Lincoln Ave German District


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Lincoln Ave German District
Posted by: liz (---.dsl.okcyok.swbell.net)
Date: February 14, 2010 07:30PM

What happened to all the germans and the stores and restaurants.
When our family moved to leavitt and wilson in 1966 we would go to the the german restaurants.there was a german record store,shoemaker the sweater shop was called Parkway sweater my mom got a sweater there and they gave her an edelweiss. I still have that flower with the name of the store still in the plastic case .there were all kinds of german stores.
There were kids and men wearing lederhosen you would see walking around that area.
The davis Theater played german movies.

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Re: Lincoln Ave German District
Posted by: JCesarone (38.106.150.---)
Date: February 15, 2010 01:39PM

Most of that stuff seems to be gone. Zum Deutchen Eck and Math Iglers are gone from the Lincoln/Belmont area, too.

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Re: Lincoln Ave German District
Posted by: shoreline (---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: February 15, 2010 01:41PM

I believe many migrated out to northwest side neighborhoods like Jefferson and Edison PK. Still more settled a bit farther out in the numerous northwest suburbs.
As early as the 1972 many German restaurants near Lincoln and Lawrence were replaced by Greek places that formed what was then known as "Greek Town North".

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Re: Lincoln Ave German District
Posted by: shekaago (206.169.60.---)
Date: February 17, 2010 09:29PM

My husband and I had our wedding reception at Zum Deutschen Eck and I'm so sad that it is now gone. A few German places like Dinkel's Bakery and the Chicago Brauhaus still exist on Lincoln Ave. Laschet's Restaurant is a nice place on Irving just west of Lincoln and Edelweiss Restaurant is located way, way, WAY out on Irving west of Harlem. The following link from the Goethe Institute has a listing of German places in Chicago, particualarly in the Lincoln Square area.

http://www.goethe.de/ins/us/chi/pro/vtour/lsquare/brauh1.htm

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Re: Lincoln Ave German District
Posted by: WayOutWardell (63.226.79.---)
Date: February 22, 2010 05:19PM

Math Igler's was closed for a long time before the expansion of the adjacent parking lot forced its demolition. It wasn't even emptied of furnishings; I'd look in the windows and see the tables with bud vases and salt shakers, bar stools, etc.

Slightly OT: Before its redevelopment, the Lincoln-Belmont area was a great place to find new-old-stock items in the aging stores. In about 1993, I found a 40-year-old unworn pair of tan and white wingtips at the shoe store that used to be where Fizz is now.

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Re: Lincoln Ave German District
Posted by: querencia (---.dsl.chcgil.sbcglobal.net)
Date: March 10, 2010 11:22PM

Dinkel's Bakery is alive and well and even has a website.

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Re: Lincoln Ave German District
Posted by: Artista (---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: March 11, 2010 03:23AM

Did anyone here ever go to the "Golden Ox" on Clybourn Avenue? In the late 70s-early 80s i had an uncle who would treat the entire family to a big feast there yearly. What a great American-German restaurant it was. I had tasted my first Weiss beer in a traditional Weiss glass. They had been in business for over 77 years. Sadly, another historic business landmark gone forever. The building still stands but, of course, not the same.

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Re: Lincoln Ave German District
Posted by: Gail Pepin (---.sub-75-254-235.myvzw.com)
Date: March 11, 2010 03:51AM

I worked at the Golden Ox in the 1980's, It was a wonderful place, great food, great decor, great times. I was so sad to see it close down.

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Re: Lincoln Ave German District
Posted by: captain54 (---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: March 11, 2010 04:31AM

DANK-Haus opens "Lost German Chicago"

Chicago, IL (MMD Newswire) September 21, 2009 -- The DANK-Haus in historic Lincoln Square will present "Lost German Chicago" in its newly created museum space. The exhibition features art, artifacts and memorabilia from within Chicago's German American community. The items record what has been lost in the Chicago German community while archiving and preserving that which has been entrusted to DANK. Highlights include: 30 feet of exquisite wood carvings dedicated by the Germania Club by the Oscar Mayer family, relics from the Deutsches Haus at the Columbian Exposition, Hessen Verein standards, items from dozens of restaurants including the original Red Star Inn, Schulien's Math Igler's Casino, the Golden Ox, memories of St. Boniface Church, Deli Meyer, FC Hansa, the Schiller Liedertafel, Schoenhofen Brewery, Lincoln Park Turner Hall and many more.

The exhibition opens on Friday, October 2 and runs through October 2011.


http://www.mmdnewswire.com/dank-haus-5771.html

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Re: Lincoln Ave German District
Posted by: Daytonology (---.225.30.103.Dial1.Cincinnati1.Level3.net)
Date: April 01, 2010 10:33PM

That exhibit should be interesting.

The North Lincoln postwar German community was familiar to me as my parents used to go up there quite a bit. One of the favorites was a magazine stand or store that sold books, crystal, and china as well as German magazines. Nordens was it? This was the era when the Davis had German-language B-films (without subtitles).

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Re: Lincoln Ave German District
Posted by: Johnny Sauganash (---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: April 06, 2010 05:02AM

Daytonology Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That exhibit should be interesting.
>
> The North Lincoln postwar German community was
> familiar to me as my parents used to go up there
> quite a bit. One of the favorites was a magazine
> stand or store that sold books, crystal, and china
> as well as German magazines. Nordens was it?
> This was the era when the Davis had
> German-language B-films (without subtitles).

