Nadyne’s Story: Family, Food, Fritz the Plumber, and German Milwaukee

Photo above (left to right): Nadyne’s Grammy and Grandpa (Husband's Grandparents), Nadyne and her Grammy

Nadyne’s German roots run through Wisconsin farms, northern logging camps, German restaurants, family kitchens, and apple cake recipes spanning generations.

Her story is filled with memories of growing up in Milwaukee’s German community, spending time with her grandparents, listening to German music on the radio, and experiencing the everyday traditions that shaped family life. Some were obvious, like sauerbraten, potato dumplings, apple cake, and German festivals. Others were less so, but maybe more important: use what you have, do not waste anything, keep things neat, and put things back where you found them.

Together, they became part of the way she lived, cooked, and raised her own family.

From Prussia to Wisconsin

Nadyne’s maternal grandfather came to North America from Germany, then part of Prussia, with his twin brother when they were only 14 years old. They arrived in Canada sometime between 1890 and 1901, and then the two brothers separated.

Her grandfather made his way into northern Wisconsin and worked his way south through the logging camps. Around 1903, he met Nadyne’s grandmother, who had grown up on a Wisconsin farm. Her parents had also immigrated from Germany.

By the time Nadyne was born in Milwaukee in 1951, both sides of that German family history had already become firmly rooted in Wisconsin.

Growing up in Milwaukee’s German community

Milwaukee was home to a very strong German community, for decades. The breweries played a major role in developing that community and supported events, restaurants, gathering places, and celebrations throughout the city. When Nadyne was born, some of the older places had already closed down, but German life was still very present.

Her church was one of the largest Lutheran churches in Milwaukee and continued holding German services through the 1950s and 1960s. Her grandparents were both very active there. Her grandfather was a church elder, while her grandmother was prominent in the Ladies Aid organization.

Nadyne spent a great deal of time with them as a child. Her father was a firefighter, and when her mother went to work, her grandparents often took care of her. They brought her along to church meetings, events, and gatherings, so the church became a familiar part of her everyday life.

The strongest thing she remembers is how close and tight-knit the community felt.

“Everyone seemed to know everyone else,” she says.

Her family also visited local German restaurants often to celebrate birthdays and other special occasions. Church, food, music, and community all seemed to overlap, creating a sense of belonging that extended far beyond their own home.

German spoken less, but still present

Nadyne’s grandparents often spoke German while raising her mother and uncle. By the time Nadyne was born, however, they did not speak it nearly as much.

Still, German heritage was all around her. It was in the church services, family meals, music, celebrations, and stories told by older people who remembered the “old country.” It was also in the way things were done at home.

No one necessarily had to explain that something was German. It was simply part of everyday life.

The smell of kuchen

Nadyne’s mother did most of the cooking and baking in their home, while her grandmother cooked and baked whenever she looked after her. Her father also cooked.

“As he was a firefighter, and most of us know they are great cooks!” she says.

When Nadyne thinks about her grandmother’s kitchen, the first thing she remembers is the smell.

“The smell of her kuchen baking,” she says. “It was sooooo marvelous.”

The kitchen itself was very simple. There were no counters or built-in cupboards. Instead, there was a table, a large sink, and an old-fashioned stove with two ovens and a warmer. A large pantry held what Nadyne calls “all of the magic ingredients,” and there was also a large refrigerator.

Downstairs was a fruit cellar where her grandmother stored homemade jams and jellies. It may have not looked anything like the kitchens of today, but wonderful food and wonderful memories were created there.

Apple cakes from both sides of the family

Her grandmother’s Apfelkuchen was always one of Nadyne’s favourites. She is not quite sure what made it so special, though she has made versions using her mother’s recipes, many of which originally came from her grandmother.

Sometimes a recipe tastes different simply because of who made it and where it was eaten.

Apple desserts also came from the other side of the family. Her paternal grandmother made an applesauce cake and Schaumtorte, while her paternal grandfather was well known for his baked apples. He was also a firefighter.

Apple cake, applesauce cake, and baked apples all became part of the family’s collection of familiar desserts. Each belonged to a different person and kitchen, but it was to all of them, something special.

