The+German+American+Heritage+Center

Original Author: Hannah Klepsteen, ENG400G FL10 Revision Author:
 * The German American Heritage Center**

Foreigners have been immigrating to America for centuries, but “one of the greatest waves of immigrants came during the 1820s-1890s,” a large majority of them being Irish and German (Rebisz and Kropf). Other than the violent living conditions in Germany during the seventeen to eighteen hundreds, modernization and population growth were part of the cause for such a large number of German immigrants leaving their homeland. They were being forced from their family businesses; therefore, they came to America in search of better lives. Although many of them settled in the east where they first landed, large numbers of German farmers moved to Texas and the Midwest. Among the women, many sought work as bakers, nurses, tailors and hotel keepers (Chao and Spencer).

Travel by ship was expensive, slow, filthy, overcrowded and unhealthy. Before steamships, the journey across the Atlantic could last for weeks or months. Though beautiful and regal on the exterior, the ships often hid harsh living conditions inside. In 1819, the first steamship, the Savannah, crossed the Atlantic. By 1850, immigrants were traveling on ships powered by both steam and wind power. The development of the rear screw propeller and the triple expansion engine cut travel time and lowered fares (GAHC Exhibit).

The Quad Cities was no exception to the massive influx of immigrants. The area attracted farmers searching for fertile land, which also provided growing business opportunities for others. After traveling for months, immigrants needed a place to stay while waiting to rent or purchase property of their own, such as a house or farm. Some stayed with friends or relatives, but many required alternative accommodations; therefore, creating a need for “gast,” or guest, houses, which Davenport complied with, even in the earliest days of immigration (GAHC Exhibit).

The Davenport Hotel, or then called the Walther’s Hotel, was built in 1836 and was one of the very first to be established. This hotel “was located on the northwest corner of Front and Ripley streets… During years it had been the center of the city’s social activities, but had to take second place after Antoine Le Claire built the Le Claire House [in 1839] on the northeast corner of Second and Main streets” (Ficke). The St. Louis Hotel, which was built in 1848 at the corner of Ripley and Second streets, was another of Davenport’s early hotels. The hotel is rumored to have “received its name from the rafters who floated logs from St. Paul to St. Louis and tacked a sign displaying the name of their hometown’s name” (GAHC Exhibit). Uniquely, the hotel originally offered a separate gathering room specifically designated for women only.

These early hotels, generally located in the downtown area from Main to Scott Streets between River Drive (then called Front Street) and Third Street, could accommodate between twenty to fifty guests. They usually also featured a dining room, tavern or barbershop and cost a dollar or two per day or six to eight dollars per week for a room. Historians have certain assumptions about hotel accommodations during this period, which include theories that travelers desired clean and inexpensive accommodations. Having said that, they believe that the primary focus of the room was to rest; therefore, the walls were usually wallpapered or painted in soothing colors to maintain a restful atmosphere for the occupants, and the floors were painted to disguise dirt and provide easy cleaning. Lighting in the rooms came from a kerosene lamp or one light bulb, and a spittoon was placed in each room for guests who were tobacco chewers. A lidded chamber pot was also placed in each room since the rooms were not accompanied by individual bathrooms. Instead, located at the end of the hall were usually two rooms, which could be used during the day and in which waste could be disposed of (GAHC Exhibit).

With the arrival of the railroad to Davenport in 1856, German immigration increased rapidly, requiring an expansion of the hotels, which grew not only in number, but also in size. Larger and more elegant hotels were built near the railroad depot and could accommodate travelers passing through and long-term settlers (GAHC Exhibit). In 1958, a newer New York-style hotel was built called the Burtis House. It was by far the most impressive of Davenport’s hotels. Standing five stories high, the building housed one hundred and fifty rooms and offered indoor plumbing, gas lighting and steam heat. Extending “[f]rom the first floor rotunda, several staircases led to the second floor dining room, which was surrounded by Ladies and Gents parlors, reading and wash rooms, and several sleeping suites.In the basement were billiard, bar and smoking rooms, and a barber shop” (GAHC Exhibit).

The building located at 712 West 2nd Street in Davenport, Iowa is currently the residing place of the German American Heritage Center, which the society purchased in 1995 in order “to create a facility celebrating the region’s rich German heritage” (GAHC Exhibit), but it was once a hotel, initially named the Germainia House, for German immigrants who arrived in Davenport in need of a place to stay.

The Germania “was typical of hotels used by immigrants but [much] smaller and cheaper than the Burtis House” (GAHC Exhibit). In contrast to the one hundred and fifty room establishment that made up the Burtis, the Germania housed just thirty rooms and “included at times a saloon, a stove and tine ware store on the first floor” while the barbershop, billiard and pool hall resided in the basement (GAHC Exhibit).

The land that the hotel was built on was recorded to have been purchased in 1840 by Gilbert C. R. Mitchell. Somewhere between 1840 and 1862, the land was purchased by Charles Herman, because he built a beer saloon and boarding house, which he named the William Tell House. However, after 1862 the historical facts get contradictory. According to information gathered and presented by the German American Heritage Center, an immigrant from Bremen, Germany by the name of John Frederich Miller, who was a manufacturer in Davenport since the 1850s, purchased the William Tell House in 1868. According to the Davenport Historical Architectural Survey completed by Martha Bowers in 1981, however, the Germania House was built in 1871 and run by John Brus. The German American Heritage Center admits, however, that it is unclear whether in 1871, when the original three-story structure was completed, who was the constructor.

