The term "German Club" was frequently invoked in the early days of South Australia, referring to the universal feeling among those German immigrants who applied for and were granted naturalization as British subjects; "... all the rights and capacities of British-born subjects..." but found they were ineligible to vote or nominate for the Legislative Council. Rev Carl Muecke, Frederick Basedow and Richard Schomburgk were leaders in the demand for reform. Early organizations to which German immigrants specifically belonged include the Macclesfield United English and German Rifle Club, German Rifle Club, German Glee Club, and several Liedertafels, notably Adelaide and Tanunda. Several German-language newspapers appeared, notably the Südaustralische Zeitung in 1849. 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 organization. After twenty years of holding meetings in hotels, 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, which 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. From around 1890 maintenance of the Albert Hall was neglected and at a special general meeting held by the German Freehold Company, Ltd., owners on behalf of the Club, accepted the offer of £4,000 by the Salvation Army for the property. From January 1899 the Club met in a house owned by Patrick Gay in Grenfell Street. The Clubwound up in 1909, but the German Association continued to grow taling over some of the members and activities of the old Club, although ignored by such old German Club stalwarts as Friedrich Basedow.
Presidents of the German Club
This list is partial only; please expand it if you have further information.
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, socializing 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. Two other organizations catered for this class: the insular Club Teutonia was more reactionary, and the Fortschrittsverein more cultured. The South AustralianGerman Association, later South Australian German Association, SAADV, was founded in 1886 as a direct competitor to the 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 South Australian German Association for many years conducted the Schützenfest in Hahndorf, and runs the venue usually known as the German Club in Adelaide. The Club is open to non-members, as a restaurant and a pub.
