I actually had already heard much of Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine history from my German class in high school. Freshman year, my teacher showed the class a documentary that cover much of Zinzinnati’s history including that of Over-the-Rhine. I remember learning about the vast majority of Cincinnati being populated by Germans and their culture being brought over seas with them to become integrated in the United States. Germans gave life to the otherwise dreary looking land known as, Over-the-Rhine, to incorporate a bit of their homeland into Ohio.
It wasn’t until the Queen City Underground tour, however, that I made the connections from what I had learned in that class to what I am learning in this class. I realize that historically, there was a different type of community on which Cincinnati was founded on than that which exists today. However, even though a large population of Germans left the area, the city has managed to preserve not only the architectural structures the Germans created, but also much of their culture can be found all around.
Germans experience around beer and breweries led to the construction of the underground tunnels we were able to explore on the tour, but the 100+ breweries which were once the center of the city’s market, have not disappeared entirely. Many residents, including the tour guide, continue the tradition of making their own beer and “a variety of restaurants and bars have cropped up along Vine Street that have become so successful amongst the community that they have even begun to spread out to other areas”. Religion was also important to the history of the city, and the brief tour of the St. Francis Church and Friary proved to be exciting because it turned out to house a crypt with many uncovered graves from the Irish immigrants that died and were never returned to their homeland. I noticed the church also serves as a soup kitchen, probably making it a center of many community interactions.
I think what I found most surprising from the Queen City Underground tour was that the many of the city’s oldest buildings have been identified as haunted spots by paranormal investigators on multiple occasions. I never expected ghosts sightings to be so popular in Over-the-Rhine and I was pleasantly surprised to learn of the stories out tour guide could pass on, I especially enjoyed the story of the “woman singing in German and playing the piano right above [the tour guide’s] head”. I also found it interesting to see the kids on Halloween out and about in the streets asking for candy and men in the streets passing out candy as well. I did not imagine, the community to be so comfortable and close-knit as it turned out to be. I can see now how the city’s culture, myths, and legends have been able to stay alive even through the many renovations and changes it has gone through in the past few years.
It wasn’t until the Queen City Underground tour, however, that I made the connections from what I had learned in that class to what I am learning in this class. I realize that historically, there was a different type of community on which Cincinnati was founded on than that which exists today. However, even though a large population of Germans left the area, the city has managed to preserve not only the architectural structures the Germans created, but also much of their culture can be found all around.
Germans experience around beer and breweries led to the construction of the underground tunnels we were able to explore on the tour, but the 100+ breweries which were once the center of the city’s market, have not disappeared entirely. Many residents, including the tour guide, continue the tradition of making their own beer and “a variety of restaurants and bars have cropped up along Vine Street that have become so successful amongst the community that they have even begun to spread out to other areas”. Religion was also important to the history of the city, and the brief tour of the St. Francis Church and Friary proved to be exciting because it turned out to house a crypt with many uncovered graves from the Irish immigrants that died and were never returned to their homeland. I noticed the church also serves as a soup kitchen, probably making it a center of many community interactions.
I think what I found most surprising from the Queen City Underground tour was that the many of the city’s oldest buildings have been identified as haunted spots by paranormal investigators on multiple occasions. I never expected ghosts sightings to be so popular in Over-the-Rhine and I was pleasantly surprised to learn of the stories out tour guide could pass on, I especially enjoyed the story of the “woman singing in German and playing the piano right above [the tour guide’s] head”. I also found it interesting to see the kids on Halloween out and about in the streets asking for candy and men in the streets passing out candy as well. I did not imagine, the community to be so comfortable and close-knit as it turned out to be. I can see now how the city’s culture, myths, and legends have been able to stay alive even through the many renovations and changes it has gone through in the past few years.