MasterClass: Beer, Germans & Methodism

When German immigrant Ludwig Jacoby rode his horse into St. Louis in 1841, he couldn’t have possibly known the chaos that would ensue. The Methodist minister’s pursuit of building a church was met with extreme challenges: race riots, violence, and hatred from varying directions. Set in the context of St. Louis struggling with the influx of humanity due to massive immigration, this minister and his congregation navigated a timeline of turmoil. St. Louis Germans encountered a clash of cultures, facing unrest during the Temperance Movement, the instability of World War I, and the confusion of Prohibition. Beer, Germans & Methodism is a look at how German Americans traversed the rocky path of religion, politics, and yes, beer. Join Elizabeth Kurrus