WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES OCTOBER 10, 2019 25
Our History of Serving Ridgewood
Many ambitious young Gottscheers had
been coming to America from Austria,
Yugoslavia, and Germany since the late 19th
century. The first ones settled primarily in the
neighborhood of Williamsburg, Brooklyn,
New York, around 1880.
Their community in Williamsbuig/Brooklyn
grew and new clubs were formed, spurring
among them a desire to find a place that would
serve them as their common clubhouse.
In Ridgewood, back then a city
neighborhood that expanded rapidly with
blocks after blocks of newly constructed
multi-family housing, they found their place;
a steam laundry and knitting mill at 657
Fairview Ave. was up for sale. The price was
right, and a purchase was made. There were
many craftsmen among their members who
contributedtheir labor; together they worked
the place over and turned it into a neat
clubhouse with restaurant facilities.
To run this operation, the Gottscheer
Central Holding Corporation was established
from the membership of their clubs. The
Gottscheer Clubhouse opened its doors to
business in December 1924. Though it was
nearly destroyed by fire four years later, the
member clubs again rallied to restore their
meeting house. Having all the Gottschee
societies meet regularly at the new clubhouse
in Ridgewood had an impact on their
community in Williamsburg. One by one, the
members relocated and became homeowners
in Ridgewood. Within a few decades, nearly
the whole Gottscheer community had moved
across the Brooklyn/Queens border into this
neighborhood and adjacent Glendale. By this
time, there were as many Gottscheer people
in the United States as were left in the old
homeland in Europe, and their largest number
lived in Ridgewood, New York, in the vicinity
of the Gottscheer Clubhouse.
Then came World War II and the enormous
upheaval that caused miltions of refugees all
over Europe. The people of Gottschee lost their
historic homeland. Their clubs in Ridgewood
established the Gottscheer Retief Association,
Inc. to help their unfortunate kinfolk.
An immigration law signed by President
Truman in 1950 opened the door to the United
States for a large number of the “displaced
persons,” as the refugees came to be called.
In the years immediately thereafter, many of
the uprooted, homeless Gottscheers arrived
at American shores, to seek a new home
primarily in those neighborhoods where
they already had kinfolk living. Ridgewood
was now home to the largest number of
Gottscheers in the whole world.
The Clubhouse on Fairview Avenue was
too small for this fast-growing Gottscheer
community. Numerous other bars and
saloons run by Gottscheer proprietors opened
in the vicinity, including the Palmgarden
on Onderdonk Avenue, Hoge’s Tavern on
Woodward Avenue, and Kioodles on Seneca
Avenue, to accommodate the large numbers
of Gottschers in the area. In 1961 the property
adjoining the clubhouse became available. It
was promptly purchased, and work began
immediately on the enlargement of the
facilities.
In December 1962, a spacious new
Gottscheer Hall opened its doors to the public.
The new facility offered, in addition to a laige
banquet hall with a modem kitchen, two
smaller meeting halls that quickly came to be
utilized to capacity. At least a dozen Gottscheer
clubs made their headquarters at the Hall and
conducted nearly all their laige and small
affairs here. In addition to the Gottscheer
clubs, many other German-American societies
also established themselves at Gottscheer Hall.
The German societies that were once
so typical of the Ridgewood scene have
laigely moved on, but the Gottscheer clubs
remain. Some are more visible in the laiger
community than others. Blau Weiss Gottschee,
with its highly successful neighborhood
soccer program, is a source of pride to all of
Ridgewood; the Gottscheer Men and Women’s
Chorus, as one of the last and oldest German-
American singing societies in the city, is a
Ridgewood landmark; and a Gottscheer folk
dance group participates in many community
events.
Gottscheer Hall continues to bustle with
activity, as new generations of members that
live throughout Queens and adjoining counties
meet and carry on their traditions. Gottscheers
and area residents often choose Gottscheer
Hall to serve as their venue for celebrating
weddings, Communions, anniversaries,
graduations and birthdays. As choir members,
bowlers, dancers, hunters, and soccer players
meet and mingle alongside Gottscheer Hall’s
many neighbors and party goers, this historic
institution of Ridgewood, an evergreen in an
ever-changing city landscape, continues to
thrive. Any day of the week, both Gottscheers
and the new locals in Ridgewood partake in
delicious food and drink while enjoying the
fun-loving atmosphere. Its old-world charm
has even attracted film companies to use the
property for movie shoots.
On Sunday, November 10th, Gottscheer
Hall will celebrate its 95th Anniversary
with an afternoon of dinner, dancing, and
performances by its choirs and dance group.
Happy Birthday to Gottscheer Hall – before
you know it, we will be celebrating its
centennial!
Note the street sign that identifies the location
as “Gottscheer Avenue.”
/WWW.QNS.COM
