Davenport, IA?July 6, 2010?The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) proudly announces that The German American Heritage Center is the recipient of an Award of Merit from the AASLH Leadership in History Awards for the exhibit The German Immigrant Experience: 1845-1925.  The AASLH Leadership in History Award is the most prestigious recognition for achievement in the preservation and interpretation of state and local history.

The museum includes nearly 4,000 feet of state-of-the-art interactive exhibits including a new trivia video game, wired antique party phone lines to listen to, and the audio-visual experience, "Step into My Shoes." The new interactive video game let's visitors choose a character who portrays a German Immigrant of the mid- 1800's.  They then answer questions that lead to a reward of two fun video games.   The "Step into my Shoes" exhibit allows section visitors to step onto footprints of a child, female and male.  This triggers the corresponding character to appear before them on a screen and talk about their personal experience as an immigrant.  For more information about this award winning exhibit, go to our website at www.gahc.org.  Here you can watch video of the exhibit and explore out exhibit photo gallery.

Awards for 2010 represent 49 organizations and individuals from across the United States.  Contribution from The History Channel will once again help underwrite the cost of the awards banquet which will honor the award winners at a special banquet during the 2009 AASLH Annual Meeting in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on Friday, September 24.

The AASLH awards program was initiated in 1945 to establish and encourage standards of excellence in the collection, preservation, and interpretation of state and local history throughout the United States.  The AASLH Leadership in History Awards not only honor significant achievement in the field of state and local history, but also

brings public recognition of the opportunities for small and large organizations, institutions, and programs to make contributions in this arena.

For more information on the museum's exhibits, programs, events, classes, and workshops, visit www.gahc.org or call 563-322-8844.  General Admissions is: Adults: $5; Seniors: $4; Children (5-17 years old): $3; Free for children under 5.  Museums members are free.  Hours are Tuesdays through Saturday open 10 am- 4 pm; Sunday open 12 pm- 4 pm.  For more information about the Leadership in History Awards, contact AASLH at 615-320-3203, or go to www.aaslh.org.

-End-

We are recruiting volunteers to help with our new and fun special events at the German American Heritage Center Museum! We are in need of volunteers who would like to help plan and/or coordinate these events. New events will include a German Festival, beer tastings, and German Christmas Gala. Please contact ach@gahc.org if you are interested!
Did you know that our entire fourth floor was totally rennovated into a beautiful banquet hall space? Windows wrap around the space offering amazing views of the Mississippi River and Downtown Davenport during the day. At night, the space transforms into an elegant setting with spectacular views of a vibrant downtown and the lighted Centennial bridge.

Our banquet hall holds 100 people and offers all of your audio visual needs. As an added bonus for you, when you rent our banquet hall your guests will enjoy $1 off admission to the museum during your rental time.

If you are intersted in viewing our banquet space for a possible rental, please email director@gahc.org or contact 563-322-8844.

Banquet Hall Rental Rates
$225 FOR UP TO 3 HOURS (NON-MEMBER RATE)
$175 FOR UP TO 3 HOURS (MUSEUM MEMBER RATE)
$100 PER ADDITIONAL HOUR
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Where: City Cemetery at 1625 Rockingham Road, Davenport, Iowa
Time: 9:30 a.m.
Cost: Free
The event honors ancestors who were German American immigrants to the region over a century ago. The celebration is free and open to the public. Visitors are encouraged to bring their lawn chairs. Master of Ceremony is Mayor Bill Gluba. The program begins at 9:30 a.m. with bagpipe music by Derek Grant. Guest speaker is former Mayor Mark Schwiebert. The celebration also includes the German and American National Anthem sung by Henry Storjohann and Dale Dammann. Central High School's ROTC will present the Honor Guard. The program will end with an Volley Rifle Salute. Taps will be performed by John Adams of Davenport American Legion Post 26.  The event is sponsored by The American/Shleswig-Hostein Heritage Society; The German American Family Club of Iowa and Illinois; The German American Heritage Center; The German American National Congress (D.A.N.K.) Quad Cities Chapters; The German American Pioneer Society of Scott County, Iowa; and The Schuetzenpark Gilde.

