.  This practice still
continues today.

Then came the first war and a depression  to follow;  money was hard to
come by.  It was then decided to create a Sterbekasse or aka as a funeral
account, and even  today in the basement at the German House, we have
the table, as  mentoned before, that was used to collect the money.  It was
made from  a tree root and has a big bowl in the middle of it where the
money would be deposited.  The funeral account made it possible, that
when someone of the membership died, at least he or she could be buried
with honors.

The time of the Second World War again brought major changes.  The
German House was taken over by the Government and became a hospital;  
there were no more meeting or dances.  It all had to be done in private
homes.

After the War, the German House came  back to the Clubs, mainly the
Hermann Soehne and Schwestern, the Arion Gesang Verein, the two
Plattdetsche Vereine, and the German Church.  At one time there was a
Turner Verein, a Skat Club and a Schuetzen Verein, but they came and
went.  Only a few clubs survived, and today of those
very early ones. we
have only the German Church, the Arion Gesang Verein and the
Plattdeutsche Verein that remain.  Many new organizations have formed in
later years and became a part of
The German House.

Many, many people came and went through the doors of the German
House.  In 1960 when I first came to the dances, there was standing room
only.  No band would be playing; it was all recorded music.  People from
many European countries would be up there;  it was an international
gathering.  These gatherings were frequent, often on more than one night
per week.

The liquor laws were different in those days.  At 12:00 midnight the lights
were turned on, and all drinks had to come off the tables.  No one said that
the drinks could not be under the table, in the back of the piano, or on the
window sill behind the curtain.  After the lights were dimmed down again,
and dancing commenced, then is when the real parties began.  A
policeman had to be there at all times.  That is where John Elliott came in.  
His wife, Marie Elliott, was a permanent fixture in the kitchen until just a few
years ago.  Also, there were the Boeglies; Paul and Francis, the presidents
of the Plattdeutsche Maenner - and Plattdeutsche Frauen Verein.  There
were Millie and Anton  Althoff, Rudi Abraham, playing the Hammerschmied.  
There were Bernhard Conrad and Edith Muller with her crazy jokes.  
Adelheid Mueller always lending a hand, and Lieschen Langanka was busy
up there for years and years.  There was Max Hofstaeter from Bavarian
Meats, and there was Gunter Kurz with his goatee, sitting downstairs and
collecting admission for the dances.  Teenage girls often worked
downstairs in the cloakroom to earn themselves some extra money.  Elsie
Last was an influential person in gettin g the attention of young men
towards her vast repertoire of young ladies in need of a partner.

These are just a few of all the old timers that come to mind.  Many, many,
more enjoyed the good times up there for years and years and then they
silently left us.

The 1980s saw the beginning of a new era.  Ingeborg Grotheer was the
president for 18 years of the then separate Plattdeutsche Frauen Verein.  
Walter Grotheer. as president of the Plattdeutsche Manner Verein,
originated a major renovation  of the German House, inside and out.

Remember the good times we had at the Richtfest up there, when we
celebrated our remodeling up and downstairs.  Remember the discussions
we had to create a new flag for the Plattdeutsche Verein, and that it took
Gerlinde and Theo Pospischiel one and a half hears to create our beautiful
new banner.  Remember the inauguration ball we had when this new flag
was initiated and hoisted to the ceiling of the ballroom, and from then on at
every event of the Plattdeutsche Verein, even to this day.  Remember when
we set up a Maibaum in  the ballroom a nd danced under and around it?

Remember the verbal fight we had up there about whether or not to unite
the two Plattdeutsche Verein, the Plattdeutsche Frauen Verein and the
Plattdeutsche Maenner Verein?  In January, 1997, the two Plattdeutsche
Vereine finally did merge, but only after many discussions and heated
arguments.

From then on and to the present time, the men meet downstairs to discuss
business (have a Schnaps) and the women upstairs to plan the next meal,
etc. for our meetings.  After half an hour, both groups get together and a
single club meeting is being held, instead of the two, as in the past.  A few
minor changes had to be made from  time to time, but overall it became an
orderly fun afternoon, once a month.  The club steadily grew, and has, at
the present time, close to 100 members.  Currently we have about ten
percent of the membership that are honorary members.  Either health or
age are a reason for non participation, and at the same time on many a
Sunday afternoon, new people show up and subsequently apply for
membership.

The many dances that the Plattdeutsche Verein once sponsored had to be
cut back from the original 9 dances per year, to the present 3 dances per
year.  Now only a spring dance, a boat or bus tour, a picnic, a fall dance
and a Gala New Years Eve Ball, together with our monthly meetings, is
what keeps the membership entertained.  The men of the Plattdeutsche
Verein also enjoy camaraderie and good fellowship at our annual
Dickbunksdag (large stomach day), held each year in May.  The ladies, on
the other hand, enjoy the hospitality of a well known restaurant in town
once a year.

The meetings are being called to order with the sound of a large ship's bell.
 A greeting by the President, and then a short introduction of our guests
and the newly admitted members follows.  The reading of the minutes is
being read in German, while the rest of the meeting is being held in English.

A short hospital report, a financial report, celebration of birthdays, and
other announcements of upcoming events follow.  The Heimat-Buehne is
the place where each member may come forward and tell stories of his or
her homeland, family, exciting trips, even a good joke or short poem is not
being denied.  Usually the smell of food brings another meeting to its end,
and dinner is being served.

Yes, dear members and friends of the Plattdeutsche Verein, many a change
has come over our Plattdeutsche Verein, and many will follow, I am sure of
that.  I have been coming here to the German House for over 47 years now.  
I am now a member of this club since 1989, and believe this Club and our
German House is about as good as it ever has been.  I sincerely hope that
this Club can  survive well beyond our 100th Birthday.

=========================================


   German Heritage Society
          German House
          613 - 9th Street
Seattle, Washington 98104

             206-682-1574









The German Heritage Society promotes the preservation of heritage,
language and culture of all German speaking people and those of German
ancestry, and promotes unity, cooperation and goodwill between all
German speaking organizations and individuals in the Pacific Northwest
and administers the affairs of the German House.  In 1934 the United States
Assay Offce on Ninth Avenue in Seattle (built 1885) was bought, became
the German House and has functioned for most German activities since.

                     Officers:

            President:  Manfred Bolender
         1st Vice President:  Lutz Koehler
   2nd Vice President:  Guenther Reinicke
          Treasurer:  Eckhard Schipull
            Secretary: Frauke Plummer
     Webmistress:  Annemarie Bolender

               Board of Directors:

       Maxa Burleigh, Gesangverein Arion
Guenther Reinicke, Maenner Gesangverein Frohsinn
     Christel Koehler, Plattdeutscher Verein
     Annemarie Bolender, Love to Tanz Club
Christian Heesemann, German United Church of Christ
     Lutz Koehler, German Retirement Home
                Norbert Hertl, Austria Club
  Carolyn Marquardt, Enzian Schuhplattler Verein
Gisela Rasmussen-Johnson, Hermann's Lodge Tacoma