Page 8 - GC-May-June-2026

Plates dish up plenty of German history in Buffalo

he last time I was in Buffalo
Tmy friend and Mass Mob col- GREGORY It would take two more years of
league Chris Byrd gifted me these WITUL fundraising but on the evening of
two wonderful plates, telling me, Thursday, April 15, 1915 the home
“These were my grandmother’s for Nest 1 of the Fraternal Order of
friend’s and hopefully you can fi- the Oriole was formally opened.
nally tell us a little bit about them.” After being dedicated by Mayor
Little did either of us know at the Furmann and opened by Supreme
time but they were from a fundrais- President Seames a, ten night cele-
nest, Seames would become an ear-
ing event to help in the construc- bration under the banner “Carnival
tion of one of Buffalo’s most ly influencer and eventual leader of of Venice” began. Over the week
the group when infighting and legal
impressive buildings, the home for and a half the Orioles played host
Nest 1 of the Fraternal Order of the maneuvering forced them to form to many of Buffalo’s other fraternal
the Fraternal Order of the Orioles
Orioles, now known as the Dnipro groups, including the Red Men,
Ukrainian Cultural Center at 562 out of a contentious Owls’ meeting Elks, and Mooses. The group also
held in Rochester in the summer of
Genesee St. hand the committee secured a num- room for a concert hall, meeting reserved two nights to celebrate
The origins of Nest 1 can be 1910. From this new organization, ber of addresses on the north side rooms, baths, a pool, basketball their German roots with Sunday
Buffalo was given the honor of be-
found at a meeting at Miller’s Hall of Genesee between Davis and Jef- court, kitchen, library, women’s being dedicated to sacred music
on the 200 block of Genesee Street ing home to Nest 1. ferson. parlor, lounge rooms, and a lodge sung by a number of German
Active recruiting among Buffa-
on Nov. 24, 1907 when Frederick Working with the architectural with an ante room. For the entire choirs joining together in a concert.
J. Seames, the future co-owner of lo’s whose who and especially firm of Esenwein & Johnson, who project a budget of $115,000 was On the last day the male German
within the city’s German-American
Buffalo’s finest German restaurant had previously designed the Hotel set and fundraising soon began. singing organizations gave a clos-
the Park Hof, Assemblyman Wil- community, grew the rolls of Nest Lafayette and the Temple of Music With many members from Buf- ing concert in the Orioles’ packed
1 into the thousands. With a fast
liam C. Tenjost, Dr. Arthur Eis- for the Pan-American Exposition, falo’s elite, $20,000 worth of bonds auditorium.
bein, and over 50 other men growing organization the board the committee came up with a were issued and purchased in the The building would host hun-
formed a site committee to build
formed a local chapter of the Order three-story building of concrete, first weeks of the campaign. To dreds of parties and events over the
of the Owls. Key in forming this them a home worthy of their grow- stone, pressed brick, and tile with appeal to the greater Western New next decade and a half, but the
ing influence. With the funds on- Great Depression would be devas-
York and German-American com-
tating to the Orioles. With over
munities the committee decided to
hold a Deutscher Jahrmarkt at the $75,000 left on the mortgage the
group signed the building over to
Broadway Auditorium. The specta- Marine Trust Company in the early
cle running from April 16 to 28 of
1930s and moved to a Washington
1913 would be an immersive expe- Street location. In the late 1930s
rience with an entire Black Forest
and 1940s more members names
village being built in the auditori- were appearing in the obituaries
um. With an inn, shops, wandering
than on the attendance rolls and in
musicians, solders, fortune tellers, March of 1945, Nest 1 of the Fra-
and villagers all surrounded with
ternal Order of the Orioles official-
furniture, crafts, food, and art im- ly disbanded.
ported from the Old World, each
A number of groups would use
night was guaranteed to be enter- 562 Genesee St. on and off until it
taining for those in attendance. One
was left abandoned in 1948 and the
of the many souvenirs guests could city took it over. For nearly a de-
purchase were the two plates pro-
cade it stood silent like an ancient
vided by Buffalo Pottery. When the tomb until Ukrainian Home Dnipro
Jahrmarkt closed it is estimated that
in Buffalo Inc. purchased it on
over 20,000 people attended the March 15, 1955 and remodeled it
event.
into the splendor it is today.

8 • THE GERMAN CITIZEN • May - June 2026