German Fest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Date: July 24, 2010 (Day trip)

Time: 7:55 a.m. - 8:50 p.m.
(Bus departs/returns at the German American Heritage Center)

Cost: Nonmembers: Adults: $68; Seniors and Students: $65

Members: Adults: $58; Seniors and Students: $55

Direct from Germany, the German Showcase features an amazing group of entertainers who will be performing every day throughout the grounds! Relax with a beer and sausage in the Beer Garden on the ground's North end - sing along or listen to favorite German drinking songs! Visit the South end of the grounds for carnival games, rides and other activities! Don't leave the festival grounds without trying a "Currywurst," a bratwurst with a decadent curry sauce, or a "Saucisschen," an 18" pork sausage curled and served on a stick!  To reserve your spot for the trip, call 563-322-8844. We encourage you to register soon, as space is limited.

DAVENPORT, IOWA (May 5, 2010) The German American Heritage Center and Museum now includes about 4,000 square feet of state-of-the-art interactive exhibits including a new trivia video game, wired antique party line phones to listen to, and the audio-visual experience, "Step into my Shoes."  At"Step into my Shoes" you step on a set of the footprints, which then triggers a character to appear before them on a screen and talk about their experience as an immigrant. You may also try on clothing that immigrants would have worn during the turn of the century, and enjoy exploring many artifacts on display.The museum also includes two original restored hotel rooms, 1800s period style clothing that visitors may try on, many artifacts on display, and a mini-theater. The new interactive video game lets the visitor choose a character who portrays a German immigrant of the mid-1800s. They answer a set of trivia questions. Clues and answers to the questions can be found throughout the exhibit. When they finish answering the questions they are rewarded with two fun video games to play that simulate activities that were played by boys and girls during the turn of the century. Visitors enjoy an interactive experience as you learn about immigrants' journey by sea, train and foot, to their final destination at the German American Heritage Center building, which was originally a very busy hotel for thousands of immigrants in the 1860s.

The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and on Sundays from noon - 4 p.m. Admission is as follows: Adults: $5; Seniors: $4; Children: $3 (5 - 17 years old); Family: $12; Free for children under 5; and free for museum members. For more information on all of the museum's exhibits, programs, events, classes, and workshops visit www.gahc.org, facebook, or call 563-322-8844. The German American Heritage Center is located at the foot of Centennial Bridge at 712 West Second Street, Davenport, Iowa. The German American Heritage Center works to preserve and enrich the German immigrant experience and its impact on the American Culture. The museum also partners with other cultural groups to demonstrate the contributions immigrants from many countries and from varied backgrounds have made to the ethnic palette which is the United States.

-END-

Did you know that most of our programs are FREE with museum admission or free for members? Check out our May programs below:

German Athletics: World Cup, Olympics & Fitness
Cost: Free with museum admission; Free for members
Saturday, April 24 at 2:00 p.m.
Presented by Byran Schmid
The athletics movement that swept through Germany in the 19th century, called the Turnerbewegung, began the fixation for health and fitness that continues to the present day. Beginning with Turnvater Jahn and continuing through the 1936 Berlin Olympics and the World Cup in 2006, German sports, health and fitness have been an important part of life for generations. This presentation will discuss the important moments in German athletic history, as well as a look forward to Germany's highly anticipated 2010 World Cup run.
Film: Among Farmers-Saviors in the Night
Sunday, May 2 at 2:00 p.m. at GAHC
Cost: Free for museum members free and free for students or $5 for general public
In partnership with the Jewish Federation of the Quad Cities, we invite you to enjoy this film and refreshments. Ludi Boeken's "Under Bauern" (Saviors in the Night) tells of farmers - unter bauern - in Westphalia who sheltered Jewish friends from the Nazis. The movie is based on Marga Speigel's memoir "Saviour in the Night" who tells the story of how a Jewish family survived in their hiding place because of the help of farmer families Aschoff, Pentrop, Sickmann and Silkenbömer from the Münsterland. (Includes admission to the museum. For those who would like to explore the museum, please arrive early before the movie as the exhibits close at 4 p.m.)

Amana Exhibit Talk
Sunday, May 9 at 2:00 p.m.
Cost: Free with museum admission; Free for me
Where: German American Heritage Center Museum is located at 712 West Second Street in Davenport, Iowa.
The presentation is given in conjunction the current special rotating exhibit Amana: Moving to the City. The program will be presented by Carol Schaefer whose parents lived in the Amana Colonies and moved to Davenport in the 1930s.

