FRITZ OTTO EVERS. When the bells of Zion Church rang out the
saddening news of the death of Pastor Evers on the 4th of September, 1963,
an epoch in German-American life in Baltimore had come to an end. For
thirty-four years he had belonged to this bulwark of truly German Lutheran
faith in the city and like his few predecessors in this patriarchal office, he
was the guiding spirit behind all that Zion stands for. In his closing chapter
of The Maryland Germans, Dieter Cunz wrote in 1948 about the pastor:
"From the day of his arrival in Baltimore he became not only the pastor
of Zion Church but also the center of German-American life as a whole in
Baltimore." Death came to Pastor Evers just ten days past his seventy-
seventh birthday while he was visiting at Ocean City, New Jersey. For all
his friends, his sudden departure from their midst came as a shock after he
had so gallantly and courageously overcome a severe case of throat cancer
with the help of God. After being in and out of hospitals for several years
since his retirement from Zion Church in 1952, he had recovered and again
served his church when it was deprived of a permanent pastor.
Pastor Evers, the son of an official of the Prussian Domänenverwaltung,
was born in Berlin on August 25, 1886. He attended the Askanisches Gym-
nasium of Berlin and, after graduating from that institution, attended the
Theological Seminary at Kropp, Schleswig, from 1905 to 1908. The semin-
ary at that time prepared young men who expected to follow the ministry
in foreign countries. Graduating from the seminary, he arrived in New
York on June 18, 1908, and was almost immediately assigned to the pulpit
of St. John's Lutheran Church, Englewood, N. J., where he was ordained
on July 7, 1908. In 1912 he was appointed immigration missonary pastor
for the Lutheran Church at Ellis Island, a post he held until 1914, when
World War I brought the influx of German immigrants to a sudden halt.
He then received a call to Old Zion Church in Philadelphia, becoming
its sixth pastor in 186 years. Meanwhile, he was active in relief work for
children affected by the war. When he visited Germany in 1927 he was
received with high honors, being granted a private audience with President
von Hindenburg, who thanked him for his activities on behalf of German
children. At that time he was chairman of the division on lingiustic inter-
ests in the Board of American Missions of the United Lutheran Church in
America, secretary of the committee on German interests of the church,
director of the Seamen's Mission and organizer of the Oratorio Chorus of
the Lutheran Church of Philadelphia. The United Lutheran Church greatly
benefited from his wise counsel as did innumerable individuals who came to
him in distress and were given encouragement and help. His ministerial and
philanthropic activities were deepened and enhanced by his knowledge and
understanding of the classics in German literature and philosophy.
Pastor Evers accepted a call in October, 1928, to the pastorate of Zion
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Church in Baltimore, succeeding the late Rev. Dr. Julius Hofmann, who
was pastor of the church for 38 years. He was installed on January 27,
1929. In the pews were the German Ambassador and members of his staff,
ranking officials of the State and municipal governments and high officers
of the church. Twice Evers was called to serve as chaplain in the Maryland
Senate and once in the State House of Delegates. He organized a German-
language school at Zion Church and brought it to a high degree of efficiency;
the faculty at one time consisted of eight teachers and 150 students were
enrolled.
Throughout his life Pastor Evers devoted himself to the spiritual well-
being as well as to the cultural interests of the German American com-
munity in Philadelphia, Baltimore and beyond. Through his column in the
New Yorker Staats-Zeitung und Herald he reached countless thousands
of Americans of German birth and descent. To his many friends, he was
more than a religious leader. He was a friend, adviser, and consultant for
both young and old, not only of his own congregation but for many of
other denominations who called on him. In the congregational history
Zion in Baltimore we find an excerpt from the sketch a newspaper reporter
wrote about Evers in 1940: "The pastor is a gentle, kindly man with a
sweep of long gray hair that distingiushes him in the midst of any company.
