Published by The Evansville Courier

First and second-generation families were concentrated on Evansville's North and West sides where they could attend German churches, send their children to German parochial schools, and do business with German merchants and banks.

The community celebrated Evansville's German heritage for many years during "German Day," an event that commemorated the first German immigration to America in 1683. German Day brought thousands together for a big parade and a festival featuring traditional food, drink and music.

The event was punctuated with speeches - most delivered in German - by prominent men of the day. A version of German Day still exists with the annual Volksfest put on by Germania Maennerchor.

German newspapers proliferated in and around Evansville at the turn of the century. Many appeared and disappeared, including The Union, Der Volksbote, and Die Indiana Post.

The Demokrat, founded in 1864, became one of the best and most successful German papers in the Midwest. Though the publication denounced the German Empire at the break of World War I, pressure from Evansville leaders and businessmen prompted editor Charles Lauenstein to print the last edition of the Demokrat in April 1918.

Anti-German sentiment already was evident in an earlier issue of the Demokrat, where Lauenstein advised the German community, "Do not speak in public about war or politics. Be calm. Keep quiet. Obey the laws and order."

Soon German language instruction was banned in public schools, Evansville churches stopped conducting German services, and German pastor George H. Siebeking was arrested for his own protection after allegedly making pro-German remarks from the pulpit.

As the war forced area Germans to disassociate themselves from ethnic roots, their distinctive cultural lines began to blend into the overall population mix. But the leadership of German citizens and their offspring continued to shape Evansville's growth and future profile. Names like Reitz, Karges, Bosse, Heilman and Boehne became a permanent part of the city's history.