The store you're thinking of is *probably* Schmidt Imports, which was in the same block as the Davis Theater into the '80s. The store sold imported items as you described plus German language newspapers such as the Sonntagpost and Abendpost. Of course, there were probably several stores like this in Lincoln Square; Schmidt was just the one that lasted the longest. It shares some ownership links with European Imports located in Oak Mill mall in Niles.

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Re: Lincoln Ave German District
Posted by: WayOutWardell (---.dsl.chcgil.sbcglobal.net)
Date: May 27, 2010 02:54AM

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/29821940@N00/4644063380/]Zum Deutschen Eck Sign[/url]

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Re: Lincoln Ave German District
Posted by: shekaago (---.sub-75-193-165.myvzw.com)
Date: May 27, 2010 07:51PM

Hey, thanks W.O.W. for bringing back some wonderful memories with your great photo! And thanks '54 for the info on DANK haus exhibition. Will definitely be going to see it later this year. Vielen Dank!

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Re: Lincoln Ave German District
Posted by: SuperCFL (---.dsl.chcgil.sbcglobal.net)
Date: July 09, 2010 09:50PM

I have some memories of the German community on Lincoln Avenue...Zum Deutschen Eck ("The German Corner", fyi) was a family favorite on Saturdays for years before they closed in 1994. Heidelberger Fass was another favorite...a nice intimate little neighborhood place on Lincoln that was simply wonderful.

Chicago Brauhaus is well worth a visit, as is Laschet's (and there's another German place in the same area, whose name I forget). I expect it will get tougher and tougher to indulge one's Germanness as the local community assimilates and moves to the suburbs.

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Re: Lincoln Ave German District
Posted by: shekaago (---.sub-75-244-138.myvzw.com)
Date: July 12, 2010 02:02PM

Another fond memory I have of ZDE is that they used to pass out song sheets to every table on weekend evenings so that diners could sing along with the German band that played there. It was great fun! Mirabell, out on Addison just west of Kimball is another place still serving up German food in the city.

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Re: Lincoln Ave German District
Posted by: liz (---.dsl.okcyok.swbell.net)
Date: July 12, 2010 04:20PM

another favorite german restaurant was the brown bear on clark st.I think there was a stuffed bear outside in the 60s anyone remember that.the singing waiters sang the schnitzelbank song it was the last song of the evening .

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Re: Lincoln Ave German District
Posted by: querencia (---.dsl.chcgil.sbcglobal.net)
Date: August 29, 2010 03:44AM

The German community must have been huge. If you look at the names on the gravestones in St Boniface Cemetery, Clark between Lawrence and Ainslie, they seem all to be German. And if you stop in at St Michael's Church on Eugenie in Old Town---the doors are often open---you can pick up a brochure detailing the history of the church, which was built with money contributed by German immigrants (who also rebuilt it after the Fire).

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Re: Lincoln Ave German District
Posted by: tomcat630 (---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: September 01, 2010 03:00AM

German descendants [my family included] assimilated into middle class America and moved all over the place. Many also intermarried with others of same religion, Luthern, Catholic, etc.

My grandmother's family was German-American, and she came to Chicago in 1937 with grand dad from Southeast Missouri, which was once part of French Catholic Louisiana Territory, then German Catholics mixed in the 1800's to 1920's.

Schaumburg, yes the 'definitive suburb', was founded by German immigrants, and it's descendants assimilated.

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Re: Lincoln Ave German District
Posted by: rychenroll (---.socal.res.rr.com)
Date: July 08, 2012 04:12AM

I don't know where this is but my Grandfather played at the Math Igler's Casino. His name was Arthur Koch and he had an Orchestra that played there. Concert Pianist. I am having a hard time finding much about him... I have a Message to Orchestra sheet from Math Igler's Casino the review are from 1922, 1923 and 1924. If anyone has any input that would be cool.....

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Re: Lincoln Ave German District
Posted by: Dunning1 (---.dhs.gov)
Date: July 17, 2012 02:36PM

I also remember a lot of those places. I lived at Damen & Montrose in the late 1970's and early 1980's and visited quite a few of those places. I used to love Deli Meyer, and most of the furniture I have is from Northern Home Furnishings. I remember the old Golden Ox down by North and Halsted, as well as the old Red Star Inn that was torn down for the development of Sandburg Village. The Red Star opened up again at Irving & Keeler, but never made it and closed after a few years. My parents loved Johnny Held's Brown Bear, which was up north on Clark Street, and I even have an LP of the music played there. A big treat at Math Iglers Casino was the schnitzelbank song, and they used to pass out little cards with the song on it so you could follow along. While not located on the North Side, another family favorite was the Hapsburg Inn that was located out on River Road, north of Maryhill. It was a real treat to load into my grandfather's Cadillac and go out there as part of a day trip. The owners were friends of my grands, so we got to look around on the farm behind the restaurant. The restaurant was actually a big barn like building, right on River Road, and in later years became a catering call called Katheryn's. It was recently torn down. I also lament the lack of good German restaurants here, but the Edelweiss, as well as special events at the Schwaben Center in Buffalo Grove keep this cuisine alive.

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