Alone in his Sakristei, in a velvet housecoat, a long cigar in his fingers, he
is definitely a part of Zion Church." Pastor Evers will be remembered by
many people for many things he did in his long and blessed life. He had his
heart in the work of the Julius Hofmann Memorial Fund, a memorial to
his predecessor, which was created upon his initiative to further the interest
in German instruction in the public schools. He will be remembered by the
members of our Society for the History of the Germans in Maryland for
his untiring interest in the various projects it has undertaken. His counsel
was eagerly listened to and his contribution in collecting historical material
and books was of great importance for the activities of the Society. From
1942 until 1955, he served on our Executive Committee. Pastor Evers, in
spite of his illness, was instrumental in organizing the Goethe Celebration
of January 1950, at which time Zion Church was the host to one of the
most impressive demonstrations of cultural values which the German nation
had produced. Among the many honors which were bestowed upon him,
he cherished most the very meaningful title of " Pastor Emeritus " which
his own Zion gave him. In 1961, he was honored for his work in the field
of American-German cultural relations by the award of the Carl Schurz
Medal of the then Carl Schurz Memorial Foundation of Philadelphia.
Pastor Evers married Miss Louise Micho, whose home was in Kirchhain,
in southern Brandenburg. They were engaged before he left Germany for
the United States and were married in Englewood, N. J., on October 19,
1908.
The most moving tribute to Pastor Evers was delivered by the former
Governor of his adopted State and Mayor of his beloved Baltimore before
the German Society of Maryland on the occasion of a special memorial
service in May 1964. Pastor Evers had been one of the steadfast supporters
of the German Society through many decades. The Honorable Theodore R.
McKeldin said of his departed friend, Fritz Otto Evers: "He brought to
this city to elements of German culture that our scientific age has too often
regarded as incompatible—its profound respect for learning, and its equally
profound respect for the non-material.
"The dazzling achievements of German science in the last hundred
years have obscured, not only here, but in Germany itself, the brilliance
of the philosophy whose beginnings preceded the science and that may out-
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last it in the end. For as technology is the application of science, so poetry,
music and drama are the outcome of philosophy. In all these fields Ger-
many has been pre-eminent. A symphony and a poem are not material
things; but great ones have an immortality that, as the Roman poet
Horace discovered centuries before Germany existed, is more lasting than
monuments made of bronze.
"It was with these things that Pastor Evers was concerned through
a long and active life, two thirds of it spent in the United States and
nearly half in Baltimore. It was easy for him to transfer his political
allegiance because the realm of the mind and the spirit knows no national
boundaries. It wages constant war indeed, but it acknowledges no man
as an enemy; its foes are ignorance, superstition, the narrow mind and
the hardened heart. Those dark forces it challenges indifferently in every
inhabited corner of the globe.
"Pastor Evers fought the good fight among us from 1928 to 1963,
thirty-five years, just half the Psalmist's alloted span of a man's life. More-
over, as a spiritual leader of his people, he enlisted them in the same cause.
Without doubt it was largely through his influence that Baltimore Germans
have been found in every movement that has had for its aim the enlight-
enment of the mind and the release of the generous impulses of our people—
and not only enlisted in the movement, but in many cases leading it.
"It is for this reason that I, who am of a different national origin and
of a different religious denomination on my father's side, of the same
national origin on my mother's side, but a citizen of this City, consider it
not only a duty, but also a high privilege to render tribute to this man.
For he brought to us treasure—not such treasure as the ships of Tarshish
brought King Solomon, "gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks,"
but the far more precious treasure of learning linked to faith, treasure that
does not bulge our purses, but that vastly enriches our lives."
CLARA ASCHERFELD. In order properly to evaluate the position of
Clara Ascherfeld in the music life of Baltimore, it is necessary to review
it in the light of the period in which she lived, which was the last decade
of the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth centuries. It was a
time when life in Baltimore was simple and had not yet lost its quiet
graciousness, charm, and friendliness. Into this picture Clara Ascherfeld
fitted eminently well since the attributes mentioned were also those of her
own personality. The link was furthered also through her German ancestry.
