Friends Annual Meeting in Marathon County on May 5, 2018

Join us on Saturday, May 5, for a fun and educational day in Marathon County, WI! — REGISTRATION CLOSED

This year the Friends of the Max Kade Institute will step back to the early days of the twentieth century by visiting the historic Fromm Brothers Fur and Ginseng Farm in the Town of Hamburg, Marathon County. We will learn how four brothers, whose family immigrated to Wisconsin from Germany in the 1800s, built a multi-million dollar business empire by raising silver fox for the fashion industry and ginseng for the Asian market.

Our hosts will be the Fromm Brothers Historical Preservation Society and the Pommerscher Verein Central Wisconsin. The day will conclude with a dinner at the Town of Berlin Center (catered by 2510 Restaurant of Wausau) and a lecture by William Thiel (Eau Claire) on “Why They Left: Transitions from Rural Germany to the Midwest in the 19th Century.”

Friends of MKI OKTOBER FEST, October 13, 2017

Join us for a fun evening with great food, beer, and entertainment!  Once again, Bull Falls Brewery (Wausau),  Clasen’s European Bakery (Middleton), and the Freiburg Gastropub (Madison) sponsor our Fest by providing their delicious beer and food. Enjoy accordion music with Bill Niederberger, German songs with members of the Madison Maennerchor, a lecture on “Humor in the Stacks: Curiosities from the MKI Archives,” and a silent auction and raffle. Proceeds benefit the Max Kade Institute

For more details and to  purchase your tickets, click HERE.

“Deciphering Old German Script” Workshop in Milwaukee, Saturday, September 30, 2017

Are you a historian trying to decipher old German handwritten documents? A genealogist researching your German-speaking ancestors?  In this workshop, Mark Louden will introduce you to the basics of reading German handwritten materials, with a special focus on those from the 19th century. Antje Petty will give suggestions on how to work with German-language genealogical records. The workshop combines presentations with practical exercises. You are welcome to bring your own documents to work on. Though a reading knowledge of German is helpful, it is not required.

Join the Friends for this fun workshop on September 30, 2017, in Milwaukee.  For more details, including registration information, click HERE.

Friends Spring 2017 Newsletter

Check out the latest Friends Newsletter! Become a member, if you have not received your issue in the mail.  You will find the following articles:
–Report on the MKI Symposium “People of Faith, Voices of Tradition”
–Friends Annual Meeting 2017: An Exploration of Milwaukee’s German Art
–Welcome to Three New Members on the Friends Board of Directors
–Mark Twain’s “Magnanimous-Incident” Hero and Berthold Brecht’s “The Good Person of Szechwan”