{"id":10452,"date":"2025-10-07T16:16:58","date_gmt":"2025-10-07T20:16:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phillyhistory.wpengine.com\/?p=10452"},"modified":"2025-11-11T17:36:28","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T22:36:28","slug":"the-rise-and-fall-of-a-convention-hall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/2025\/10\/the-rise-and-fall-of-a-convention-hall\/","title":{"rendered":"The Rise and Fall of a Convention Hall"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

German immigrants gathered en masse<\/em> (or massenhaft<\/em>?) to celebrate their readymade music culture. In 1835, Philipp Mattias Wolsieffer, a German-born music teacher, launched the Philadelphia M\u00e4nnerchor, the first German-American singing society, with a three-day festival. A parade headed by a brass band led 400 singers to Independence Square, where, in addition to the Teutonic classics, they pleased the audience of 10,000 with Hail, Columbia <\/em>and The Star Spangled Banner<\/em>. No venue in the city – not even Washington Hall<\/a> near 3rd and Spruce (which had room for 6,000) – could host events on such a scale. And so it was for the balance of the 19th century, as choral groups and musical societies and their audiences expanded, while the venues that could host them did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Singers, their families, plus older and newer German arrivals gathered in streets and public squares to share music, lager, pretzels, sausages, folk dances and political speeches. During these traditional German-American Saengerfests, flags and banners filled the streets, bands played for day-long picnics and singers performed for ever expanding audiences.

Massive indoor performances were out of the question until 1897, when the 18th National Saengerfest came to Philadelphia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
The Saengerfest’s Opening. Nearly Eight Thousand Pesons Attended the Brilliant Reception at Fotterall Hall, The Philadelphia Inquirer<\/em> June 22, 1897<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Finally, in 1897, the lack of a venue for large numbers of performers and audiences, was dealt with by building a giant, if temporary, hall on Fotterall Square in North Philadelphia. This structure accommodated a full orchestra, 6,000 singers and an audience of 8,000. Fifteen years later, in 1912, when Philadelphia hosted the 23rd National Saengerfest, even more ambitious plans called for a permanent hall twice as large, though at a cost far beyond the capabilities of Philadelphia\u2019s musical organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Realizing the need for a permanent convention hall, city officials considered a variety of locations and allocated funds for design and construction. But there simply wasn\u2019t enough time to build and outfit a large, permanent venue. Some even worried that a temporary venue might not be ready in time. To assuage doubt, Philadelphia\u2019s newly-elected mayor, the German-born Rudolph Blankenburg, got behind the idea of a temporary hall. He attended the annual reunion of the United Singers of Philadelphia held at Harmonie Hall, accepted the title of the Saengerfest\u2019s honorary president and reiterated his promise to deliver a hall on time. To manage this, Blankenberg paved the way for an expedited commission from architect Carl P. Berger and convinced City Councils to waive \u201claws governing the erection of framed buildings.”<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a>
Mayor Rudolph Blankenburg Breaking Ground for New Convention Hall – Broad Street and Allegheny Avenue, February 26, 1912 (detail) Blankenburg served as the Honorary President of the 23rd National Saengerfest in 1912. (PhillyHistory.org)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