German at that time was an important element in the cultural life of the
city, seen in the two private German schools, the German-English schools
of the Public School System, in the varied activities of many German
Singing Societies, and in the participation of professional musicians of
German descent, in orchestral and solo performances.
When May Evans organized the Peabody Preparatory Department in
the early nineties, Miss Ascherfeld was among the first to be appointed to
the piano faculty, as a holder of a Peabody Scholarship. At that time she
was piano soloist with the Peabody Orchestra, under the direction of Asger
Hamerik. For many years later she taught accompanying and ensemble
at the Peabody Conservatory and appeared as official accompanist at the
well known Friday afternoon recitals with such soloists as Hekking, Gerardi,
Powell, Metcalf and many others. These appearances were enlarged by
recitals at other halls and in private homes. Conspicuous among the former
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was a recital at Lehmann Hall with Fritz Kreisler as soloist, his comment
on her playing was: Sehr Musikalisch.
Although Miss Ascherfeld appeared as piano soloist at many recitals,
playing at least once annually at Lehmann Hall, it was her interest in
bringing fine music to the people at large that best fixes her contribution
to the music life of her day. Along these lines she travelled through Mary-
land and the surrounding states as a member of the Peabody Concert Com-
pany, and played in many towns which at that time scarcely knew music
performances. Her lifetime devotion to the music of Bach (she had lived
several years in Lübeck, Germany) caused the name of Bach to appear on
practically all her programs. This devotion probably was instilled in her
quite early by her mother, who still played Bach when in her nineties.
The same appreciation of fine music characterized the choice of other com-
posers on her programs.
Miss Ascherfeld received her earliest musical training from her mother
at Havre de Grace, where she was born in 1875. She later studied in Europe
under various teachers including Maurice Moskowski. This period was fol-
lowed by her study at the Peabody Conservatory, under Emanuel Wad.
During her entire life she made many friends who were impressed by her
constant devotion to the finer aspects of the art of music, her loyalty to
all who knew her, her kindness and her unostentatiousness. Innately she
possessed a keen musical judgment, but preferred to emphasize the good
qualities of a composition or of a performance. In the same way she was
a source of constant encouragement to her students, from the many young-
sters to the adults in her ensemble classes, and to those who attended the
numerous musicals at her home. Her influence continues to live after her
death which occurred in 1963 in the lives of very many people, professional
musicians, amateurs and laymen. She deserves her own individual niche
in the music history of Baltimore and is still remembered warmly by those
who had the pleasure of knowing her personally.
OTTO R. ORTMANN
GERHARD H. DIEKE, nuclear physicist and Chairman of the Depart-
ment of Physics at the Johns Hopkins University died suddenly of a heart
attack in August 1965 while visiting in Aberdeen, Scotland. Born in Rheda,
Germany, in 1901, he attended the University of Leiden, Holland, and
obtained a Ph. D in physics at the University of California in 1926. He
came to the Hopkins as an associate professor in 1930 after work at the
Institute of Physical and Chemical Research in Tokyo and the University
of Groningen in Holland.
He was one of the pioneers in investigating the structure of atoms and
molecules by spectroscopic methods and in recent years had extended his
work to investigating the structure of solids, including the properties of
uranium. His early work in basic physics contributed to the development
of the atomic bomb. His recent projects at the Johns Hopkins University
included basic work on one of the most exciting new developments in
physics, the ruby laser, which produces concentrated high-energy beams of
light with a potential for revolutionizing such diverse fields as surgery and
communications. Dr. Dieke's interests were varied. He was a member of
the Germania Club. He approached his hobbies with the same thorough-
ness as his work. He was a world authority on certain types of beetles and
an amateur archaeologist who studied the Mayan ruins.