Happy Mother's Day Special
Sunday, May 9
Free admission for Moms

Engineering Marvels: Explore the Hennepin & Other Canals
Sunday, May 16 at 2:00 p.m.
Cost: Free with museum admission; Free for members.
Where: German American Heritage Center Museum is located at 712 West Second Street in Davenport, Iowa.
Presented by Dan Reid
The Hennepin Canal, built in 1892 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was the first American canal built of concrete without stone cut facings. Some of the innovations pioneered on the Hennepin Canal were probably used on the Panama Canal. Both used concrete lock chambers and both used a Feeder canal from a man made lake to water the canals because both needed water to flow 'uphill.'

German Cooking with Herbs
Sunday, May 23 at 2:00 p.m.
Cost: Free with museum admission; Free for members.
Where: German American Heritage Center Museum is located at 712 West Second Street in Davenport, Iowa.
Presented by Gisela McDonald
Gisela will talk about herbs that are used more frequently in German cooking than in cooking in the United States. She will bring samples of a sorrel soup to taste and the recipe. Gisela has been growing herbs for more than 15 years and is a member of the QC Herbs group.

Handwriting analysis will show what handwriting reveals about the writer and German script at the German American Heritage Center Museum in Davenport on Sunday, April 11 at 2 p.m.


DAVENPORT, IOWA (April 6, 2010) What does your handwriting say about you? Join handwriting analysis Giles Weigandt as he explores how a sample of handwriting reveals more about the writer than just the level of haste in which the writing was done. In addition, German Gothic script will be discussed. This presentation, "What Your Handwriting Reveals About You & A Look at Gothic Script" will be held Sunday, April 11 at 2:00 p.m. The program is free for members and free with museum admission for nonmembers.

In addition to the presentation visitors can explore the museum's 4,000 square feet of permanent and special exhibits. Visitors will enjoy an interactive experience as they learn about immigrants' journey by sea, train and foot, to their final destination at the German American Heritage Center building, which was originally a very busy hotel for thousands of immigrants in the 1860s.


The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and on Sundays from noon - 4 p.m. Admission is as follows: Adults: $5; Seniors: $4; Children: $3 (5 - 17 years old); Family: $12; Free for children under 5; and free for museum members.

Visit the museum's website at www.gahc.org and find them on facebook. The German American Heritage Center is located at the foot of Centennial Bridge at 712 West Second Street, Davenport, Iowa. For more information call 563-322-8844.

-END-

DAVENPORT, IOWA (March 29, 2010) Visitors who sign up to become a new museum member will receive a free glass stein at the German American Heritage Center & Museum in Davenport, Iowa while supplies last. Visitors can stop by the museum at 712 West 2nd Street in Davenport, Iowa and sign up for membership and pick up their stein.

Museum members receive free admission all year to the permanent and special exhibits, a free subscription to our quarterly Member Magazine, free admission to special programs and events, member-only events, a 10% discount at the gift shop, discounts on classes, and trips, and a discount to the museum's facility rental. Membership is $35 for an individual, $45 for a couple, $55 for a household, $55 for grandparents/grandchildren, and $1,000 for a life member individual, or $1,500 for a life member couple. 

Last fall the museum underwent a major renovation and expansion that resulted in a highly interactive, audiovisual experience of nearly 4,000 square feet of dynamic exhibits. Visitors of all ages and heritage backgrounds will be fascinated as they explore the human experience of leaving one's homeland in the hopes of finding opportunity and happiness in another country. In the museum visitors step into the footprints of a person from over a century ago and

hear the sounds of a storm at sea, the roar of an old wooden German rollercoaster, and joyous music celebration as they travel through 2,000 years. Museum members receive free admission to our

 new permanent exhibit and our special rotating exhibits. The current special exhibit is Amana Colonies: Moving to the City.

 

The German American Heritage Center works to preserve and enrich the German immigrant experience and its impact on the American Culture. The museum also partners with other cultural groups to demonstrate the contributions immigrants from many countries and from varied backgrounds have made to the ethnic palette which is the United States. For more information on all of the museum's exhibits, programs, events, classes, and workshops visit www.gahc.org or call 563-322-8844. General admission is: Adults: $5; Seniors:$4; Children: $3 (5 - 17 years old); Free for children under 5. Museum members are free. Hours are Tuesdays through Saturday open 10 am - 4 pm; Sunday open 12 - 4 pm.

-END-