The Indianapolis Maennerchor
In 1854, six German men founded the Indianapolis Maennerchor or “Men’s Choir”. Their members formed the group to keep their German heritage alive in Indianapolis. Singing songs from Germany, their first public concert was on May 28, 1855. Within a year, they had turned from a small amateur choir to a recognizable group in the German American music scene. They performed in the National Saengerfest, or song festival, in Cincinnati in 1856. Almost eight hundred guests and forty-one musical societies attended a year later when they hosted the event in Indianapolis.
Nineteenth-century German immigrants in the United States made large contributions to American culture. The Maennerchor was just one of the recreational traditions brought over from Germany. German immigrants became one of the biggest immigrant populations in Indianapolis. They built large buildings meant to house social events. Sports clubs, playgrounds, and even bowling alleys were influenced by German culture. Concert halls for singing societies and the theatre were essential to their lives. By the late nineteenth century, men’s choirs were putting on performances in Indianapolis for thousands of audience members. Almost 50 years later, the National Saengerfest included seventy-five thousand visitors. It solidified Indianapolis as a site of German American culture.
The Maennerchor was not the only German performance group in Indianapolis. A symphony orchestra was created in 1895. Other societies like the Liederkranz, Frohsinn, and Lyra Society formed as well, inspired by the Maennerchor. A Mrs. Louis Schulmeyer organized the ladies’ section of the Indianapolis Social Turnverein in her home in 1878.
The Maennerchor had their final performance in 2018. Yet their legacy, and that of other German musical groups, continues in the orchestras, choirs, and music schools still in the city.
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