German American Clubs (in West Germany)
Within five years after the end of World War II, the role of the U.S. armed forces in Germany had been transformed from occupiers to allies and protectors. Along with this changed role, public affairs officials and commanders attempted to foster a spirit of friendship between American military communities and their German hosts.
German and American communities sponsored parades, concerts, Christmas singalongs, Easter services, and other public entertainment attended by civilians and military personnel. Much of this centered around music, a convenient way to overcome language barriers. For most Germans and Americans, occasional concerts or festivals were the only contact they had with each other, but some people sought more intensive interaction, joining clubs whose purpose was to allow friendship to develop.The first German American club, the Bad Kissingen Cosmopolitan Club, was founded in the summer of 1946 by Captain Merle Potter, a local military governor who saw the need for friendly interaction between victor and vanquished. When they learned of it, military authorities ordered Potter to disband the club, but Potter persisted, and he convinced General Lucius Clay, head of military government in the American Occupation Zone, that German American friendship should be encouraged. Clay assigned Potter to develop a network of German American friendship clubs throughout the American Occupation Zone.
The first national conference of German American clubs took place in Heidelberg in September 1947, with delegates from seventeen clubs. The following year, the clubs decided to ensure their independence by forsaking official military sponsorship and forming an umbrella organization of their own, the Federation of German American Clubs. Since then, there have been dozens of German American clubs, most of them established between 1945 and 1955.
Many were founded as men’s or women’s clubs; in 1947 only two of the seventeen clubs were exclusively for women, but by 1950, there were more women’s clubs than men’s.For almost 60 years, German American clubs have provided an opportunity for Germans and Americans to become acquainted in an informal, nonpolitical way. Many of the clubs’ early efforts focused on charity work for impoverished European families and children; the Pfennigparade or March of Dimes was a popular charitable cause for many clubs, for example. Other activities included discussion groups; theater, music, or sightseeing trips; and socializing around holidays. German American clubs have long organized student exchange programs and youth groups. They were also the original sponsors of German American Friendship Week, first held in 1952, during which musical performances, exhibits, lectures, and social activities were organized for the public. In later years, the public affairs offices of military communities took over the task of coordinating the friendship weeks, but club members continued to be a mainstay of participation. In the 1950s and 1960s, German American clubs sponsored formal balls and casino nights with the proceeds going to charity, but as entertainment and recreation tastes changed in the 1970s, many of these activities fell out of favor. Today, many clubs organize annual flea markets to raise money for their activities. Although the original membership of German American clubs came from the U.S. forces stationed in Germany, more recently, clubs have included American and British men and women with no connection to the U.S. forces in Germany.
Anni Baker
See also American Occupation Zone; GIs in West Germany; U.S. Bases in West Germany
References and Further Reading
Hawkins, John Palmer. Army of Hope, Army of Alienation: Culture and Contradiction in the American Army Communities of Cold War Germany. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2001.
Nelson, Daniel J. A History of U.S. Military Forces in Germany. Boulder: Westview Press, 1987.