Virtual Holiday Tour: Christmas in Kleindeutschland

Join us on December 17th on YouTube Live for a special virtual holiday tour uncovering the surprising history of Christmas in the nation’s first-ever immigrant neighborhood — Little Germany, known today as the Lower East Side.

Through all-new research into the German newspapers of the 1870s, and the story of John and Caroline Schneider, saloon owners in 97 Orchard Street, we’ll explore the debates about Christmas and the role it played in building national identity for German immigrants in the diverse metropolis of New York City. Should Christmas be celebrated at home or in saloons? How does one manage the American commercialism of Christmas? What does a national holiday mean in a still-new country?