History of the Germans in Louisville

The history of the Germans in Louisville began in 1787. In that year, a man named Kaye, of Pennsylvania Dutch origin, built the first brick house in Louisville, Kentucky. The Blankenbaker, Bruner, and Funk families came to the Louisville region following the American Revolutionary War, and in 1797 they founded the town Brunerstown, which would later become Jeffersontown, Kentucky. Further early immigration of Germans took place as they slowly followed the Ohio River after arriving in the United States at New Orleans, and settled in the various river towns, which included not only Louisville, but Cincinnati, Ohio, and St. Louis, Missouri, as well.

By the 1850s 35% of Louisville's population would be German, totaling 18,000. Many of this number included a few Swiss and Austrians for whom German was their native language, and would often live amongst the Germans. This large population would introduce to Louisville two different concepts: bilingual education, and kindergartens. By 1854, Louisville public schools taught German. By 1900, 48,000 Louisvillains were at least half-German

The Germans would found many of the city's churches. The first was St. Paul's German Evangelical Church in 1836. Others included St. Peter's German Evangelical Church and St. John's Evangelical Church. Even the first synagogue was created by Germans, as Jewish immigrants from Germany created Temple Adath Israel in 1838. In total, thirteen churches in Louisville specifically catered to Germans.

Germans would also be instrumental in food. Butchertown got its name for the various meat-packing companies operated there by Germans, with some in Germantown as well. The most prominent of these meat-packers would be Henry Fischer's, whose Fischer Packing Company still exists today as a popular local brand of meat. Throughout the city there were bakeries and confectioners of German heritage. The German-speaking Swiss ran the nearby dairy operations.

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