Old Soldiers

German Army Veterans

Hold Reunion

Did you ever listen to the blending of men's voices in music that came

straight from heart that was inspired by the holiest sentiments of patriotism,

and that bore out on its swelling chords and rising cadences the abiding love

for a Fatherland that lies leagues and leagues beyond the solemn sea?

The writer heard such music on Monday afternoon in the singing of

Die Wacht am Rhine by men who had seen military service under the

banners of the land of their birth, who had offered their lives on the

altar of their country and had been her mainstay in the troublous times

of battle. These men long ago left the Fatherland and came across the

leagues and leagues of sea to a new country. Here they have grown old,

most of them, and their hair is turning gray and the step has lost the firm,

military precision to which it had one been trained. They have lived to become

honored and respected citizens of their adopted country - loyal to its

institutions and its government, representing a splendid type of its

citizenship; and yet there lingers in the consciousness of each sacred

memories of the land that gave them birth, and they love it as a child

loves the father from whom he is separated by leagues and leagues of

the solemn sea. And when a company of these men are gathered

together, their thoughts go back to other days and other scenes, and

each of his own accord pitches his voice in tune with all the other voices

and spontaneously there bursts forth the thrilling strains of the great sone

of a great nation - Die Wacht am Rhine!

There are in Nemaha county, a number of men who have seen actual

military service in the German army, and a few years ago these men

organized an association for the purpose of perpetuating the memories

of that service; that the tie that bound them as comrades might not be

weakened by the passing of the years and that they might, in common,

hold sacred the traditions of the Fatherland. The men who comprise

that company at the present time are:

Reiner Torbeck, Jacob Schmidt, Henry Niedermeyer, Conrad Harms,

Edward Pulwer, George Drengenberg, John Eckhoff, John Jurgensmeyer,

Henry Oestmann, Fred Schmidt, Paul Eltiste, Rudolph Guenther,

Ed Zimmerman, John Held, William Wulf, Anton Yedelken, Gotfried Reschke, August Meinzer, Fred Hector, Justus Gruber, L. H. Rohmeyer,

Jacob Schafer, Dick Schmidt, Ferdinand Michal, John Wagner,

Paul Hampel, George Hohl, Henry Mueller and George Bergmann.

These men are all residents of Nemaha county with the exceptions of

Gotfried Reschek and August Meinzer, who live in Richardson county, and

L. H. Rohmeyer, who is now a resident of Otoe county. The officers of the

association are: Reiner Torberk, president; Henry Mueller, vice president;

L. B. Rohmeyer, secretary and George Drengenberg, treasurer.

It is the custom of the society to hold at least two reunions or picnics

during the summer, and such an event took place on Monday at the

hospitable home of George Bergmann, southwest of the city. It was

at this time and place that the writer heard the singing of the German

National Antem as it can be sung only by those who realize its deepest

and truest meaning and who can feel the spirit of the song coursing in

their veins as they sing. At the Bergmann home these men spent a day

that means much more to them than it is possible to describe. With true

hospitality, Mr. Bergmann and his good wife threw their splendid home

open to their guests, placed the best that was to be had at their disposal

and took away all feelings of restraint that might in any way hinder any

guest from enjoying all the pleasures that the day might bring to him.

Here men met together and, in their native tongue, told the tales of

campaigns long fought, and recounted incidents that might have been

long forgotten had it not been for the organization that binds them

together. They sung again the old songs, lived again the old days and

were young again in spirit and their hearts were fired with the old patriotism.

And as these men spent their day in the manner that pleased them beat

and in accordance with the spirit of the brotherhood whose bonds unite

them, the entertainment of those of a younger generation who were

present was not overlooked and out in the meadow a game of ball

was played during the afternoon. The contestants were a team from the

Hickory Grove neighborhood and a team from over on the Muddy

further south. Both are strong amateur organizations possessing good

knowledge of the great American game. It would be hardly fair in

this case to judge the excellence of the game by the score, which was

12 to 2 in favor of the Muddy team. There were many good individual

plays, strong team work in several instances and the contest afforded

much entertainment to those who watched it. The game was hardly

concluded when Mr. Bergmann summoned his guests to the house

and to supper. The writer freely confesses that he has no power to

describe this meal so that the reader can have any idea as to how

good it was. He might as well try to paint a rose in more beautiful hues

than nature has already bestowed upon it. But on the tong tables that

gleamed with the white of linen and the sparkling of glass and silver,

there was an abundance of food that for variety and excellence could

not possibly have been surpassed. Every resource that Mr. Bergmann

and his wife could command had been drawn upon and the result was not

a supper, but a feast of good things prepared and served in the most

faultless manner and enjoyed by everyone present up to the full limit of

the human capacity for enjoyment.

