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Club History
In 1925, at the Österreicher Hilfs-Gesellschaft Farmer’s Ball, a small group of young German and Austrian immigrants offered to perform the Schuhplattler. This was the beginning of the Gebirgstrachten-Verein Almrausch, one of America’s oldest German dance clubs. The group, led by Frank J. Piazzi, included dancers Michael Weigert, Michael Koerner, Mally Piazzi, Bertha Piazzi and Bertha Weigert. After this first “performance,” they were approached by Eugene Schick, who wanted to perform the “Figurentanz” with them. This tiny nucleus decided that very night to form a permanent Verein to perpetuate the customs, dances and culture they left behind in the “alte Heimat.” The group began meeting regularly, and soon word spread throughout the local German community of the new Verein. Before long the Gebirgstrachten-Verein Almrausch Schuhplattler group had more than twenty dancers. As the group grew in size, it also grew in popularity. The dancers were soon appearing at many social and benefit events in the Philadelphia area.
A recently discovered 16mm film gave us new insight into our founding members. The rare footage shows the members of the Almrausch attending two different events, a soccer game in 1927 and a picnic at a farm in Allentown, Pennsylvania circa 1930. Although these were primarily social events, the members attended in their Lederhosen and Dirndl, and entertained themselves and other guests by dancing and playing music. The Gemütlichkeit is evident in scenes such as then Almrausch President, Frank Piazzi, mischievously riding one of the cows while being chased by a less-than-pleased farmer, and clips of the members leading impromptu parades.
The Almrausch continued to actively perform throughout the Depression Era, bringing cheer and entertainment to innumerable people. The Verein hosted five Feste each year, a New Year’s Ball, Weinfest, Stiftungsfest, Farmer’s Ball and an Edelweiss Ball. At the Edelweiss Ball, each woman was given a small bouquet of Edelweiss to take home. These Feste were very well attended, 1200 Edelweiss were given away in 1927. World War II temporarily suspended the activities, but not the spirit, of the group until 1946.
The Almrausch practiced at the Allemannia Hall in Philadelphia until 1959. From 1959 until 1973 the club practiced at the Liedertafel in North Philadelphia. Neither of these halls was large enough to use for the club’s Feste, so many different halls were used around the city, including Philadelphia Quartett Hall, Turngemeinde Hall, St. Adalbert’s Hall and Gewerbe Hall. Many of these halls, unfortunately, no longer exist due to changes in the communities. In 1963, the Almrausch held its 38th Stiftungsfest at the Cannstatter Volksfest-Verein in Northeast Philadelphia. Since 1973 both practices and Feste have been held at the Cannstatter. Each spring, on the first Saturday after Easter, our Stiftungsfest is attended by our friends from other Schuhplattler clubs in the Philadelphia area and throughout the East Coast. The Almrausch Oktoberfest, held the first Friday in November, has taken place annually since 1969. At this event, which begins traditionally with a parade led bye a Münchner Kindel seated atop a barrel, Almrausch members showcase talents including yodeling and bell-ringing. Each year the entire Verein performs a new dance and demonstrates their acting ability by entertaining guests with humorous skits.
Throughout its seventy-five year history, the Almrausch has performed for many Philadelphia area German-American organizations, country clubs, schools and universities, hospitals and nursing and retirement homes. The Almrausch has frequently appeared on television. The first time was at the Philco Radio Company in 1948. The group’s performances are not limited to the Philadelphia area. We have traveled up and down the East Coast to perform at many different Oktoberfeste. This includes Feste in Atlantic City, North Carolina, Florida, New Hampshire, and Tennessee. During the summers of 1960 and 1961, the Almrausch performed every weekend at the Pocono Mountain Inn (PMI) in Cresco, Pennsylvania. For 11 years, from 1979 through 1990, we performed in Melbourne, Florida at its annual four-day Oktoberfest. These events, along with many others, hold fond memories for Almrausch members and tales of performance and the accompanying Gemütlichkeit have been passed from member to member and generation to generation.
Philadelphia is a city that loves parades, and the Almrausch has participated in a wide variety of them. We annually march in the German-American Steuben Parade that runs from the Museum of Art through Center City to Independence Hall. This parade is the largest ethnic parade in the City. Some of our members have also had the honor of marching the New Year’s Day Parade, known as the Mummers’ Parade, in 1978 and 1988. We also joined with many other ethnic groups and marched in the Constitution’s Bicentennial Parade in 1987.
The group’s long history has blended well with that of Philadelphia, the “Cradle of our Nation’s Liberty.” On the two hundredth anniversary of the United States, the Almrausch celebrated its own fiftieth anniversary and Fahnenweihe. Dozens of Vereine participated in our three-day event. The Almrausch hosted a welcome dance on Friday evening at the historic Bellevue Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia. Saturday saw the blessing of the group’s new flag at the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, followed by a Massenplattler on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Later that evening, a banquet for more than eight hundred Schuhplattler was held in the hotel’s main ballroom. This historic weekend ended on Sunday, July 4, 1976, with a picnic for all the Trachtler at the Cannstatter Volksfest-Verein. A sudden thunderstorm in the afternoon put a dramatic cap on the celebration.
Over the years, the Almrausch has developed strong bonds with other Schuhplattler Vereine and traveled to many Feste. In 1954, the Verein participated in the Preisplatteln in North Bergen, NJ hosted by the Schlierachtaler Stamm and was awarded six prizes, including first prize. The Almrausch is proud to be one of the founding members of the Gauverband Nordamerika. In May 1967 at the first Gaufest, Almrausch participated in Preisplatteln and placed fifth. We have attended every Gaufest since then and have competed in most of them.
The Almrausch has also played an important part in the history of other Schuhplattler Vereine. In 1949, Ray Piazzi, son of two of Almrausch’s founding members, along with Frank Lambert, drove the 120 miles to Reading each week to instruct the nucleus of ten dedicated couples that would become GTV Edelweiss, Reading, Pennsylvania. Though some members of the Almrausch have moved from the Philadelphia area, they have taken their love of Tracht and Schuhplattler with them. The daughter of two founders, Lilly (Weigert) Mittermaier, along with her husband John, founded Edelweiss Alpine Dancers in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1950. Jesse and Joan Anthony were instrumental in founding the Schuhplattler-Gruppe Alpenrose in Orlando, Florida in 1980. And in the spring of 1983 Kurt Van Dexter, along with Justin Maguire, formerly of Edelweiss-Passaic, formed SGTV Alpenblumen, Providence, Rhode Island. The GTV Almrausch has the honor of being Patenverein to Edelweiss Reading and Alpenrose, Orlando, and Co-Patenverein to Alpenblumen Providence.
Over the past seventy-five years, the Gebirgstrachten-Verein Almrausch has occupied a very special place in the Delaware Valley community. Our Verein, formed out of friendships of young German and Austrian immigrants, has acted as ambassadors of goodwill for the City of Philadelphia and for the German-American community at large. We are a union of men and women, which include third and fourth generation Trachtler, who share a common goal to preserve and promote Bavarian dance, music and tradition.