The History of the Hermann Sons Order

The Orden was named after Arminius, the Cheruscan, who united the German tribes in 9. A.D.
and defeated the Roman army under Varus thus ending the Roman domination of Germany, and
later caused the fall of the Roman Empire. Arminius, later called Hermann is one of the
prominent figures in the long struggle of men for freedom and self-government and is 
considered to be the father of German independence.
Around 1830 a young architect in Germany named Ernst von Bandel wanted to erect a monument,
the Hermann Memorial, in the hills of the Teuteburger Wald, in the north-western part of
Germany. It took about 40 years to finish this huge project and on August 16, 1875 the
monument was proudly presented to the German people. But this was also a time when many
Germans immigrated in droves to America.
About 13 years later, in 1888, the construction of another monument went underway, this time
in New Ulm, Minnesota. The architect was Julius Berndt. This monument with its 102 foot is
only half the size of the original near Detmold, Germany. It took nine years to complete and was
financed by the Hermann Sons Lodges. By the time of the dedication on September 25, 1897
there were about 500 chapters of the Hermann Sons counting 33000 members nationally.
In California the Order progressed rapidly. After the first Lodge was inaugurated on June 2 nd ,
1870 in San Francisco, there were over 70 lodges within a few years. Nine lodges had their own
halls. At the time of this writing there are only 6 lodges left in California,
On May 12, 1878 the Grand Lodge of the Order of Hermann Sons was established. The Sons of
Hermann initiated the annual “Deutscher Tag Feier”, German Day Celebration in San Francisco.
Other participation included the creation of Deutsches Hospital, Goethe-Schiller Monument in
Golden Gate Park, Deutsches Haus in San Francisco and the Altenheim in Oakland.
Today the Order is struggling to survive and is in desperate need of new and younger members.
In the meantime, life is going on, and we make the best of our meetings and social events
included is always the “German Gemütlichkeit”.
The purpose of the organization is to preserve the German Heritage, the German Culture, the
German Tradition and to promote the German language in the schools. The Order is founded on
humanitarian principles and is a non-political, non-sectarian and non-profit organization.
You, as valuable member is encouraged to attend our meetings, participate in various activities
and support our German speaking community in word and song,
Vielen Dank Many Thanks