Nestled in the vibrant streets of New York City’s East Village at 135 Second Avenue, the Ottendorfer Library stands as a testament to the multicultural and linguistic tapestry that has woven itself into the city’s history. Founded by a visionary immigrant, the library has played a pivotal role in fostering diversity, education, and cultural exchange. […]
On October 6, 1683, thirteen families arrived in Philadelphia and founded the first German settlement in North America. Since then, generations of Germans have immigrated to the United States, with the greatest influx arriving in the mid-19th century following the revolutions of 1848. Manhattan became a main destination for these immigrants, especially the East Village, […]
It might be temporarily closed for renovations, but when the Ottendorfer Branch of the New York Public Library opened in 1884 it was New York City’s first free public library, and was designated a New York City landmark on September 20, 1977.
On June 15, 1904, a disaster of unprecedented proportions took place in New York City, resulting in the loss of over 1,000 lives, mostly women and children. This largely forgotten event was the greatest peacetime loss of life in New York City history prior to the September 11th attacks, forever changing our city and the […]
On July 19, 1799, the Rosetta Stone was discovered during the Napoleonic Campaign in Egypt. This stele is inscribed in three languages — Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphics, Demotic, and Ancient Greek — and became the key to finally translating and unlocking the secrets of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic script. Like ancient Egypt, our neighborhoods have been a shifting […]
In the late 19th and early 20th Century, the East Village and Lower East Side were home to a substantial German immigrant community. As a result, this area became known as Kleindeutschland, or “Little Germany.” Eventually the German community moved north to the Upper East Side and elsewhere, spurred on by the General Slocum Disaster, demographic […]
Forty-seven years ago, on January 14th 1969, the Landmarks Preservation Commission concluded that, “On the basis of a careful consideration of the history, the architecture and other features of this area, the Landmarks Preservation Commission finds that the St. Mark’s Historic District contains buildings and other improvements which have a special character and special historical […]
Today we take a look at one of the many wonderful individual landmarks in our neighborhood, the Germania Fire Insurance Company Bowery Building at 357 Bowery. Designed by prominent German-American architect Carl Pfeiffer and built in 1870, the Germania Fire Insurance Company Bowery Building recalls the time when the Bowery was a major thoroughfare of […]
The Ottendorfer Branch of the New York Public Library (NYPL) at 135 Second Avenue was designated an individual New York City landmark September 20, 1977. The library was built in 1883-4 by Oswald Ottendorfer, a wealthy German newspaper magnate, along with the adjoining Stuyvesant Polyclinic Hospital. These buildings are both representative of Kleindeutschland, or “Little Germany,” […]
As we here at GVSHP have previously discussed, many streets in Greenwich Village bear an honorary secondary name recognizing important people and institutions associated with the Village and its history. These honorary names are given in additional to the street’s standard or existing name, and typically only applies to a specific block. These renamings are implemented by […]
On Friday, July 17, 2015, Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation lead tours around the East Village looking at buildings that made up the German immigrant community in the late 19th and early 20th century. Kleine Deutschland, or “Little Germany” at one point boasted one of the largest German-speaking communities in the world and many […]
In celebration of Valentine’s Day today, we thought we would tip our hats to some of our neighborhood’s architectural cherubs. There’s a wonderfully rich supply of them in the East Village, particularly within what had been known in the late 19th and early 20th century as “Kleine Deutschland” or “Little Germany,” the area centered along […]
Last week, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to landmark East 10th Street, from Avenue A to Avenue B. So we thought we would welcome our newest district with a quick overview. Learn more about GVSHP’s efforts to landmark this district.
The tragedy of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire in Greenwich Village and its impact on women’s rights and the labor movement is well known. There is a plaque at the Brown Building at 22-39 Washington Place, now an NYU building, to commemorate the fire so that its past is not forgotten. There is another building in […]
Its irrepressible mid-century modern façade of opaque black glass is punctuated by cheery yellow balconettes, a slender projecting wall of red glazed brick, and cube-shaped letters spelling out B-U-R-G-E-R K-L-E-I-N. Many in the East Village are familiar with the unique building at 28 Avenue A and have wondered who or what Burger Klein was […]