On February 26th 1912, with only 124 days to the start of the Saengerfest, Blankenburg broke ground<\/a> in ceremonial fashion at Broad Street and Allegheny Avenue. The completed hall would be 265 by 408 feet. Its main floor would accommodate audiences of 8,555 in addition to 6,000 singers on a raised stage. A giant, U-shaped balcony seated another 4,746. The total capacity of the hall: an impressive 19,301. The structure of columns, trusses and girders – all fashioned of wood – guaranteed a quick turnaround for the project. But even then, progress was dicey. On May 14th, a mere 76 days before opening, a city photographer documented a structure <\/a>that was only half-built.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At 8 PM on Saturday, June 29th, the hall’s first concert, powered by a full orchestra and 2,000 voices, got the festivities off to a roaring start. The nine-part program started with the orchestral prelude of Richard Wagner\u2019s Meistersinger <\/em>followed by the men\u2019s chorus performing Wilhelm Speidel\u2019s Viking Expedition<\/em>. Then came the women\u2019s chorus performing Edward Elgar\u2019s The Snow.<\/em> The evening concluded with the finale of the first act from Felix Mendelsohn\u2019s unfinished opera, Lorelei<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Convention<\/a>
Convention Hall – Broad Street and Allegheny Avenue, August 16, 1912 (PhillyHistory.org)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Saengerfest’s second day continued with a Grand Children’s Concert of 6,000 Public School students prefaced by the orchestra performing Rossini\u2019s William Tell Overture<\/em>. Then everyone took part in John Hatton\u2019s O God Beneath Thy Guiding Hand<\/em>. Other pieces included works by Wagner, Donizetti, Rossini and Mendelsohn, concluding with Henry T. Gilbert\u2019s Thunder Maker<\/em> with the voices of 2,000 grammar schoolboys. The final piece was Watch on the Rhine<\/em>, the German National Hymn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The complete Saengerfest program<\/a> went on for five days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In subsequent years, the hall found uses for a range of events, from the National Baptist Convention to a Wild West Show, an automobile display, an \u201cAthletic Carnival\u201d and a \u201cSummer Garden\u201d complete with vaudeville theater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Convention Hall – Broad Street and Allegheny Avenue, May 8, 1914 <\/a>(PhillyHistory.org)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, the building\u2019s vulnerability to fire grew worrisome. \u201cConvention Hall Called Fire Trap\u201d read a headline only a week after the Saengerfest. A prominent insurance executive suggested that letting the building remain standing would be “a menace to lives and property,” the equivalent of storing a powder kegs and dynamite in the basement of City Hall. What could possibly go wrong?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Convention<\/a>
Convention Hall – Broad Street and Allegheny Avenue, August 16, 1912 (PhillyHistory.org)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Four years later, in October 1916, the official order came down: stop using Convention Hall. Demolish it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Convention Hall avoided its anticipated conflagration. And the public debate about a new, permanent hall – this time fireproof – continued with renewed intensity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Sources:<\/strong> Heike Bungert, \u201cThe Singing Festivals of German Americans, 1849\u20131914,\u201d American Music<\/em>, Vol. No 2, Summer 2016, pp. 141-179. Jeff Wiltse, \u201cCities are Alive with the Sound of Music: Saengerfest and the Transformation of Urban Public Music in Nineteenth-century America<\/a>,\u201d American Nineteenth Century History<\/em>, 2015, 16:3, 269-296. Twenty-third National Saengerfest, Official Souvenir Program<\/a><\/em>: Nord-Oestliche Saengerbund of America (Philadelphia, June 29th to July 4th, 1912) Published by the National Saengerfest of the Northeastern Saengerbund. (Philadelphia, 1912). In The Philadelphia Inquirer<\/em>: \u201cMayor to Name Site for Hall Tomorrow,\u201d Jan. 4, 1912; \u201cReady To Locate Convention Hall, Jan. 6, 1912; \u201cCity Will Erect Convention Hall on Broad St. Site, Jan. 9, 1912; \u201cConvention Hall Plan Completed, Jan 28, 1912; \u201c$50,000 for Hall is Recommended,\u201d Feb, 2, 1912; \u201cMayor Begins Work on Convention Hall Convention Hall,\u201d Feb. 27, 1912; \u201cConvention Hall Schedules Filed,\u201d Apr. 2, 1912; \u201cFamous Soloists Will Lead Great Festival of Song,\u201d June 16, 1912; \u201cConvention Hall Soon to be Musicians Mecca,\u201d June 23, 1912; \u201cChorus of 2000 Open Festivals of Song Tonight,\u201d June 29, 1912; \u201cConvention Hall Called Fire Trap,\u201d July 11, 1912; \u201cMayor to Build Permanent Hall For Conventions, July 22, 1912; \u201cWild West and Far East Show to Open,\u201d April 3, 1913; \u201cMeadowbrook Athletic Carnival Tonight,\u201d Feb. 21, 1914; \u201cMovies in Convention Hall,\u201d May 23, 1914; \u201cVaudeville at Convention Hall,\u201d May 28, 1914; \u201cA Genuine Novelty,\u201d June 23, 1914; \u201cNew Designs at Automobile Show,\u201d Dec. 12, 1915; \u201cTo Raze Convention Hall,\u201d May 18, 1916).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

German immigrants gathered en masse (or massenhaft?) to celebrate their readymade music culture. In 1835, Philipp Mattias Wolsieffer, a German-born music teacher, launched the Philadelphia M\u00e4nnerchor, the first German-American singing society, with a three-day festival. A parade headed by a brass band led 400 singers to Independence Square, where, in addition to the Teutonic classics, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10452\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}