The Rebirth of Germantown
By John Lawrence Connelly, Davidson County Historian
For a great part of the twentieth century Nashville residents either ignored or did not know that an area north of Jefferson Street was a prominent neighborhood where many of Nashville’s leading citizens once lived. To a large extent this was a German community that began flourishing heartily in the 1840s by blending its German heritage with Irish, Italian, Swiss, and Jewish neighbors, in public schools and sometimes in churches. Also, the Catholic Church of the Assumption, founded in 1859, held many of its services in German as did the German Methodist Church (Barth Memorial), founded in 1854 on North College Street (Second Avenue, North). Many prosperous merchants of the city lived in Germantown and prominent retail names hung on store signs downtown, including: Rust, Zugermann, Zickler, Ratterman, Buddeke, Thuss, Grossholz, Jensen, Jeck, and Wheling. In addition, German names in the community reflected a strong Lutheran population.
In the German community many immigrants worked as butchers, a practice brought over from Europe. They often slaughtered meat in their backyards or nearby lots. Eventually, fewer butchers peddled meat from door to door, since the time came when they could sell meat to local markets or to the Nashville Market House. Many would open their own markets or stalls. Names such as Jacobs, Dieterle, Stier, Warner, Oliver, Neuhoff, Power, Petre, Laitenberger, and White were among those from North Nashville. Meat suppliers from Butchertown developed the Christmas spice round, a Nashville holiday meat to become famous.
By 1915 the changes that would eventually destroy the neighborhood were beginning to take place. Just as the people who live in communities do not stay the same, old neighborhoods also change. As streetcar lines expanded and advancement was made in motor transportation shortly after the turn of the century, there was a definite trend for old residents to move away from the “walk-to-town” areas. Moreover, the development of refrigeration led to the phasing out of many small butchering businesses. Large packing houses were formed and they infringed upon the pleasant residential atmosphere of the neighborhood that had often been advertised in local newspapers as a growing and fashionable community. It was World War I, however, that dealt the final blow to Germantown.
Wilbur F. Creighton in his book, Building of Nashville, states: “In 1917 the reservoir was closed to visitors. The paper had been filled with stories of German atrocities, such as the use of poisonous gases and deliberate infection of water supplies.” Other exaggerated cases of emotion included suggestions by some that other citizens “kill their dachshunds.” Many German families, therefore, told their older members to please stop speaking German—even at home.
The little German Barth Memorial Church seems to manifest what happened in Germantown. For many years services were altogether spoken in German, but when World War I struck it was resolved that the church have only English services. Catholics and Lutherans with German backgrounds did likewise. The uniqueness of a small community with ties to the “Fatherland” was over. The neighborhood as it once was would never come back, and constant decline ensued until a handful of urban pioneers decided to attempt to create a new Germantown in the 1970s.
As Germantown experienced a great deal of decay many houses were torn down and others extensively altered. Nonetheless, studies made by the Metropolitan Historical Commission in the 1970s stated: “A large percentage of structures are still intact, and it can become a viable neighborhood. The quality of architecture is exceptional, and the condition of the structures is, for the most part, quite sound.”
Nashville’s Germantown Historic District is one of the architecturally heterogeneous neighborhoods in the city. The eight-block area contains a wide variety of styles and types of residences built between the 1840s and 1920s. Because of its historical and architectural significance Germantown was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in August, 1979.
For the past twenty years new residents have worked individually and collectively on the restoration of Germantown. The Germantown Association is the neighborhood group where old and new residents come together and plan for its future. A ride to the area today reveals a new community with restored houses, new houses, beautiful flowers and trees, a new supermarket, a new pharmacy, and attractive brick sidewalks. Once again Nashville can take pride in a neighborhood located within a few steps of the Bicentennial Mall, with the best view of the State Capitol. Today, it has come back and has almost unlimited potential for tomorrow.
Twenty years ago members of the Catholic Church of the Assumption and the Monroe Street United Church (two historic churches that remained) gave Nashville its first Oktoberfest. It has become one of Middle Tennessee’s most popular celebrations, held on the second Saturday in October. The Germantown Association has sponsored a Maifest celebration for the past decade and sold out all of its tickets this year. Yes, Germantown is on the map again!
