German Order of Harugari

The German Order of Harugari, sometimes called the Ancient Order of Harugari or by its German name, Der Deutsche Orden der Harugari, is a mutual benefit and cultural association of German Americans founded in New York City in 1847 that was at one time the largest German secret society in the United States.[1]

History

The order was established on March 9, 1847, by Philipp Merkle,[2] Fredrich Germann, Peter Schnatz, T. Rodrian, J. Deger, I. Germann, W. Schwartz, A. Glahn, V. Denzer, and S. Merz.[1][3] The objectives were mutual protection in a time of high German immigration and anti-German sentiment in the U.S., and preservation of German language and culture.[1][4] The order forbade discussion of religion, politics, or social issues.[5]

The word harugari refers to worshipers in a sacred grove, or haruc, and demonstrates the founders' inspiration in Germanic paganism.[1] It was also identified with the ancient Germanic tribe, the Cherusci; the order's first lodge, Arminia #1, was named for their leader Arminius, who defeated Publius Quinctilius Varus and destroyed three Roman legions in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest.[6]

The order grew slowly but steadily, being introduced successively into Pennsylvania, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maryland and Ohio.[6]

Membership declined in the final decades of the nineteenth century as German immigrants became more assimilated.[7]

In 1860 there was a split between two competing sections of the order,[8] the Independent Order of Harugari and the Ancient German Order of Harugari. These merged in January 1869 into Der Deutsche Orden der Harugari.[9] There was also a German Order of the Harugari of Illinois, organized in 1869 and incorporated independently in that state.[10] A Harugari Cemetery was established in 1877 in Manchester, Missouri.[11]

Organization and membership

The order had a three-tier structure, with local subordinate lodges under the direction of grand lodges, which in turn were controlled by the Grand Lodge of the United States.[6] Harugari was the largest of the German associations; by 1854 it had grown to 5,119 members, and by 1871 to over 20,000; in the 1870s there were over 300 Harugari lodges. It was hard-hit by the depression during that decade but rebounded.[12] By 1896 there were 30,000 members in 300 lodges in 27 states.[6] At one time its headquarters was located in Ozone Park, Queens. Alvin J. Schmidt was unable to ascertain whether it still existed in 1979,[13] but in 1994 there were reportedly 90 members.[14] Supreme officers were called "Bards" and members "Bretheren."[8]

At the request of the New York and Pennsylvania state grand lodges, starting in 1890 the order instituted affiliates for women, known as "Hertha-lodges."[7] There were 7,000 female members in 1896.[6]

Like the Sons of Hermann, Harugari attracted more working-class members than other fraternal groups such as the Freemasons.[15] In 1870 the head of the order described its membership as belonging to "the workers' estate."[16]

There were three membership degrees. The order's motto was "Friendship, Love, and Humanity." Although it was considered altruistic, its critics accused it of being antagonistic to the Catholic Church.[13]

Cultural activities

Harugari promoted German-language singing; in 1887 there were 20,000 members in Harugari Singing Societies,[6] and in 1895 the New York Times mentioned 50 Maennerchors and biennial Saengerfests.[1] Surviving units of the Harugari still exist.[17]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "The Order of Harugari: It Was Founded in New-York on German Mythology. Started for Defense - Perpetuated for Charity. Its Lodges Are Found in Nearly All the States, and Its Benefits Have Been Felt Throughout the Land - A Sketch of the Order," New York Times, August 25, 1895, p. 16 (pdf).
  2. ^ Stanley Nadel, Little Germany: Ethnicity, Religion, and Class in New York City, 1845-80, University of Illinois Press, 1990, ISBN 0-252-01677-7, p. 111 ; the New York Times has "Philip Merkel"
  3. ^ Georg Schuster, Die Geheimen Gesellschaften, Verbindungen und Orden, Volume 2 Leipzig: Theodor Leibing, 1906, p. 512 asserts there were 12 founders, not 10.
  4. ^ Joseph Anderson, Sarah Johnson Prichard, Anna Lydia Ward, The Town and City of Waterbury, Connecticut from the Aboriginal Period to the Year 1895, 3 vols. New Haven: Price & Lee, 1896, vol. 3, p. 1158.
  5. ^ Nadel, pp. 111-12.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Stevens, Albert C., ed. (1907). The Cyclopædia of Fraternities (2nd ed.). New York City; Paterson, NJ: E. B. Treat and Co. p. 235. LCCN 07036716. OCLC 2570157. OL 6990518M – via HathiTrust.
  7. ^ a b Kazal, p. 90.
  8. ^ a b Arthur Preuss, A Dictionary of Secret and Other Societies St. Louis: Herder, 1924, repr. Detroit: Gale, 1966, OCLC 265159, p. 150
  9. ^ Northeastern Reporter, Volume 85, West Publishing Company, 1909, p. 655.
  10. ^ According to Preuss, in 1923 either this group or the national organization (which is not clear) had 42 lodges with 1,101 benefit and 52 social members in 1923.
  11. ^ Mary Shapiro, "Manchester seeks stewardship of Harugari Cemetery", Suburban Journals, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 16, 2012.
  12. ^ Nadel, pp. 98, 112.
  13. ^ a b Alvin J. Schmidt with Nicholas Babchuk, Fraternal Organizations, Greenwood encyclopedia of American institutions 3, Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood, 1980, ISBN 9780313214363, p. 153.
  14. ^ Alan Axelrod, The International Encyclopedia of Secret Societies and Fraternal Orders, New York: Facts on File, 1997, ISBN 9780816023073, p. 114.
  15. ^ Hartmut Keil and John Jentz, German Workers in Chicago: A Documentary History of Working-Class Culture from 1850 to World War I, University of Illinois Press, 1988, ISBN 0-252-01458-8, pp. 6, 175.
  16. ^ Russell Andrew Kazal, Becoming Old Stock: the Paradox of German-American Identity, Princeton University Press, 2004, ISBN 0-691-05015-5, p. 82.
  17. ^ "About Us"; Harugari German-American Club
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.