The German-American Steuben Parade of New York takes place the third Saturday
of September. The name Steuben was selected to honor
General Fredrich Wilhelm Von Steuben,'s
contributions to America. The cornflower
is
the symbol of the parade, selected for it's color, blue, signifing the
true-blue spirit of German-Americans.
The Steuben Parade of New Yorks committee meets once a month to coordinate
and prepare for this well organized annual event. The parade is
decorated with
new and exciting floats each year as well as, both American and German
bands. Each year several groups fly in from Germany just to take part
in this exciting event.
The event actually begins Friday during the day, where all participating
groups are invited to city hall to be welcomed by the mayor of New York.
Friday evening is then celebrated with a formal banquet, held in a one
of New Yorks finest hotels. The banquet includes many of the participating
groups as well as, dignitaries from various German speaking countries.
Last year Germany was represented by Honorary Dr. Erhhard Holtermann, The
Consul
General of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Honorary Dr. Kurt Biedenkopf
, the Governor of the State of Saxony who was also the guest of honor and
the Honorary Dr. Juergen Chrobog, the Ambassador of the Federal Republic
of Germany.
Austria was represented by the Honorary Marina Chrysoph, Deputy Consul
Gerneral
of Austria and Switzerland by Honorary Ambassador Dr. Alfred DeFago,
Consul
General of Switzerland.
the "Grand Marshall" was Eric Braeden, a well known German-American actor
who many may recognize from the day-time program "Days of our Lives".
New York was of course, also represented by the Honorary Herbert W. Supp,
the Commissioner of the City of New York.
The parade on Saturday is preceded by an early morning mass in St. Patricks
Cathedral. All groups are invited to partake in this. This one hour
mass is
to receive blessings from the church, and Cardinal O'connor even speaks a few
words in German.
The main event then begins promptly at 12pm at the intersection of 63rd
and 5th
Ave. It progresses along 5th Avenue, pausing at the reviewing stand on
69th and
5th, until reaching it's destination on 86th Street. Included in the
parade were several groups from the New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia and
Germany. The Guest Speakers at the banquet also took part in marching with
the parade committee as well as New Yorks Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.
Floats include various themes including "Steuban and Washington at Valley
Forge"
sponsored by the National Council - Steuban Society of
America, "Molly Pitcher - Battle of
Monmouth" sponsored by the New Jersey Parade Committee, The Deutsche
Sprachschulen of New Jersey, Die Schwaebische Eisenbahn, sponsored by
the Cannstatterr Volksfest Verein of NY & NJ and Schwaben International and
many others. Among the several different floats is that of the Miss
German-America and her Court which is sponsored by "a friend of the
parade". Miss German-America, or "The Cornflower
Queen" and the Princesses are actually ambassadors
of the parade. These are young women who are elected to their position
based on their German-American activities, knowledge of the German culture
and ability to interact with people (an obvious required trait of an
ambassador!)
After the parade, various events take place for both participating groups,
on-lookers as well as dignitaries.
Sunday, then celebrates the success of the weekend with festivals at various
German-American clubs including "Franklin Square" in NY and the
Deutscher Club of Clark in NJ.
The Steuben Parade Committee is
on-line!!! For calender
information and contacts please have a look!
