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 USA.[1]

The order was established on March 9, 1847, by Philipp Merkle,[2] F. Germann, P. 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 worshippers in a sacred grove, or haruc, and demonstrates the founders' inspiration in Germanic paganism.[1]

Like the Sons of Hermann, Harugari attracted more working-class members than other fraternal groups such as the Freemasons.[6] In 1870 the head of the order described its membership as belonging to "the workers' estate." [7]

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.[8]

There were at one time two competing national grand lodges, the Independent Order of Harugari and the Ancient German Order of Harugari. These merged in January 1869 into Der Deutsche Orden der Harugari.[9]

Membership declined in the final decades of the nineteenth century as German immigrants became more assimilated. 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."[10]

Harugari promoted German-language singing; in 1895 the New York Times mentioned 50 Maennerchors and biennial Saengerfests[1] and Harugari singing groups still exist.

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 0252016777, 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. ^ 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 0252014588, pp. 6, 175.
  7. ^ Russell Andrew Kazal, Becoming Old Stock: the Paradox of German-American Identity, Princeton University Press, 2004, ISBN 0691050155, p. 82.
  8. ^ Nadel, pp. 98, 112.
  9. ^ Northeastern Reporter, Volume 85, West Publishing Company, 1909, p. 655
  10. ^ Kazal, p. 90.