GERMAN BANK
HENRY BAADE, grocer
Hennan Brinkman, pork packer
Jacob Christman, hardware salesman
Julius Haas, druggist
Valentine HERANCOURT, furniture maker
Anton HEEB, owner of a brewery
WILLIAM HINTRAGER, grocer
Henry Honach, coppersmith
J. Nicklaus
Peter KIENE, insurance agent
J. H. Kroesen, leather dealer
Adam F. JAEGER, wine and liquor salesman
Otto Junkermann, druggist
F. M. PLEINS, soap and candle manufacturer
Titus SCHMID, brewer
Bernard Scherr, brewer
Mathias Tschirgi, brewer
William Westphal, hardware salesman
The bank was originally located at 60 Main Street, the original site of the MINERS' BANK. The articles of incorporation stated that no person could serve as the bank's president, cashier, or teller unless they were capable of speaking and understanding German. At the time, Germans made up thirty percent of Dubuque's population and were the city's largest ethnic group.
In 1874, the Iowa Legislature passed a law prohibiting institutions called themselves savings banks from doing any business other than savings. The financial institution was renamed the German Bank. In the same year, downtown STREETS were renumbered and 60 Main Street became 342 Main Street.
In 1904 the articles of incorporation were renewed with an amendment that returned the bank to the status of a "savings bank." The institution was renamed the German Savings Bank.
In 1905 a north end branch of the bank was established at 18th and Couler (Central). This branch became so successful that the parent bank chose to charter a separate bank under the name of the GERMAN AMERICAN SAVINGS BANK.
With the start of WORLD WAR I and anti-German feelings running high, the German Savings Bank's name was changed in 1918 to Pioneer Savings Bank and Trust Company. One year later the name was changed to the Pioneer Trust and Savings Bank.
The announcement that the Pioneer Trust and Savings had merged with the Consolidated National Bank came on November 9, 1926. On January 1, 1927, the business records and employees of Pioneer moved to the Consolidated bank offices at Main and Sixth streets. Less than six years later Consolidated National closed its doors, a victim of the Great Depression.
In 1978 the building was placed on the NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES. At the time, a note was made of the contrast between the two styles used in the building's construction. John Spencer and W. Williamson, the team that also designed Dubuque's CARNEGIE-STOUT PUBLIC LIBRARY, used GREEK REVIVAL ARCHITECTURE on the first floor and Renaissance Revival style on the top two stories. The columns, rosettes, and crown eagles over the second-floor windows are made of glazed terra cotta.
The German Bank building became the home of taverns and restaurants including the NAVY CLUB (THE) owned and operated by Donna GINTER. In 2001 construction nearby on a parking ramp was blamed on cracks in walls in the German Bank and several other businesses. The presence of sub-basements used originally for storage may have contributed to the problem. The Building Services Department ordered the rear portions of buildings at 342, 36, 372, and 378 Main Street vacated forcing the businesses to temporarily close or relocate.
In 2010 the block of buildings was once again in use with the former German Bank the site of "The Bank."
Sources:
"Butchers, Bankers, and Cabinet Makers," Booklet accompanying the Robert Reding exhibit of artifacts at the OLD JAIL between 2007-2010,
Telegraph Herald, April 16, 1978
Interview with Donna Ginter November 1, 2010
