The German Colony Hidden in God's Country

Downtown Germania in its glory days

Now that October is nearing an end, most Oktoberfest celebrations have come and gone. Because of our long history of German immigration and Pennsylvania Dutch culture, Pennsylvania is home to more Oktoberfest celebrations than any other state. However, most of us are unaware that this celebration dates back to 1810, when the citizens of Munich were invited to attend the October 12th royal wedding of Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese Charlotte Luise of Saxe-Hildburghausen.

By 1855, German immigrants had settled in every corner of Pennsylvania, bringing their unique customs with them. One such region of the state with a rich, but largely-forgotten, German heritage is Potter County. It was in the southwest portion of this county where, in November of 1855, a New Yorker by the name of William Radde undertook the creation of a German settlement, which eventually came to be known as Germania.

Prior to establishing his colony, Radde visited the mining towns of the coal region, the mill towns of the Susquehanna Valley, the lumber camps of the northern wilderness and the farmlands of Berks and Lancaster counties to "recruit" settlers for his colony. Next, he purchased land in Abbott township, and laid out his village. The first settlers arrived late in 1855, having been led over the Jersey Shore Pike by Dr. Charles Meine, a native of Oldendorf, Germany.

Unfortunately, when these first settlers arrived in Potter County, they found that winter had gotten there first. It was a harsh, cruel winter in Germania. Food was scarce, medical care was virtually non-existent (the only doctor in the village was Charles Meine, who had received his medical degree from the University of Marburg. Meine also served as the village's first postmaster), and if any of the settlers changed their minds and planned to leave, they would have to trek through the frozen, untamed wilderness to the nearest railroad station in Tioga. Since this surely would've been a suicide mission, the Germans toughed it out.

The majority of Germania's first residents were political exiles who fled their homeland during the revolutions of 1848 and 1849, when liberal revolutionaries rose up against the conservative leadership of the Austrian Empire. Thanks to these hardy exiles, Germania blossomed into a thriving village.

The first hotel was built in 1856 by an innkeeper named Briesenick, who eventually sold the business to August J. Voss. Voss ran the Germania Hotel successfully for decades, and became one of the village's leading citizens. Voss' story is a true all-American success story. Frederick Voss died when August was a young child. In 1863, Lydia Voss gathered up her meager belongings and took her two children, August and George, to America. They eventually settled in Germania. Lydia Voss passed away in 1874, leaving her young boys to fend for themselves. August found employment at the Germania Hotel washing dishes and sweeping floors, and eventually he became the owner of the establishment. The building is still standing to this day... and reported to be quite haunted.

The Germania Hotel as it appeared in 2014.

Henry Theis and Charles A. Meissner opened the first stores in Germania, both of which were eventually taken over by their sons. For several years the C.A. Meissner & Son store was the leading mercantile business in the township. Theis was the village druggist.

However, it was the brewing industry which turned Germania from a handful of wooden frame houses into a thriving village. John Schmid, who settled in Philadelphia in 1871, moved to Germania in 1886, where he built a brewery. By the close of the century, Schmid's Lager had become a household name throughout the county.

Perhaps the most influential figure in the history of Germania was Joseph Schwarzenbach, who operated the other brewery in town. A marble-carver by trade, Schwarzenbach came to America in 1851 and settled in New York City. He was one of the workers who helped build the dome of the capitol building in Washington during its construction in 1855. That same year he moved to Philadelphia, where he married Louise Seebald and found employment at a brewery. They settled in Germania, where Joseph became the second of the two licensed brewers in Potter County.

Although Schmid's brewery was the first in Potter County, Joseph Schwarzenbach, along with his son, August, played a significant role in the history of Germania during its heyday in the late 19th century. Joseph became the village postmaster, having succeeded Dr. Meine, and was also a county road commissioner. A radical in his political and cultural beliefs, Joseph had a vision of transforming Germania from an American frontier town into a Bavarian-style village. This passion only intensified after the death of his wife, Louise, in 1884.

Assisting him in turning his dream into reality was August Schwarzenbach, one his seven children. In 1882 August moved to nearby Galeton, taking a position as a land and timber purchaser for the Consolidated Lumber Company of Williamsport. With his experience in lumber and construction, August helped his father turn Germania into a veritable replica of a Rhineland commune, complete with Fachwerkhäuser-style wood and plaster houses.

The Waldheim Bar, a Germania landmark that is still in operation.

Schwarzenbach's vision for the the tiny village hidden in the wilderness of Potter County caught the attention of newspapers across the country. One such newspaper was the Sacramento Record-Union, which published the following account on January 20, 1892:

The little town of Germania, in Potter County, Pennsylvania, is a curiosity well worthy the attention of tourists. It is an almost perfect reproduction of a German village; its inhabitants retain the dress, customs and language of the Fatherland, follow the same style of architecture, have similar churches and societies, are under the same village government, and even have a little brewery in which beer is made by primitive methods.

Sadly, by the time the Sacramento Record-Union printed its article on the curious village of Germania and its staunchest supporter, Joseph Schwarzenbach had passed away; he died in late 1891. This effectively marked the beginning of the end for Germania. His son, August, would pass away just four years later at the age of 33.

Grave of Joseph Schwarzenbach, Germania Cemetery

Today, aside from the Germania Hotel, not much remains of the German colony that was laid out by William Radde and grown by the Schwarzenbachs. Modern homes line Route 144, which used to be Main Street. Most of the settler's homes have been erased by the farmer's plow, while a new generation of trees obscures the old village cemetery, where lie the graves of Joseph and Louise Schwarzenbach and several of their children, and the graves of Dr. Charles Meine, C.A. Meissner, Henry Theis, August Voss and a handful of other early settlers who crossed an ocean to carve out a home for themselves in the rugged wilderness of God's Country.