Kaffee und Kuchen
March 23, 2025 |
1:30 pm -
3:00 pm
$0-8
Ruth Fruehauf, granddaughter of August Fruehauf, joins us to celebrate the opening of Immigrant Innovators: The Fruehauf Trailer Company. August Charles Fruehauf’s invention of the truck trailer played a key role in transforming transportation in the 20th century. His company, the Fruehauf Trailer Company, made it possible to move goods efficiently from farms and factories across the country, offering a practical alternative to rail transport.
Ruth will share anecdotes and slides of fun historical tidbits learned following the publication of her books about the company. From customized trailers, military contributions, to movie stars and celebrities, the near-century dominance of Fruehauf trailers is full of amazing stories.
1:30 refreshments
2:00 program
FREE for members
$8 for non-members
*We are offering some special promotions during our new exhibition, With You, I Am Myself, February 1 – April 6, 2025. To redeem, please mention these when you check in at the front desk.
Visitor Passes – Members can bring a friend for free to visit the museum or attend a Kaffee und Kuchen program.
BOGO Admission – With the purchase of a regular admission, bring an additional friend for free to the museum or to a program.
1:30 refreshments
2:00 program
Schuetzen Park Celebration
Sunday August 2nd | 1:00 pm
FREE
�The Schuetzen Park will continue its 155th anniversary celebration of the grand opening of the Park which took place in June 1870 with a free public concert. The Deutsche Polka Band will headline the event on Sunday August 2nd. Beginning at 1:00 food and drinks will be served, and the concert will commence at 2:00. Admission to the Park is always free.
Schuetzen Park is located at 700 Waverly Road in Davenport. More information can be obtained by calling: 563-449-2358 or by email: [email protected].
Photo from Davenport Iowa History:
Schuetzen Park Club House – 1902
"The beautiful and inviting Club House at Schuetzen Park was under the care of Bruchman & Co. in 1902. August Bruchman and Fred Kuehl were lessees of the park, operating the saloon, restaurant, dancing pavilion and bowling alley. Fred Kuehl was the manager of the Turner Hall and the New Grand Opera House at Third and Scott streets, while his brother-in-law, August Bruchman, was the former head bartender at the Turner Hall. August and his wife Mary resided at Schuetzen Park."
Davenport Coliseum, 1911. Images from German American Heritage Center & Museum Collections.
Initially called the Saengerfest Halle, this building is now the Col Ballroom in Davenport, IA.
Look at those colors!
Only a few more days left to enjoy free admission in July! 🎟️
Visit the museum free of charge through July 31st. Explore the history of Davenport and the German immigrants who built our community.
Open:
Tuesday – Saturday 10 am – 4 pm
Sunday 12 – 4 pm
Closed Monday
German Lutheran Church in Geneseo, IL. 1890.
Image from German American Heritage Center and Museum Collection.
The Outing Club, 1900. Image from German American Heritage Center Collections.
Established in 1891. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1977 and a contributing building of Vander Veer Park Historic District since 1985.
Though not directly part of the German American Immigrant history, The Outing Club is a pillar in Davenport`s communal history.
Stay tuned for a BIG reveal coming next week!
After 16 years on display and noticeable wear and tear to our permanent exhibition panels, we are installing new, dynamic, and exciting signage and artifacts to our timeline area on the 3rd floor. We can`t wait to see our hard work come to life in our permanent exhibition space.
The new information still explores the experiences of German immigrants to our area, but we are adding more artifacts, telling broader stories and experiences of residents in the Quad Cities during the high points in immigration history, and exploring what German immigrants arrived to in Iowa—some expected, and others not.
Thank you to Regional Development Authority for their support of this project. And thank you to our generous donors who helped us recover the lost funding after the federal budget cuts earlier this year: Cal and Jill Werner, Bob Thoreson, The Jewish Federation of the Quad Cities, and an anonymous donor. We could not have done this project on our original timeline without the support of our community.
And thank you to Edwards Creative for working with us on this project. Your designs and imagination will bring this exciting project to life!
We`re excited to share that our virtual version of our "Recent Acquisitions" exhibition is now live! This exhibition explored some of the newest and most interesting items added to our collection from the last 6 years. It was on display in person until June 1st, but now it is available to view year-round online.
In addition to photographs and the didactics from the original exhibition, our summer intern, Enya, has translated the exhibition to German, provided voiceovers for the artifact labels, and conducted additional research and resources to enhance the exhibition. We hope these additions are useful and help make this content more accessible to a wider audience.
You can explore the virtual exhibition here: https://virmuze.com/m/gahc/x/whats-new-recent-acquisitions-to-the-collection/
Enya is a student in the @wiulovesmuseumstudies MA program (anticipated to graduate in December of 2025) and an intern at the German American Heritage Center and Museum. She is German-American, having been born in Bavaria, and regularly visits family there. As she was a military-brat, she has also lived in the Rhineland-Pfalz region of Germany, England, and multiple U.S. states. She loves helping others learn about German culture, as well as learning about different cultures from around the world.
Happy World Emoji day! What emojis best represent you? We think 🧳🌲📚🍄🍫 represent us pretty well.
Subscribe to get all latest news, updates.
