Germania of Poughkeepsie Inc.
"Wo man singt, da lass dich ruhig nieder,
boese Menschen haben kein Lieder"
Where there is singing, don't remain quiet;
Angry men have no songs to sing.
Adolph Kuehn, at age 18, recently arrived in this country and loving the songs from his homeland, gathered other German men singers, and, on May 1, 1850, founded the Germania Singing Society, later incorporated as Germania of Poughkeepsie. On April 27, 1871, Germania was incorporated as "Germania of Poughkeepsie". Our constitution was ratified on December 18, 1872 by vote of the membership present at the general meeting. The constitution states our purpose as "the promotion of artistic taste in general and vocal music in particular". We are the oldest German singing society in New York outside of New York City.
In 1865, under the the direction of Adolph Kuehn, Germania marched in the parade to honor Abraham Lincoln as his funeral was being conducted in Washington, DC. In 1868, Germania held the first Sängerfest in Poughkeepsie. During the 1870's and 1880's, Germania held many concerts in and around Poughkeepsie.
In 1910, the Ladies Auxiliary (Frauen-Verein) was formed which was to become the Ladies Singers (Damenchor) in 1929 through the efforts of Mrs. Emelie Stauderman.
In 1925 the huge 75th anniversary celebration took place: the banquet was set for 500 people. Many of the societies of the Sängerbund sent representatives, over 150 in all. The Frauen-Verein presented Germania with a banner similar to the faded one that had been presented 75 years earlier by the wives and mothers of the original group of singers.
In 1941, Julius Hochmuth became director and continued in this position until 1983 when he retired.
The large celebration of the 100th Anniversary was directed by Mr. Hochmuth with Dr. Charles Gilbert Spross as accompanist.
In the late 1940s Mr. Hochmuth began a children's chorus and orchestra. Some of these children are still very active in Germania to this day.
The original chorus continued until the mid 1950's only to be revised again in the early 1960's. With the help of Janett Frank, Patricia Kemmerer and Katherine Ulrich this chorus grew to be one of the largest non-school sponsored youth choruses in the area. This chorus continued for a period of ten years under their guidance. At the same time the children's orchestra begun 1948 grew to combine with the adult orchestra and continued until Mr. Hochmuth retired in 1983.
The mixed chorus, made up of the two groups, has had a proud career singing in many opera houses and winning many competitions. Many trophies attest to their efforts. Throughout the history of Germania, able leadership by our music directors has made our successes possible. These direktors have been:
Today's Singers are a group of ladies and men who love to sing German and American songs. The group may be small, but they're big in Gemütlichkeit. They are a member club of the New York State Sängerbund and compete in the state-wide Sängerfests every three years.
At the 2000 Sängerfest in Buffalo our singers heard a children's chorus from the Buffalo area and were inspired to reinitiate the Germania Kinderchor. Music Director Helga Baker, Carol Reichert, and Susan Reichert set up Saturday rehearsals. Starting with only three children, the Kinderchor has grown to fourteen, performing at the singer's Fall and Spring concerts and in February at the German heritage TDays at the Poughkeepsie Galleria.
The Germania Singing Society performs
under the direction of current music director, Helga Baker,
at the Poughkeepsie Galleria in February 2004
as part of the German Heritage Days.
The current Musik Director, Helga Baker, continues the work of her predecessors admirably. The Ladies and Men's Chorus provides two formal concerts annually plus the many other performances in the area, as shown above. As mentioned above, practice is the key word and for ten months of the year, the group meets once a week.
Club President Pat Kemmerer says that they are always looking for new singers. They meet for rehearsals Mondays at 7:30pm. If you would like to add your voice, call the club phone and leave a message. (845)471-0609
1850-1853
1853-1857
1857-1865
1865-1872
1872-1874
1874-1911
1911-?
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1930-1940
1941-1983
1983-1984
1984-1988
1988-?
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1998-present
Mr. Umlauf
Professor Charles Grube
Mr. Reichert
Adolph Kuehn
Theodore Gehrig
Adolph Kuehn
Henry S. Bock
L. Birchard
Winfield Williams
Jacob Stumpf
Frank H. Kinum
Julius Hochmuth
Maris Kristapsons
Martin Heresniak
Jahn Galish
Ed Lundergam
Brian Abram
Steve Macaluso
Helga Baker
Germania Singers
