German Club, Adelaide

German immigrants came to Australia in several waves: • The first wave of migration was a reaction to Kaiser Friedrich Wilhelm III's edict that all Lutheran churches follow the New Liturgy, and rather than comply, many pastors and their followers left for the settled lands of America or the fresh fields of Australia, particularly South Australia. Most were farmers, farm workers and tradesmen, who had left the Fatherland with young families and sufficient assets to cover the inevitable business or farm losses in the first year or so. Pastor Kavel and his followers exemplify this wave of migration from the mid-1830s to mid-1840s. They settled in Klemzig, Hahndorf, Lobethal, Tanunda and other areas, and by hard work, thrift and their policy of diversified farming, they prospered. Early organisations to which German immigrants specifically belonged include the Macclesfield United English and German Rifle Club (1851), German Rifle Club (1853), German Glee Club, and several Liedertafels, notably Adelaide and Tanunda. Several German-language newspapers appeared, notably the Südaustralische Zeitung in 1849. ==Adelaide German Club==

The Adelaide German Club was founded on 15 July 1854 by C. Kraegen, F. Schumacher, J. Drechsler, A. Beyer, G. Kopsch, F. May, C. Praehm, J. M. Wendt, J. A. Senn, O. Ziegler, C. Gunther and Uhlmann. One service the German Club provided its members was a Sick Fund, which 1868 became a separate organisation. After twenty years of holding meetings in hotels (they rented a hall upstairs in the Hamburg Hotel in Rundle Street, then the Europe Hotel, Grenfell Street (each at an intersection with Gawler Place), they had saved enough money to purchased a large allotment, part or all of 87–91 Pirie Street, and in 1878 started building their own magnificent clubhouse at 89 Pirie Street,. and the building was opened in July 1879. They then embarked on construction behind the clubhouse, of Adelaide's Albert Hall, a large concert hall named for the Prince Consort, which was officially opened on 4 October 1880. This has been described as the point at which the club's fortunes began to nosedive. It had cost a little over £2,000, and was entirely paid for by fund-raising activities, and through every member contributing £1, which was to be repaid, interest-free, out of profits. The scheme backfired however: membership dropped dramatically and the focus of those remaining was on repaying the debt, to the detriment of their social and cultural program. The German Club predominantly consisted of the "upper crust" of German society, living in North Adelaide and Walkerville, steeped in fine German literature and classical music, socialising with and even marrying British settlers of the same social strata, and making the club accessible to cultured British Australians. They loosened their ties to the Lutheran Church, and sent their children to parochial schools. Many of their "leading lights" found membership of the Adelaide Club more beneficial to their social and business success, and left the German Club. The club wound up in 1909. Presidents (Incomplete) • 1858 Friedrich Schumacher • 1867 Friedrich Krichauff • 1869–1870 C. Balk • 1870–1871 G. Meyer • 1874 Adolph Witt • 1874–1880 Ernst Postkuchen • 1880 Theodor Scherk • 1890–1891 Oskar Ziegler (c. 1832 – 20 August 1916) • 1898–1899 H. Nettlebeck • 1904 Otto von Drehnen • 1908 A. H. Peek ==South Australian German Association==

The Südaustralischer Allgemeiner Deutscher Verein (SAADV), later South Australian German Association, was founded in 1886 as a direct competitor to the Adelaide German Club. It appealed to the working and artisan classes  who lived in the city and near suburbs in generally working class areas  which in the main consisted of small attached houses in the east end of Adelaide. The Association  concentrated on social evenings and folk culture, as exemplified by the Schützenfest. The Association, as the Club before it, was opposed by the Lutheran Church who saw clubs as secular and godless and the association with its initial socialist leanings were against the conservative traditions of the Church. The first Schützenfest held by the Association was held was held in the suburb of Walkerville on 30 December 1889, taking place in Bonython Park in the western parklands. The Association ran the German Club venue in Flinders Street in the city from the early 20th century, until the building was sold in 2019 for $3.5 million in order to pay off its debts. The German Club was open to the public as a restaurant, and was also used as an Adelaide Fringe venue. The German Club relocated to Brooklyn Park, and remains open to non-members as a restaurant and a pub. ==Other German clubs in Adelaide==

Two other organisations, like the Adelaide German Club, catered for the "upper crust" class: the insular Club Teutonia (1889–1938) was more reactionary, and the Fortschrittsverein (Progress Association) more cultured. ==See also==