DANK-Haus German American Cultural Center is a cultural organization located in the
Lincoln Square, Chicago
Lincoln Square on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois, is one of the city's 77 community areas. It encompasses the smaller neighborhoods of Ravenswood, Ravenswood Gardens, Bowmanville, Budlong Woods as well as Lincoln Square itself.
Profile
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community area. Founded in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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in 1959, it seeks to preserve and promote German and
German American
German Americans (german: Deutschamerikaner, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. With an estimated size of approximately 43 million in 2019, German Americans are the largest of the self-reported ancestry groups by the Unite ...
culture.
The center contains the DANK museum, Scharpenberg art gallery, a library (Koegel Bibliothek), facilities for social gatherings, and offers
German language
German ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and Official language, official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Ita ...
classes. It is a member organization of the Chicago Cultural Alliance.
The Cultural Center has its origins in the founding of the ''Deutsch Amerikanischer National Kongress'' (
German American National Congress
The German American National Congress (german: Deutsch Amerikanischer National Kongress) (also known as DANK) is a national German-American nonprofit organization in the United States founded in 1959. It was established to unite Americans of Germa ...
, or DANK), an organization dedicated to German American welfare and culture. In German, ''Dank'', as well as ''danke'', is used in phrases expressing thanks. The headquarters of the Congress is housed in the center. Also founded in 1959, largely through the work of Leonard Enders, editor of the German-language newspaper ''Abendpost und Sonntagspost,'' the congress has chapters in different areas of the United States.
The Cultural Center building was designed by architect Paul Gerhardt and built in 1927, as a multipurpose center for a
social club
A social club may be a group of people or the place where they meet, generally formed around a common interest, occupation, or activity. Examples include: book discussion clubs, chess clubs, anime clubs, country clubs, charity work, criminal ...
. It still contains an Olympic-size swimming pool. It was purchased by DANK in 1967.
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See also
* Germans in Chicago
Historically, Chicago has had an ethnic German population. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, 15.8% of people in the Chicago area had German ancestry, and those of German ancestry were the largest ethnic group in 80% of Chicago's suburbs. As of the ye ...
References
External links
Official website
{{Ethnicity in Chicago , state=autocollapse
Cultural centers in Chicago
German-American culture in Chicago
Museums in Chicago
Ethnic museums in Illinois
German-American museums