Trenton Donauschwaben Club History

Events were held in St. Stephen's church hall in Trenton and even on the farm of Josef Bohn (Palanka) during the early years. Jakob Eppli (Bukin), our next president, introduced a language and cultural school in 1959 for the members' children and the club continued to grow. Finally, in 1973 our organization was able to purchase an old farm house on nearly an acre of land with the financial backing of many fine members. This property is located some 15 minutes east of the city of Trenton in the town of Yardville. The hard work of restoration and renovation followed as then president, the late Willi Michel (Neudorf), helped push the effort forward.

Also in 1973, under the direction of Marlene Novosel (Palanka), our very successful youth/dance group was established. The dancers performed throughout the Delaware Valley and would serve as the club's ambassadors for nearly two decades, at times fielding as many as twelve couples. The 1970's also saw the expansion of our children's school to include over 60 children in 5 grades by the end of that decade. Youth oriented activities were begun to help keep our young generation interested. These included our July 4th weekend on the upper Delaware river, ski trips, day hikes and more.

In 1978, under then president Adam Martini (Bukin), the club was further renovated and enlarged to its current size again using only volunteer help and contributions. That same year, an effort led by the late Peter Kiss (Palanka) resulted in the dedication of an immense three-monument large memorial to the Donauschwaben Genocide at Our Lady of Lourdes Cemetery in Trenton. A list of the names on this monument can be found in our Genealogy section. This important symbol of the Donauschwaben plight between 1944 - 48 attracts visitors year-round with a prayer service held there each All Soul's Day in November. An "eternal light" candle and many freshly placed flowers can be found there on any given day. Peter was, himself, a concentration camp survivor. He later played a roll in the club as an active Donauschwaben genealogical researcher.

1980 saw the beginning of our adult language school headed by Lori Hanks (Heidelberg, FRG). This recognized a growing reality in our club, that is: the growing number of 2nd, 3rd and 4th generation Americans of German descent. They are vitally important to our club and indeed represent the future as immigration to this country has all but stopped.

Through the 1980's, under the stewardship of Ludwig Jakober (Neudorf), more of the younger generation became active in the club's operations due in no small part to the rapport he maintained with them. Our club's financial situation continued to strengthen as our monthly meals, organized by the indefatigable Rosa Wildmann (Ilok), consistently attracted many Landsleute and friends. These meals are open to the public and feature traditional German dishes.

1991 saw the happy return of our Kindergruppe after a decade's hiatus. Elisabeth Tindall (Trentoner Schwob) and her dedicated co-workers continued the demanding task of running the school until 1997. Currently the club is looking for a children's school director for the 1999 school year.

With the election of Franz Herdt in 1992 to the Presidency, the emergence of the next generation of American-born Schwobe/Germans was more fully realized. While the older generation still performed a large portion of the daily activities necessary to keep our club doors open, the younger generation would now play an increasingly important role. Harold Parr and, currently, Joseph Brandecker, Jr., both of Trenton, succeeded Frank as President.

Autumn, 1998, brought a new member to the club, Dana Miles, who brought with him a mission: to put our club onto the Internet. With contributions of text and pictures from club members, this goal was realized in the Spring of 1999. We now have email lists for members and friends of the club to allow us to keep people updated electronically, as well as a growing website of information and photographs of club activities and historical pictures from the Donauschwaben homeland. Genealogical information on the website is provided by club member Dennis J. Bauer, our genealogist (grandparents from Palanka & Batsch).

In January 2001 Dennis J. Bauer became the new editor of the Club's newsletter. It was named the "Trentoner Donauschwaben Nachrichten". It was well received by the members. In April 2001, our first 5 week genealogical seminar was offered, "Genealogy for Beginners". It was opened to all members and was well attended. Many of the club members are now off on their own genealogical quest for ancestors.

The Club established it's own web site URL:  www.trentondonauschwaben.com in the spring of 2003 with the help of Co-Web Master Ed Soden. The Club also began offering a "Donauschwaben History" presentation to interested groups in our area. Later, during the summer of 2003 a number of  car enthusiasts within the Club formed an informal "Autoklub". They represented the Club at local car shows and rallies in the Trenton and Philadelphia areas. Four members won individual trophies at the Philly Cannstatter Auto Show in August 2003 and the Club won a trophy and cash prize for the most auto club entries. Forty plus club members attended the  Donauschwabentreffen in Mansfield, OH in September 2003. The Trenton Club continued to have a close affiliation with the Philadelphia Donauschwaben in 2003.

The AutoKlub repeated its winning at the 2004 Cannstatter Car Show.  Forty plus club members attended the Donauschwabentreffen in Windsor Canada in August 2004. The Club then held its own AutoKlub member car show at the 26 September 2004 Erntedankfest where the diners picked their top three "Peoples Choice" cars. 

On 9 July 2005 and 8 July 2006 our club, in conjunction with the German-American Society on Trenton, held our Euro-American Auto Show. They both were great successes, with close to 100 cars participating and close to 500 public spectators present both years. 

In April 2006 the club joined the Philly Donauschwaben and the United-Hungarians to present a 2-day Cultural Exhibit. This was followed by a joint Trachtenfest in May. Both were a great success. On 14 October 2006 German clubs from around the area helped us celebrate our 50th Anniversary at the Trenton Arbeiter Hall, close to 200 members and friends were in attendance.  The club also published "Memories of Our Donauschwaben Culture - a Collection of Articles", a booklet full of history.

The Club membership continued to grow in 2007 under the tired less leadership of President Joseph Brandecker. The club also became an affiliate member of the Donauschwaben Villages Help Hands (www.dvhh.org) web site in 2007. Several of our members are active contributors to this web site.