AS OKTOBERFEST GETS under way, it’s good to remember that German culture is about more than just drinking beer. It’s also about eating meat. Of course, Chicago’s German population has contributed much more than that-THE CSO, to name just one-but that tended to be forgotten during the world wars. There was even a push in 1918 to change the name of GOETHE STREET to the easier-to-pronounce (for non-Germans anyway) Boxwood Place. But that was too much for the city’s Germans, who rose to defeat the proposal. ” ‘Goat Street’ it is,” sighed the Tribune.
Name the Germania Club adopted during World War I: LINCOLN CLUB.
Number of the 10 all-time greatest classical composers who were German, according to one authority: 9.
Liters of beer consumed at Munich’s Oktoberfest in 1950: 1.5 MILLION. In 2003: 6.3 MILLION.
Rank of Germans among the largest immigrant groups in Chicago in 1900: 1. Rank of Chicago-area residents of European descent who claimed German heritage in the 2000 census: 1.
“Enjoy when you can, endure when you must.”
–GERMAN POET JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE
– – –
Sources: Tribune archives, Encyclopedia of Chicago, “Classical Music: The 50 Greatest Composers and Their 1,000 Greatest Works” by Phil G. Goulding, Munich Tourist Office.
———-
nwatkins@tribune.com
