c0nc0rdance: Today, the halls dot communities across Texas, but especially in the German-influenced Hill Country. They offer insurance services, venue rentals, and still have German cultural events, although they're open to everyone. I associate them with weddings, country music, reunions.

Let's talk about Sons of Hermann Halls. There are (at least) 140 of them in Texas, with membership >80,000. Here, they're famous as small venues for live country music, dances, small-town wedding receptions, reunions and the like. It all started with a funeral in New York in 1835.

German immigrants found their funeral procession's progress blocked by jeering American "nativists". They founded a mutual aid society & named it after a Roman officer turned German chieftan, Arminius. His German name was 'Hermann' & he defeated many Roman incursions.

The name evoked a German nationalist spirit, but was open to people of all faiths (the NY halls had predominantly Jewish officers). They preserved German traditions & language in the US, had secret rites, social events and published treatise in defense of German immigrants, offered legal services.

Around WWI, membership nationally was ~90,000 across five states. Texas got its first Hall in 1861, in San Antonio, and it was also the first to offer non-profit life insurance, which later became a requirement of membership, continuing today.

WWI and again in WWII require that a German mutual aid reinvent itself as membership dropped, and German culture became controversial. By the 1960's, only a small percentage of members claimed German ancestry. Halls remained active in German-centric areas in Ohio & Texas.

Today, the halls dot communities across Texas, but especially in the German-influenced Hill Country. They offer insurance services, venue rentals, and still have German cultural events, although they're open to everyone. I associate them with weddings, country music, reunions.

If you're interested in learning more, or correcting any mistakes I've made😬, Texas State Historical Association's 'Handbook of Texas' has a nice article on them here: www.tshaonline.org/handbook/ent...

Sons of Hermannwww.tshaonline.org The Handbook of Texas is your number one authoritative source for Texas history. Read this entry and thousands more like it on our site.

Was just at a Sons of Herman lodge for a retirement party (in Ohio). It had live slot machines and dirt cheap drinks.

I think "dollar beer night" was a big draw at the one near me in the 90's.

....on the topic of cheap beer and Ohio.... ....are you aware of the infamous 10-cent beer night? ;) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Cen...

Ten Cent Beer Night - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org

Yes.

Worth the read. Bonus: some photos, context in thread. (📷: Paul Tepley, Getty Images)

There used to be a lengthy piece on one of the sports network pages on it, now gone I think, that had a partial transcript of the radio broadcast that day. ...in which one of the hosts started doing play-by-play on the riot as the other just kept moaning "This isn't baseball!"

Oh yes. That is legend around these parts.

Ayup (I'm out on Cleveland's west side suburbs. Family's been in the area since the early 1900s)

If this one were closer to my house I'd consider joining!

sounds almost like a Texas version of Knights of Columbus, or a German Masons hall

also irish Sons of Hibernia I think they're called

Nice. My mom always pointed out the Sons of Hermann Hall on Heights Blvd in Houston whenever we drove by (polka & bingo!). There’s a sequence of past street views on GMaps that shows the old hall in 2007, empty lot in 2011, apartments under construction in 2013, etc. maps.app.goo.gl/L3C5E7uWhZ5J...

Google Mapsmaps.app.goo.gl Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

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