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OTTO J. FINGER, one of our members of long standing, died on Sep-
tember 11,1965 in Baltimore at the age of only 61 years. He was a graduate
of the Peabody Conservatory of Music. After additional music studies in
Germany, Mr. Finger returned to Baltimore and established a studio for
teaching voice. For more than twenty years he remained a music teacher
and until recently he sang regularly at the First Presbyterian Church and
Zion Lutheran Church. Many Baltimoreans remember Mr. Finger best as
the co-owner of the Schuler-Thomas Florists on Saratoga Street, a store
which had been founded in 1892 by the well-known sculptor Hans Schuler.
Members of the various civic and patriotic organizations to which he be-
longed, laid him to rest on Druid Ridge Cemetery.
LUDWIG HAMMERSCHLAG. The life of Dr. Ludwig Hammer-
schlag (1887-1965) exemplifies the fate of ever so many exiles of the Hitler
regime who, after a successful career in Germany, suddenly found them-
selves faced with the necessity of beginning a new life in America. It may
be stated definitely that Dr. Hammerschlag accomplished this successfully
as a teacher and scholar.
Ludwig Hammerschlag was born April 2, 1887, in Leer, Germany. His
parents moved to Strassburg in 1893 and in 1900 to Freiburg in Breisgau.
He graduated from the Gymnasium in Freiburg in 1906 and then took up
the study of law at the Universities of Freiburg, Geneva and Berlin. While
still a student he became an active member and also general secretary of
the Society for Ethical and Cultural Progress, a post-war idealistic move-
ment founded by the famous internationalist Swiss scholar, August Forel.
After the outbreak of the First World War, Hammerschlag served both on
the eastern and western fronts. In the course of the short-lived German
Republic of 1918-19 he was a member of the soldier's council and also of the
Freiburg City Council.
In 1920 Hammerschlag resumed his studies at the Universities of Berlin,
Freiburg, and Heidelberg, was awarded a doctoral degree in political science
in 1925. In 1927 he was appointed to a high post in the city government of
Bremen. However, because of his freely expressed liberal views, he was dis-
missed from this post when the Nazis came to power in 1933. There fol-
lowed very difficult years in the course of which he was imprisoned for
eight months, but was finally released. With the help of his many loyal
friends he managed to leave Germany with his wife and young son just
before the outbreak of the Second World War. He arrived in the United
States a political exile.
Since there is no field in the United States for men trained in European
jurisprudence, Hammerschlag, in his fifties, had to turn to a different career,
that of a teacher of German and French. In this capacity he taught in
Morris Junior College, Rutgers University, Putnam School in Vermont, and
Bordentown Military Academy. In 1946 he became a member of the Foreign.
Languages Department of the University of Maryland. He reached the
rank of assistant professor and served with distinction until he retired at
the age of seventy in 1957.
Dr. Hammerschlag liked to think of himself as a Forty-eighter in spirit,
one of the idealistic fighters for the German republic of a century ago. With
youthful enthusiasm he expressed his views freely as a keen conversation-
alist and lecturer with a wide background of reading. He advocated social
reforms, particularly the improvement of the lot of the underprivileged. In
a lighter vein he could quote humorously appropriate lines from various
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authors, for example, his favorite Wilhelm Busch. For his students he had
a warm interest, often inviting them to his home. He met his colleagues
always in a cordial and ever honorable spirit. Members of the Society of the
History of the Germans in Maryland will recall his often striking remarks
in the discussion period after the lecture.
A. E. ZUCKER
A. J. PRAHL
PAUL F. M. HESSEMER. At the age of 74 years died in York, Penn-
sylvania, on November 20, 1964, a formerly prominent member of the
academic circles in Baltimore, Professor Paul Bessemer. He had left his
home in the Govans section of Baltimore in 1963 in order to enter the
Griman Convalescent Home in York where he died. Mr. Bessemer was
born and educated in Germany, immigrating to the United States in 1923.
