German Society of Maryland

German Society of Maryland

Founded 1783

Welcome to the German Society of Maryland

 The German Society of Maryland aims to preserve and promote the German heritage, language, and traditions through educational, social and benevolent programs; and to develop the unity and continuity of the German American community in the State of Maryland.

Membership: Anyone interested in promoting and preserving the German heritage in Maryland may join the Society. We welcome you regardless of ethnic or religious background. Annual dues are $25 per year. Teachers receive a reduced membership rate of $15. Student membership is free. Lifetime memberships are $250.

Donations: The German Society of Maryland is a non-profit, charitable corporation under the provisions of
§501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions are welcome and are fully tax-deductible.

Annual Business Meeting: April 13, 2024

Meeting Details and RSVP

The German society of Maryland will hold its Annual Business Meeting on April 13, 2024, at 6:00 PM at Zion Church of the City of Baltimore. A light dinner of German food and drink will be served before the business meeting starts at 7:00 PM. All member of the Society are urged to attend. Let us now that you plan to attend by RSVPing below. We look forward to seeing you at the meeting. 

Nominations for Board Election

Besides reviewing the year’s activities and budget, we will also elect Board members during the Business Meeting. Any member interested in serving as a board member or wishing to nominate another member for the Board should contact the Nomination Committee. To serve on the Board, a member must have been a member of the Society for 3 years prior to the election. 

Nominations are not accepted from the floor during the meeting. 

Summer Study Scholarship for High School Students

Applications and Nominations Have Closed for the Summer 2024 Program
The Winner will be announced shortly. Thank you to all of the excellent applicants.
The German Society of Maryland awards one scholarship to participate in the German Summer Study Program sponsored by the AATG.
Click on the button below for more information about the Society’s high school programs.

Festival Issue of Newsletter is Available

If you didn’t pick up a copy of the Society’s newsletter at the German Festival in July or receive a copy in the mail, you can read our current newsletter here.

Some Recent Activities

240th Anniversary Dinner (November 4, 2023)

On Saturday, November 4, the German Society of Maryland celebrated its 240th Anniversary with a dinner at the Fogo de Chao restaurant at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.

 

The celebration opened with a toast to the Society with wines from the Weegmüller winery in Neustadt an der Weinstraße, specially purchased for the occasion. After the singing of the German and American national anthems, Pastor Siegfried Otto (a past-president of the Society) offered an invocation and attendees then enjoyed an outstanding meal, albeit Brazilian and not German! During the dessert course, Dr. Nicholas Fessenden (President of the Society for the History of the Germans in Maryland) gave a short presentation on the history of our Society. We look forward to seeing you at next year’s dinner.

 

Maryland German Festival 2023 (July and 9, 2023)

As a constituent member of the Deutschamerikanischer Bürgerverein von Maryland, Inc. (German-American Citizen’s Association of Maryland), the German Society is a co-sponsor of the annual Maryland German Festival. In addition to helping to staff the front gate and the German Society booth, members of the German Society held a Stammtisch on Sunday, July 9. 

Nick and Brigitte Fessenden staff the German Society's booth at the 2023 Maryland German Festival

Student Awards Ceremony (May 7, 2023)

Program of the Awards Celebration with Names of All Awardees

Each year the German Society of Maryland in conjunction with the Maryland-DC Chapter of the American Association of the Teachers of German (AATG) honors Maryland high school students who received Gold or Silver Medals on the National German Exam. The Society also uses this occasion to publicly acknowledge college students who are recipients of scholarship awards to Maryland students majoring or minoring in German. 

High School Student Awards

In 2023, 208 Maryland students took the National German Exam (NGE). Of these 62 received Gold Medals, 24 received Silver Medals and 21 received Bronze Medals. The German Society provides a cash award to the Gold- and Silver-Medal winners on the Level 2, Level 3, and Level 4 exams. 

Gold and Silver Medal Award Winners on the National German Exam with their Teachers

College Student Awards

The German Society annually awards one-time scholarships to Maryland students studying German at universities in Maryland or the District of Columbia. In 2023  the Society awarded three $1,000 grants to German majors and two $500 grants to students minoring in German. 

The winners of the $1,000 grants for German majors were Axel Opwis Soares (double major in German and History at Georgetown University), Mareike Kebye (double major in German and Management at the University of Maryland, College Park), Paulina Ledger (double major in German and history at the University of Maryland, College Park). 

The winners of the $500 grants for German minors were Emma Gebhard (Psychology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County) and Halyna Sokoliouk (Political Science at Towson University). 

Winners of the College Scholarships with German Society officials. Left to right: Maureen Helinski and Will Kommanlan (GSM Education Committee members), Axel Opwis Shares, Mareike Debye, Paulna Ledger, Halyna Sokoliouk, Emma Gebhard, and GSM President Steven Harper