The history behind the renaming of the hotel is a little sketchy as well. In 1874, documented by the German American Heritage Center, Miller operated the hotel under the name Miller’s Deutsche Gas, which means Miller’s German Inn. The eastern two thirds of the building were added by Miller in 1875 and then the fourth floor in 1875. (The fourth floor, consequently named Miller’s Hall, being a place designated as a public hall for lodges, groups, parties and dances). It was not until 1880 that the German Heritage Center says Miller changed the hotel’s name to reflect his ownership while also adding a restaurant, billiard parlor and saloon. Martha Bowers’ historical survey, however, reports that the hotel was renamed the Miller Hotel in 1876.

Both sources do agree, for the most part, on the hotel’s other dates though. John Miller owned and ran the hotel under the name “The Miller Hotel” until 1889. When John died in 1902, he left his business to his son, R. T. Miller, who owned the hotel until 1942. During R. T. Miller’s authority as hotel owner, the establishment was renamed three other times: in 1905, the hotel was renamed the Arcade Hotel; in 1917, it was changed to the Henry Blessing Boarding House; and in 1924, it was changed again to the Standard Hotel (named after the Standard Oil Company Service Station and Tire Company, which was located next door), and the name remained until the hotel closed in 1980.

Interestingly, architectural historian, Martha Bowers, completed the historical survey of the building in 1981, but it was not until 1983 that it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Bowers said the following about the hotel:

The Germania-Miller, is an excellent example of Davenport’s high Victorian commercial architecture, boasting one of the finest metal cornices in the city. Although a pair of typical 3-bay shopfronts is no longer evident, the rest of the façade is remarkably intact, displaying the polychrome and window detail characteristic of its type. John Miller apparently added the cornice, with its acantaus modillions and ornamental frieze, as “J. F. Miller 1876” appears below the arched section over the easternmost bay. This bay is particularly interesting, and the original hotel entrance could easily be restored. The hotel lies at the foot of the approach to Centennial Bridge, and could be an effective landmark for drivers entering the city here (Bowers).

Little did Martha Bowers know that fifteen years later, in 1994, when the German American Heritage Center was incorporated, the old building would soon be restored and monumentalized.In 1995 the German American Heritage Center Board of Directors purchased the old hotel from the Patel family.

The organization raised $1.3 million to restore the building’s exterior and the first and second floors. The structure is on the National Register of Historic Places and represents the last remaining immigrant hotel of that period in the region. When the building was purchased by the German American Heritage Center, the floors were completely gutted of all interior walls and floors, uncovering the ‘footprint’ of the original hotel room. German American Heritage Center volunteer, LaVerneDohrmann, re-created the hotel’s original floor plan from detailed measurements, providing a look at how the hotel once was structured. The two hotel rooms’ walls re-created two original hotel rooms (GAHC Exhibit).

In 1999 the restoration of the exterior walls and the interior first floor began, and the following year, in 2000, the ribbon cutting opening of the first floor exhibition and video space, program room and gift shop took place, opening the German American museum up to the public. The museum now attracts guests through interactive experiences and interesting displays:

Imagine stepping in the footprints of a person from over a century ago…only to see them appear before your eyes. Hear the sounds of a storm at sea, the roar of an old wooden German rollercoaster, and joyous music celebration as you travel through 2,000 years. Listen in on century old conversations on an old party-line phone that tell the emotional story of despair, hope and triumph. See a reflection of yourself as a turn of the century immigrant as you explore and try on clothing of yesteryear. Enter a restored hotel room, sit on its bed and gaze out at the Mississippi at the same sight an immigrant took in on their first night in Davenport. This is all possible at our newly expanded museum! (GAHC Website).

After 1900, German immigration slowed dramatically. Since the new immigrant groups who were coming were primarily from eastern and southern Europe and were generally very poor, uneducated and unskilled, established Americans “fearing the sheer numbers of the new arrivals began to push for new immigration restrictions”. The Germania-Miller hotel survived almost one hundred years afterward regardless of the decrease in arriving immigrants. Martha Bowers remarked that the building’s “significance is enhanced by its uninterrupted use as a hotel since the 1970s, while major changes in the neighborhood diminish[ed] its importance” (GAHC Exhibit). Now, it is a museum celebrating the history of the building and the German Americans it housed.

Bowers, Martha. //Architectural/Historical Survey//. Davenport, IA: Wehner, Nowysz,Pattschull and Pfiffner, 1981. Print. Chao, Adam and Dan Spencer.//Immigration: The Living Mosaic of People, Culture and Hope.//Oracle ThinkQuest Education Foundation, n.d. Web. 6 Dec. 2010. [] German American Heritage Center. Davenport, IA, 23 Nov 2010. Exhibit. German American Heritage Center.//German American Heritage Center//. 2010. Web. 6Dec. 2010. [] Rebisz, Apolonia and Andrew Kropf.//Immigration and Industrialization in the 19th Century//.The Humanities Technology Project at School of the Future,n.d. Web. 6 Dec. 2010. []
 * Works Cited**

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