His initial education in architecture came from the State Institute of Tech-
nology in Darmstadt, Germany. He also held a degree from the Technical
University of Dresden. Mr. Bessemer made his home in Reading, Pa.,
where he worked as an industrial architect until the depression. As work
dropped off, he was fortunate to be called by the Oberlaender Trust to
serve as a curator. In this position, he could place his great personal knowl-
edge of history and art at the disposal of this foundation which was then
doing considerable work in Pennsylvania. Teaching assignments at Lehigh
University and the Wyomissing Polytechnic Institute followed until he
followed a call to Baltimore. Here he taught descriptive geometry at Johns
Hopkins University from 1945 until his retirement in 1956. For about ten
years he was the treasurer of the Baltimore Goethe Society. Mr. Bessemer
was a member of the Baltimore Bibliophiles, and while at the Hopkins,
helped establish the Simon Newcomb Astronomical Society for under-
graduates.
His retirement from Johns Hopkins still found him active in other fields
for several years. He worked as a consultant for an architectural firm in
Baltimore and until 1962 was on the staff of the Baltimore County Engin-
eering department. When he died, he was survived by two sons in Penn-
sylvania and a daughter in Frankfurt. His wife, the former Marie Metzler,
died in 1963. After services and cremation in York, his ashes were taken
to Germany where he found his final resting place.
LUDWIG O. TEACH. In the program of the Baltimore Symphony
Orchestra's concert of November 4, 1964 featuring as soloist Mr. Rudolf
Serkin, pianist, the following note was printed: "Mr. Serkin has graciously
consented to dedicate his performance to the memory of Ludwig O. Teach,
born April 7, 1895, died October 26, 1964." There were not many in the
audience who had known Ludwig Teach and some probably wondered who
he was to deserve such recognition. Ludwig O. Teach was a business man
and a lover of good music, who had lived in Baltimore since 1925. When
a group of young enthusiasts and admirers of Bach's music started meetings
in 1929 to play records of his compositions Ludwig Teach was among them.
At first once a week and later twice a week these people came together to
listen to records and soloists, professionals and amateurs, playing Bach's
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music. They called themselves The Bach Club and on July 16, 1930 they
offered their first all Bach program at Stieff Hall with Martha Gwinn as
pianist. From then on the Bach Club presented more and more concerts
every season, starting with the Compinsky Trio and the Philadelphia Musi-
cal Fund Ensemble. Ludwig Teach was the guiding spirit of these concerts,
offering not only compositions by Bach, but also by other composers like
Brahms, Hindemith, Schoenberg and others.
He engaged the artists and provided the publicity. "That the Bach
Club is necessary is shown by the encouragement it has received " is printed
in one of the first programs. Ludwig Teach was able to bring the famous
German violinist Adolf Busch to Baltimore and when he gave his concert
in December 1931 before a capacity audience in the Alcazar Hall his pro-
gram consisted of four compositions by J. S. Bach, two for solo violin,
something unheard of in the annals of Baltimore concerts. Other famous
artists followed: Harold Samuels, Harold Bauer, Josef Szigeti, Myra Hess
etc. The Budapest String Quartet performed frequently, joined by other
chamber music groups. Ludwig Teach was most active in the Bach Club
until about 1934/35 when his health prevented him from continuing his
leading role in its affairs. Others kept the Bach Club going until the begin-
ning of World War II. The artist Willem Wirtz and the musicians Richard
Goodman and Hugo Wiesgall were among the most active ones. The latter
two started the Chamber Music Society of Baltimore after the war, to
continue the musical tradition the Bach Club had established.
Ludwig O. Teach was born in Mannheim, Germany. His name was
then spelled Tietsch, which he found the Americans had great difficulty in
pronouncing. His father, Paul Tietsch, was a well known actor at the
Mannheim Hoftheater and director of the opera department at the Hoch-
schule fuer Musik. His mother was a musician. His parent's large circle
of friends, comprising actors, singers, musicians and artists formed the
background of his youth and he became imbued early with the love of
music and the arts. He fought in World War I, was wounded and it became
necessary to amputate one leg above the knee.
In 1921 he came to the United States and stayed with an uncle in
St. Louis, where his older brother had been living since before the war.
