Anti-German Hysteria
OHIO HISTORICAL MARKER
ANTI-GERMAN HYSTERIA
The United States' declaration of war on Germany
in April 1917 resulted in a tragic display of
hysteria directed against everything and anything
German. In Cincinnati, German teachers were
dismissed from public schools, German professors
were censored, German collections and publications
were removed from circulation at the Public
Library, businesses with German names had their
names "Americanized" and, by police order,
only English language public meetings could
be held.
As a result of the anti-German hysteria during
World War I, name changing became the rage.
The Cincinnati City Council followed the trend
by changing German street names on April 9, 1918.
Among those changed were: German Street to
English Street, Bismarck Street to Montreal Street,
Berlin Street to Woodrow Street, Bremen Street to
Republic Street, Brunswick Street to Edgecliff Point,
Frankfort Street to Connecticut Avenue, Hamburg
Street to Stonewall Street, Hanover Street to Yukon
Street, Hapsburg Street to Merrimac Street,
Schumann Street to Meredith Street, Vienna Street
to Panama Street, and Humboldt Street to
Taft Road.
GERMAN-AMERICAN STUDIES PROGRAM
UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI
AND
OHIO HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Submitted by Patrick M. Ryan, @brendono, and @kevl42