History of The Germans in Louisville - 1800s

1800s

By the 1850s 35% of Louisville's population would be German, totaling 18,000. Many of this number included a few Swiss and Austrians for whom German was their native language, and would often live amongst the Germans. This large population would introduce to Louisville two different concepts: bilingual education, and kindergartens. By 1854, Louisville public schools taught German. By 1900, 48,000 Louisvillains were at least half-German

The Germans would found many of the city's churches. The first was St. Paul's German Evangelical Church in 1836. Others included St. Peter's German Evangelical Church and St. John's Evangelical Church. Even the first synagogue was created by Germans, as Jewish immigrants from Germany created Temple Adath Israel in 1838. In total, thirteen churches in Louisville specifically catered to Germans.

Germans would also be instrumental in food. Butchertown got its name for the various meat-packing companies operated there by Germans, with some in Germantown as well. The most prominent of these meat-packers would be Henry Fischer's, whose Fischer Packing Company still exists today as a popular local brand of meat. Throughout the city there were bakeries and confectioners of German heritage. The German-speaking Swiss ran the nearby dairy operations.

It was not entirely peaceful for the Germans in Louisville, particularly politically. The "Forty-Eighters", who had come to the United States due to the Revolution of 1848, and these immigrants were big believers in Marxism and atheism. Their views being so foreign to most Louisvillians caused the Bloody Monday riots of 1855, as members of the Know-Nothing Party blocked their ability to vote, creating the worst riot in Louisville history, much of it centered in Butchertown. Also, they opposed Kentucky seceding to the Confederate States of America, and their strong support of Northern causes led to the first German-born mayor of Louisville in 1865, Phillip Tomppert. Even through they were pro-Union, most Germans remained with the Democratic Party as the Republican Party had too many former Know-Nothings as its membership.