German Fest

Airport Art Museum Beastie Beat Brew Buildings Discovery Museum Elderhostel Folk Festival German Fest Greek Church Harley-Davidson Museum Jeremiah Curtin House Karl Ratzsch Lakefront Brewery Lake Front Mader's Market Milwaukee Museum North Avenue Pabst Theater Pfister Hotel Sprecher Brewery Third Ward Trimborn Farm

German Fest

Alte Kameraden Glockenspiel the Parade

 

Henry Maier Festival Park
the Calatrava designed Milwaukee Art Museum in the background

German Fest is an ethnic festival in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at the Henry Maier Festival Park, on the Lake Michigan lakefront. The genesis of German Fest occurred when Mayor Henry Maier challenged the local German-American community during a speech on May 20th, 1980, at the 20th Anniversary of the German-American National Congress Deutsch-Amerikanischer National Kongress (D.A.N.K.) to organize a German festival. Shortly thereafter, Walter Geissler, then President of D.A.N.K., chaired a committee of five members that laid the foundation for the Fest. The charter of German Fest was subsequently written in January, 1981. The first German Fest was held in August, 1981. It is billed as the largest German celebration in North America and currently occurs during the last full weekend in July.

 


German Fest celebrates the culture of Germany as well as Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein, and German-speaking communities around the world. Along with traditional music, many from the Vaterland also make the journey to perform and educate at the festival.

 


One attraction is the cultural tent, where one can see the various groups, and current provinces that are proud to call themselves "German." They range from Bavarians (Bayern), and Hessians (Hessen), to Austrians (Österreich), and groups displaced by WWII whose homelands are now in Poland (Polen) and the former Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia (Tschechoslowakei & Jugoslawien). This is in relation to former German settled areas and possessions prior to post-war border redrawing.

 

Beer Hall

 

 

In the center area of the grounds a parade periodically passes by, showcasing the various German-American heritage organizations, local German immersion schools, and others celebrating their German heritage. German cuisine is also featured at German Fest. Many well-known German restaurants and food services in the area are present at the fest, including Mader’s, and Bavarian Inn, as well as the biggest sausage maker in Milwaukee, Usingers. Usingers celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2005, in a joint anniversary of German Fest’s 25th anniversary.

Text from Wikipedia

 

 

 

ready for a pork dinner

 

sit down dining at Mader's Restaurant

 

or on the go

 

strudel

 

lemonade or

 

Jagermeister

 

enjoying a Brew

 

 

 

Flash Video of the band

Anton aus Tirol

 

complaining to the chimney sweep

 

in wood

 

or ceramic

 

for drinking

 

painting the glaze on the stein

 

picking out a headdress

 

still more pork available

 

on the lakefront


Alte Kameraden Glockenspiel the Parade

Airport Art Museum Beastie Beat Brew Buildings Discovery Museum Elderhostel Folk Festival German Fest Greek Church Harley-Davidson Museum Jeremiah Curtin House Karl Ratzsch Lakefront Brewery Lake Front Mader's Market Milwaukee Museum North Avenue Pabst Theater Pfister Hotel Sprecher Brewery Third Ward Trimborn Farm

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