Over the years many of our members have written about our most traditional, most important cultural event: Kirchweihfest. None other than Emily Fricker has captured the strong feelings, the history, and the beauty with such words. We will be sharing a series of her writings on the German-Hungarian Kirchweihs here at ughclub.us.
THE PHLADELPHIA KERWEIHS
As I have stated before, one of the first things I can remember is my father telling me, in his Banater German Dialect, “Mir sin Deitsche Leit, von Ungarn.” Of course, as a little girl, I really didn’t know what that meant. I actually thought I was “Dutch.” Later as I understood, he told me about his village named “Botschar” and of a wonderful three-day festival that they celebrated each year. This festival called a Kirchweihfest, was celebrated in Botschar on the Saturday before the feast of St. Katharina of Alexandria which is on November 25th. The church in Botschar was also named for St. Katharina.
Upon arriving in the United States in 1921, my parents lived in the neighborhood where a great many of the “German-Hungarian” people lived. This was in an area near Front Street, Girard Avenue, Tenth Street and Lehigh Avenue. Later, when I was born we lived in West Oak Lane and as typical Americans, we celebrated all the holidays that kids love to celebrate throughout the year. However, since we were “German-Hungarians” we also celebrated “Kerweih.”
As I recall, and I am recalling more since I started to write this article, what I call the “Kerweih Season” began in September with an outside celebration at a place I felt was really “out in the country” called Neshaminy Falls. This is presently our clubhouse located in Oakford. My father was a baker and worked every day of the week so my mother and I were either driven by relatives or friends. This was not the only Kerweih we attended. There was a fest called the “Bogaroscher Kerweih” and since my Aunt Anna was from this village our family attended . It was held in Philadelphia at a large clubhouse which we referred to as “The Banater” located at 2nd and Norris Streets.
The Sacred Heart Church, which was a Hungarian and German church located on the east side at Master and Masher Streets, owned a hall which I think was on Germantown Avenue and also held a Kerweih. This was the “Botscharer Kerweih” because the Parish cook was from the same village as my parents. This celebration was the most important to my family. All our relatives and family friends attended. We all got fancy new clothes and these were also for the Christmas season.
The “Andreser Kerweih” was held by the “Gewerbe” located at 2nd and Huntingdon Streets near Lehigh Avenue before Thanksgiving. In later years, when the Gewerbe Gesangverein closed, this Andreser Kerweih was celebrated in our new clubhouse. Most of these clubs or groups also had another Kerweih called “Allgemeine” which meant the celebration was for the general public since the others were celebrated for a certain village. Of course, everyone was welcome to attend all the festivals.
When we were teenagers, the German Hungarian Sport Club Dance Group participated at a Kerweih at a club in Hilltown on Limekiln Pike. This club was also called the German Hungarian Sport Club and a few years ago some of our members stopped in there and spoke with some locals and they said they didn’t know anything about that club’s history.
The Banater Arbeiter Verein, from which our original members broke away to form the Banater Männerchor, also held a Kerweih. I never attended one there, however, a woman from that club and from my parent’s village, lent me a Banater outfit when I first danced in a Kerweih. I believe these were older members (not as old as I am now, but not as young as my children), who participated as Kerweih couples.
The Donauschwaben club in Philadelphia also held a few Kirchweihs in days past.
There may have been other Kerweihs held in the Philadelphia area but I either was not aware of these or never attended. My parents did tell me that when they came to Philadelphia, there were a few other German-Hungarian groups but they did not have a clubhouse and soon gave up.
Our club, the United German Hungarians has continued to celebrate Kirchweihfests throughout the years. From 1975 to 2001 we held a three-day festival with was a huge success. Our German Hungarian Dancers not only performed the ancient Kirchweih dances each year but performed a colorful Musical Revue for 20 years. In 2002, our Kirchweih was held on a Sunday afternoon in September in our Picnic Grove and in 2006 the decision was made to move our Kirchweihfest from September to November and from an outside event to an inside one. This continues to the present day. Our Annual Traditional German Hungarian Kirchweihfest will be held on Saturday, November 10, 2012. Information is on page one. Our Kirchweih couples still carry the Kirchweih Strauss, a rosemary bush decorated with colorful satin ribbons. The girls still wear their white pleated Banater Kirchweih skirts with their beautiful, fringed shawls and the boys still wear their black vests and decorated hats and they still have the enthusiasm that the early villagers had as they dance and cheer.
We invite all to attend and support not only our club but our Youth who still strive to remember and honor the customs and traditions of their ancestors who long ago lived in a far-off land; a land that has forever changed over the years. As far as I know, we are the only club in our general vicinity that still celebrates a Kirchweihfest. Kirchweih is still celebrated in many places throughout the world. Won’t you join us at our celebration?
ef
EDITOR’S NOTE: this piece was written in 2012 and was originally published in the “Monthly Progress.” It has been re-published here in 2023 with minor edits.
The featured image shows a large Kirchweih group in the 1950s. Werner Fricker is seen kneeling at the center with the Rosmarein Strauss with Emily Fricker standing immediately behind him.
