WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES JULY 25, 2019 27
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
A Ridgewood hall that was a beacon for
immigrants generations ago
BY THE OLD TIMER
EDITORIAL@RIDGEWOODTIMES.
COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
It’s no secret that Ridgewood grew
at the dawn of the 20th century thanks
to the strength of immigrants who
came to the United States looking for
freedom and the opportunity for a
better life.
Back then, a great many immigrants
who arrived in Ridgewood came here
from Germany. The population was so
large, in fact, that when the Ridgewood
Times published its fi rst issue on Aug.
1, 1908, it was printed in two languages:
English and German.
At the same time, however, another
group of immigrants began making
its way into Ridgewood by way of
Williamsburg, Brooklyn. These were
the people of Gottschee, a Germanspeaking
enclave located in presentday
Slovenia that dates back to the 13th
century.
The Gottscheer community’s impact
on Ridgewood during the fi rst half of
the 20th century cannot be overstated.
Groups of residents formed charitable
organizations and social clubs to
support each other and help families
thrive in the community, and their
legacy lives on to this day.
The old Gottscheer Hall clubhouse at 657 Fairview Ave. in Ridgewood is shown in this 1940 photo. Ridgewood Times archives
One place in Ridgewood that carries
on the Gottschee legacy is Gottscheer
Hall, located at 657 Fairview Ave.
Most local residents know it as a great
place to enjoy German food and a fun
night out with friends and family, but
Gottscheer Hall’s history shows it’s
much more than a hangout.
Gottscheer Hall was formed by
the Gottscheer Central Holding
Corporation, which was established
from the membership of various
Gottscheer social clubs in Ridgewood
and Williamsburg. The hall opened its
doors in December 1924, but almost
vanished fi ve years later as a result of
a destructive fi re.
The Gottscheer community rallied
together and rebuilt the hall, and
in the years that followed, it would
become an even greater hub as
more Gottscheer families moved
into Ridgewood and neighboring
Glendale.
By the 1930s, the Gottscheer
population in Queens had met or
exceeded the actual population of
Gottschee, which by then was located
within Yugoslavia.
Europe was thrust into the Second
World War II in September 1939.
Two years later, Hitler invaded and
occupied Yugoslavia. The Nazis forced
the “resettlement” of the Germanspeaking
Gottschee population into
Germany itself.
Thousands of Gottscheers sought
refuge in the United States during and
aft er World War II, and the Gottscheer
community in Ridgewood formed the
Gottscheer Relief Association toward
helping the refugees.
In 1950, President Harry Truman
signed an immigration law that
allowed easier entry for “displaced
persons” in post-war Europe to enter
the United States. This gave Gottscheer
refugees their opportunity to settle in
the Greater Ridgewood area and start
a new life.
Ridgewood boasted the largest
Gottscheer population in the world,
and Gottscheer Hall was busier than
ever before. The clubhouse proved too
small to accommodate the burgeoning
number of Gottscheer club members,
so the Gottscheer Central Holding
Corporation built a larger club that
opened in December 1962.
The more spacious Gottscheer Hall
featured a large banquet hall with
a modern kitchen and two smaller
meeting halls. At least a dozen
Gottscheer clubs made Gottscheer
Hall their headquarters and conducted
nearly all of their aff airs there.
Gottscheer Hall remains active
to this day as a place for parties,
markets, weddings, anniversaries,
graduation celebrations and more. It
also continues to host various clubs
linked to local Gottscheer history,
including the Gottscheer Men’s and
Women’s Chorus and a Gottscheer folk
dance group.
The infl ux of new residents into
Ridgewood has also helped keep
Gottscheer Hall going. The Queens
Courier, a sister publication of the
Ridgewood Times, published a story
in 2014 about it becoming a popular
hangout for hipsters, and that the new
regulars were helping to keep the hall
alive.
In Ridgewood, there are few more
welcoming places than Gottscheer
Hall -- a place born to help welcome
immigrants to America and open the
doors of opportunity and friendship
to them.
* * *
If you have any remembrances
or old photographs of “Our
Neighborhood: The Way It Was” that
you would like to share with our
readers, please write to the Old Timer,
c/o Ridgewood Times, 38-15 Bell Blvd.,
Bayside, NY 11361, or send an email
to editorial@ridgewoodtimes.com.
Any print photographs mailed to us
will be carefully returned to you
upon request.
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