After supper I. H. Criley posed the guests in front of the house and

secured an excellent photograph of the assemblage.

Pictures of the two ball teams had been

taken earlier in the day. As the day drew to a close

the guests departed and the veterans of the German army went to their homes with a new and a pleasant

memory of another happy day spent together

and with hearts filled with gratitude toward the man at whose

home they had been so splendidly entertained.

It would be difficult to find a more suitable place for the holding of such a

gathering. Mr. Bergmann s owns one of the most finely appointed farm homes

in the county. It stands upon an eminence some five miles southwest of the

city and was built a few years ago for Mr. Bergmann by A. H. Miller of

this city. The house is modern throughout. The big cellar, or rather basement,

is divided into many rooms, each with solid stone walls and cement floors.

In one of these rooms is the heating plant of most modern capacity and design.

Another room that is worthy of special mention is that which is used for the

storage of canned fruit and here the handiwork of Mrs. Bergmann is shown

by the hundreds of glass jars and their toothsome contents. A glimpse into

this room would be a revelation to any Auburn housewife. Solid stone steps

lead up into the house which is planned to meet every requirement of beauty

and convenience. The rooms are large, well lighted and ventilated by many

windows and there are many of the closets that are so dear to the heart of the

competent housekeeper. The home is furnished in splendid good taste and is,

withal, an abode of which any man might be proud.

But it is not the house alone that marks this as an exceptionally well improved

farm. The evidence extends to the cement walks that lead in all directions

from the house, to the various farm buildings all large, roomy structures,

perfectly adapted to their purposes and all in the vary best state of repair.

The poultry houses, the barns and in fact all the buildings about the place are

models of neatness and completeness. This farm comprises 280 acres of

ideal farm land. It has been brought to the highest state of cultivation and

everything about it shows the handiwork of the intelligent and successful

farmer. The house faces a large orchard in which there are trees that give

every evidence of producing a bountiful crop this year. The varieties are of

the finest and peace, pear, cherry and apple trees are laden with fruit

that will ripen into lusciousness in due time. There is also some fine

varieties of small fruit including the largest and most numerous gooseberries

that we have ever seen.

Mr. Bergmann raises Duroc Jersey hogs and has at the present time, several

hundred fine specimens of this prolific breed. Most of them are little fellows

now but it will not be so very long until he will have prepared them to go on

some big market where they will make the buyers sit up and take notice and

pay the top price to get them.

When a man pays a visit to Mr. Bergmann's farm; partakes of his hospitality

and sees what thrift, industry and intelligence can do on Nemaha county soil,

he comes away with a feeling that it would be impossible to accomplish

more or greater things anywhere upon the face of the earth. The owner of

these broad acres, and all their magnificent improvements came here many

years ago a comparatively poor man so far as this world's goods are concerned, but he had industry, thrift and level headed common

sense and all these other things have been added unto him. These is no miracle about it, Mr. Bergmann has paid the price, not wholly in dollars and cents, but in downright hard work, in constant vigilance and watchfulness and by the careful conservation and development of those resources that nature had brought to his hand. His reward has been more than material prosperity for the years that brought to him more acres, larger herds, more fruitful trees and the splendid home in which he dwells have also brought to him the

respect and the confidence of his fellow man. In this

new country, so far from the scenes of his young manhood he dwells as a

respected and honored citizen, surrounded by a family who share the

respect that the community bestows upon husband and father.

To him and to the comrades who were his guests on last Monday the

community owes much. They have brought from the old country trials of

character that have proven valuable assets in the development of this

great commonwealth. They have given of their best years to the advancement

of the welfare of their adopted country and are its loyal and respected citizens,

but sometime there comes across the leagues and leagues of the solemn

sea, the call of the the blood and when they have met together, each of his

own accord pitches his voice in tune with the other voices and out of

the Nebraska breezes there floats the majestic notes of a great national

anthem - Die Wacht am Rhine!

(Those is awake at the Rhine)

Nemaha County Herald

Friday

May 31, 1912

Mr. & Mrs. George Bergmann were commended for their excellent progress in developing one of the finest agricultural efforts in the Midwest, with an elegant home and accommodations for an outstanding gathering.