In 1925 he came to Baltimore to work for Marcus and Horkheimer, wool
merchants. This firm was changed later to Henry S. Horkheimer and in
due course Ludwig Teach became the manager of the business. When Mr.
Horkheimer died in 1951 the business was dissolved and Mr. Teach retired
in 1952. Due to the amputation of his leg he had to undergo several
operations during these years, but they did not relieve his constant suffering
which increased with the years. During the last few years of his life he
was an invalid. His deep interest in music and musicians continued
throughout his life. His particular pride and joy was his collection of
original letters of Brahms, Clara Schumann, Liszt and others. His wife,
Janet Smith Teach has always shared his great interest in music. She is
a member of the Board of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and works
very actively in its behalf.
O. H. FRANKE
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KARL THAU. After a severe illness which he bore with great patience,
Mr. Karl Thau passed away on May 5th, 1965 at the age of 65 years.
He was one of the partners of the Thau Manufacturing Company which
was founded in 1932. Karl Thau was born in Nürnberg and served his
apprenticeship as a tool and die maker in his native town. He attended
trade schools and became a Werkmeister in his young years. Together with
his brother, Henry J. Thau, he came to Baltimore in 1925. Parents, sister
and brothers soon followed thereafter and the entire family made Baltimore
their home. Besides his successful business career, Karl Thau has left a
deep imprint on the German-American community. He was prominent in
several societies. Through his energy, his enthusiasm and his talent as an
organizer, he soon became a leader among the (then) young Germans who
came to Baltimore in the 1920's. When the existing, older German-American
societies did not appeal to these newcomers, it was due to his initiative
that the Junge Männerchor and the Theaterverein were founded. Karl Thau
was also one of the men with foresight who aroused enough interest among
their friends to acquire the old Bryn Mawr School building at the corner
of Cathedral and Preston Streets as a center of German Vereins activities,
since known as the Deutsches Halts. After the Second World War he
thought that German-American businessmen should have a social club of
their own. This idea grew into the Fidelitas Club in 1955. Karl Thau
became thoroughly at home in his adopted state of Maryland. He was a
boating and yachting enthusiast on the waters of the Chesapeake Bay.
He gave freely of his time and energy to start the Baltimore Yacht Club
on Middle River which is now one of the leading yacht clubs on the
Eastern Seaboard. Karl Thau was also a member of the Germania Lodge
No. 160 A. F. and A. M. He is survived by his wife, Sophie K. Nordenholz
Thau and a son, Karl E. F. Thau.
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OUR CONTRIBUTORS
D®.
TAYLOR STARCK,
one of the leading scholars in the field of German-
istic studies, is a native Missourian who received his academic training at
Johns Hopkins University. Since 1920 he has been associated with Harvard
University, serving for many years as the Chairman of the Department of
Germanic Languages and Literatures. At present he has four major projects
in preparation which will add to a long list of his scholarly publications.
D®.
ADOLF E. SCHROEDER is Professor of German at Louisiana State Uni-
versity. He has taught at Ohio State University, the University of Massa-
chusetts, and served as Chairman of the Foreign Languages at Kent State
University from 1956-1964. He has published bibliographies on Rilke in
America and German poetry interpretations and has narrated eighty educa-
tional radio programs on American folksong.
HARRY ESKEW,
a native
of Spartanburg, South Carolina, is presently teaching music history and
literature at the School of Church Music, New Orleans Baptist Theological
Seminary. He is also a Research Associate of the Inter-American Institute
for Musical Research, Tulane University.
WILLIAM TRAMMELL SNYDER,
JR
., is a native of Baltimore who heads a regional public relations counselling
firm. He has done graduate work at Johns Hopkins University and the Uni-
versity of Maryland. Snyder is the author of numerous magazine articles
and of a useful handbook Knowing Maryland
KLAUS WUST has made
studies in immigration history for the past fifteen years. His manuscript
of a comprehensive history, The Virginia Germans, has been completed
recently.
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