Lindenhurst Volksmarch, set for Sunday, offers a step into village's past

This Sunday in Lindenhurst Village, history can be learned one step at a time.

The village historical society is hosting its third annual Volksmarch, a walking tradition born in Germany that the society has transformed into a learning opportunity about Lindenhurst's past and its German origins.

Participants will walk a 3.1-mile route with arrows leading them to six mystery stops. At each location, a docent will provide information on the history of the site, and participants receive a sticker. Once they’ve completed the route, adults will get a medal and a coupon for a brat and a beer at a local restaurant. The cost is $15 per individual and $20 per family to participate, with the proceeds going to the historical society.

Volksmarches started in Germany more than half a century ago as noncompetitive walking events. Lindenhurst historical society member Alice Cromarty came up with the idea of marrying the event with a history component after living in Germany and regularly participating in the walks.

“I thought it would be a different way of doing a fundraiser,” Cromarty said.

Not knowing the route ahead of time also gives the history lessons an exciting twist, she said.

“You’re sort of going blind, you’re following these arrows and there’s all that anticipation,” she said. “It’s kind of like a scavenger hunt.”

This is the third year for the march and there have been new sites for each, Cromarty said.  Last year, docents began taking participants into buildings at each site, deepening the experience, she said. Past stops include a former bank that is now the Great South Bay Brewery and the site of a former button factory from when the industry thrived in the coastal community.

“Lindenhurst has lots and lots of historical places,” said Cromarty, whose great-great-grandfather was the village’s first barber in the 1800s. “We’re already planning new ones for next year.”

History on display

The village has long put its history on display, with two museums and a historical railroad depot and freight house. But the Volksmarch, with sites that mostly date from the 1920s or earlier, gives participants a new avenue to the past, village historian Anna Jaeger said.

“Not that many people will go out of their way to go to a museum,” she said. “This almost forces people to learn a little bit about their history in the community that they’re living in and it’s a fun way to do it.”

Using the German Volksmarch tradition to tell the story of Lindenhurst also highlights the village’s German origins. In 1870, German immigrant Charles Schleier and Irish immigrant Thomas Welwood teamed to help create the village's first incarnation, as the City of Breslau. Jaeger said Schleier’s dream was to re-create the then-German city of Breslau in the United States, building an industrial port on the Great South Bay.

“He had a lot of lofty ideas” that “didn’t work out, obviously,” Jaeger said. One that did was to encourage Germans to move out to Lindenhurst from New York City.

By the 1940s, the village’s German population was joined by a new wave of Italian immigrants, and in the past few decades, its population has grown with Polish and Ukrainian immigrants, village officials said.

“It’s like a coral reef,” Cromarty said. “It builds upon itself and we’re constantly flowing.”

Yearning to learn more

Resident JoAnn Cilla is doing the Volksmarch for the third time. A 24-year resident, she still learns something new about her community each time, she said.

“It’s amazing the amount of history here,” she said. “I love that you don’t know what part you’re coming up to until you get there.”

Even longtime residents of the village can learn something on the Volksmarch, participants said.

“I always just want to learn more,” said Gaye Kienle, whose husband’s family has lived in Lindenhurst since 1875. “I just hope that every year it can build a little more so that people moving into the community can learn how we started and why we started.”

People often don’t realize the history that’s in their own backyard, Cilla said.

“Sometimes when you live in a place you don’t take advantage and you’re always rushing to get from point A to point B so you don’t pay attention,” Cilla said. “This is a great opportunity to explore.”