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German Village
The German Village in Columbus,
Ohio has become a historic neighborhood just south of downtown, and
was settled by German immigrants in the 1850s; and who, at one time,
made up one third of the city populace. It was added to the National
Register of Historic Places in 1974 and in 1980, the borders were
enlarged. In 1796, Congress appropriated the Refugee Lands for
people that supported the colonial side in the Revolutionary War. A
veteran of that war, John McGowan claimed 328 acres of land that
would someday become the German village of Columbus. Over the years,
German immigrants came here and McGowan sold them tracts of land or
lots, and by 1814, the German village was born, at first called "die
alte sud ende" (the old south end) and the German immigrants would
help build the first statehouse. In 1830, a huge immigration of
Germans to the city had happened and the most influential German
newspaper in 1843 was "Der Westbote". Many of these immigrants would
fight in the Civil War and gained the admiration and trust of their
fellow citizens. One third of the city was German by 1865, and the
German neighborhood was thriving. These hard-working people built up
the neighborhood, with numerous businesses, churches and schools;
that were so much better than the other schools of the city, that
soon many English-speaking residents would go there for an
education. George Karb, German-American, became the mayor of the
city, twice, in the end of the 19th century and again at the start
of the 20th century. Because of the anti-German sentiment that
happened in the first part of the 20th century, the area suffered a
sharp decline, due mainly to the sinking of the Lusitania, which
killed many innocent women and children. The news media used this
event to demonize Germany and German-Americans; while the Germans
claimed that the ship was transporting weapons in a war zone, with
both the Americans and English claiming that no such thing occurred.
Unfortunately for them, a check of the wreckage happened in 2008 and
millions of rounds of ammunition were found among the ship's
wreckage. In the aftermath of this terrible event, German was
banned in the schools, and German textbooks burned, German street
names changed and Schiller Park renamed Washington Park. Even with
this hatred, the German-American community produced the city's best
war hero and one of the country's, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker,
which the southern Columbus airport is named after. The neighborhood
deteriorated even more during prohibition as the area's breweries
were closed down and after the war, the south end became zoned for
manufacturing, which caused many to leave the area. During WWII, the
street car tracks and wrought iron fences were taken for the war
effort and by the 1950s, it had fallen into a slum ruin. It was then
that the city destroyed one third of the neighborhood.
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