Louisville Magazine

OCT 2013

Louisville Magazine is Louisville's city magazine, covering Louisville people, lifestyles, politics, sports, restaurants, entertainment and homes. Includes a monthly calendar of events.

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German-American Club Gesangverein (1840 Lincoln Ave.) T ucked at the end of a tree-lined street, pressed up against a wall blocking the hum of Watterson Expressway trafc, sits a stumpy little building — a muddy-hued brick on the outside, encased in wood-paneling on the inside. But frst glances don't do the German-American Club of Poplar Level Road justice. Poke around and the charm will have you promising to return. A loyal group of roughly 400 members have decked out the property, which includes a high-ceilinged, windowless beer hall and an open-air cottage and patio, with vibrant paintings of water mills in Germany's Black Forest, windmills perched on emerald green mountains, dancing couples in lederhosen, and handmade crests from each city in Germany. During a recent fsh fry (the club holds one on the frst Friday evening of every month), golden-crusted cod and potato-salad peaks were piled onto paper plates as members of the Ladies Auxiliary Club played cards in the back of the dining area. And before you the DISH think this club is too mothball chic, president Jim Boeckmann will have you know the college kids love it here. For most of the year, every other Saturday, the club hosts a "beirgarten" that's open to the public. Tere's no cover charge from 6 until 10 at night. Beers range from Budweiser to a more authentic Spaten lager. "I always say they come here because our prices are so reasonable," Boeckmann says, chuckling. "Tey eat and drink here and then at 10 o'clock they hit Bardstown Road and party." Te club was founded in 1878 as an all-male singing society, a "gesangverein" in German. To this day, a handful of members still tour the country singing. Oh, and women were allowed to join as of the late 1930s. Originally located on Jackson Street near where the University of Louisville Hospital now stands, urban renewal eforts of the 1940s forced the club out of downtown and onto a former cabbage farm. Sauerkraut, anyone? — AM 10.13 LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 71

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