The Madison Maennerchor, the oldest male chorus in Wisconsin, was founded in February 1852 by twelve German immigrants. Modelled after the traditional German Maennerchor, its purpose was “to perpetuate German song and good fellowship.” The Maennerchor held its first concert in February 1853 at the First Baptist Church of Madison, then located south of the Capitol Square on Carroll Street.
The Maennerchor movement spread throughout the state of Wisconsin in the 1850s. The first Saengerfest (choral festival) of the combined Wisconsin Societies was held in Milwaukee in 1856. Twelve years later the Maennerchor joined the newly established Northwestern Saengerbund (choral society), whose members were drawn from Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and Nebraska. The next year the Saengerbund held its festival in Madison. In 1881 the Maennerchor played host to the Wisconsin Saengerfest. 1200 singers performed before an audience comprised of Madisonians joined by 5,000 to 6,000 visitors. A highpoint in the history of the Maennerchor was the midnight serenade of President and Mrs. Grover Cleveland, who were houseguests of Colonel and Mrs. William Vilas in 1887.
The membership of the Maennerchor increased considerably when St. Michael's Singing Society joined it in the early part of the century. In 1902 the Maennerchor celebrated its fiftieth anniversary with a Golden Jubilee concert held at the Fuller Opera House (later the Parkway Theatre). In the first decade of the twentieth century, the Maennerchor played an active role in the Choral Union of Madison, a group composed of town and university singers, under the direction of Professor Parker, head of the Music Department of the University of Wisconsin. In 1927 the Maennerchor celebrated its 75th anniversary with a concert held in the auditorium of the Masonic Temple. The 1930s witnessed two significant events in Maennerchor history: the 35th anniversary festival of the Wisconsin Saengerbezirk (regional choral society), held at the Stock Pavilion of the University of Wisconsin, and the participation of the Maennerchor in the centennial celebration of the Territory of Wisconsin in 1936, in which the Maennerchor led the German section of the International Cavalcade.
The Maennerchor has always had a close relationship with the Madison Turnverein (Turners). The Turnverein was founded in 1855 by members of the Maennerchor, who were interested in physical fitness. The first Turner Hall, built in 1858, housed both the Turnverein and the Maennerchor. Destroyed by fire in 1863, it was rebuilt in the same year. Although the Turners and the Maennerchor had formed two separate organizations in the 1870s, they continued to occupy the same building. In 1940 this second building was also destroyed by fire. The Maennerchor lost its entire musical library, most of its records, photographs, a piano, and other valuable items, including a silk banner presented by the Women's Auxiliary, which has given its support throughout the years. In 1952 the Maennerchor celebrated its 100th anniversary, and in 1977 its 125th in conjunction with the 77th anniversary concert of the Wisconsin Saengerbezirk. In honor of the occasion, Dr. Walter Weidmann, president of the Saengerbund of West Germany, of which the Wisconsin Saengerbezirk is a member, attended the festivities. The publicity surrounding both of these events shows clearly the role which the Maennerchor has played in the cultural life of Madison. Not only has it counted among its members some of the most prominent of Madison's residents, such as Colonel William Vilas, Senator and Governor Robert M. La Follette Sr., Judge George Kroncke, and Gottlieb Grimm, but also its earliest sponsors included such old established businesses as Frautschi's Furniture Company (1869), Grimm Book Bindery (1854), the American Exchange Bank (1871), Fitch-Lawrence Funeral Home (1849), the First National Bank (1849), and the Wisconsin State Journal (1852).