Learning sauerbraten from Grammy and Grandpa

Nadyne’s husband’s grandparents also helped keep German food traditions going. They taught her how to make real sauerbraten with gingersnap gravy and potato dumplings.

For several years, she made an annual sauerbraten dinner for the family every fall. The meal included rutabaga, and dessert was usually her mother’s apple cake or baked apples.

Her husband called his grandmother “Grammy,” and Grammy had very clear instructions for the potato dumplings: use old potatoes, at least two weeks old, and put a cube of bread inside of each dumpling.

Grandpa’s instructions for the sauerbraten were just as practical. Use a large crock. The roast did not need to be expensive… a good-sized chuck roast worked well. Place the spices on top of the meat, then add old or inexpensive red wine and apple cider vinegar until the meat is covered.

Every day for five to seven days, the meat had to be turned and more wine added when necessary. When it was ready, Nadyne baked the roast slowly with some of the wine and spices. Afterward, she strained the liquid, returned some of it to the pan, and added gingersnap cookies until the gravy reached the right thickness.

“It turned out perfectly every time!” she says.

Like many family recipes, the important parts were not only the ingredients. They were all the little instructions passed down by someone who had made the dish many times before.

That was how the recipe was really learned.

The Thanksgiving topping she thought everyone knew

Not every kitchen tradition was complicated.

A few years ago, while the family was preparing Thanksgiving dinner, Nadyne’s daughter-in-law’s daughter-in-law asked whether Nadyne would be making the vegetables. She especially loved the crumb topping.

As they prepared the meal, the younger woman watched carefully while Nadyne made it. Nadyne was surprised she did not already know how.

“I thought everyone knew how to do it,” she says. “It’s so easy.”

She showed her how to make the topping and also explained how to prepare a basic white sauce, something she had learned from her own mother.

To Nadyne, these were basic kitchen skills.

“Honestly, it is a sad day that home economics is no longer taught,” she says. “These were basic things in my early days of marriage.”

It was a small moment, but it showed how easily everyday knowledge can disappear if no one takes the time to pass it along.

Cooking without measuring

Nadyne and her husband now live in a small house in northern Wisconsin. Because of the distance and the size of their home, she does not often host large family dinners anymore, but she has passed many recipes down to her sons.

Nadyne says she usually cooks “by rote.” She rarely measures and often changes recipes as she goes. For an experienced cook, that feels natural, but it can make recipes difficult to pass down because so much depends on a little bit of this, and a little bit of that.

Her youngest son understood that. He loved cooking and often made some of her favourite recipes. He once made Nadyne sit down and actually write out her stuffed tenderloin recipe, which she had prepared every Christmas for more than 30 years.

Sadly, he passed away suddenly two years ago.

She has not made the tenderloin since.

That recipe now carries more than memories of Christmas dinner… it also carries the memory of the son who knew it was important enough to have it written down.

Something German every day

Even though large family dinners happen less often now, German food is still part of Nadyne’s everyday life.

She often makes cooked cabbage with sausage, using green cabbage, red cabbage, or both. She makes slab potatoes with pork chops baked in the oven and still prepares sauerkraut from scratch in an old five-gallon crock.

There is also Grammy’s German potato salad and cucumber salad made with fresh garden cucumbers, either with sour cream or vinegar.

“I guess I could say that every day, there is something German going on in my house,” she says.

It does not always have to be part of a holiday or festival. Sometimes heritage is simply cabbage cooking on the stove, potatoes in the oven, or cucumbers picked from the garden.

Frugality and neatness

Nadyne’s German upbringing shaped more than the food her family ate. It also shaped the way the household was run.

“I think what really was taught was frugality and neatness,” she says. “Use up what you have and always put things back where you found them.”

Those lessons were simple, but they stayed with her. Do not waste things. Take care of what you own. Learn how to make and repair things. Keep your home in order.

Those values were passed down just as surely as any recipe.

Bratwurst, beer, and a five-mile parade

One of Nadyne’s funniest memories from Milwaukee’s German-American community comes from marching in the Sheboygan Bratwurst Festival parade during the 1960s.

She played flute and piccolo in a local marching band for many years. The festival parade stretched for five miles and was held near the end of July, which was not exactly ideal weather for marching in a wool uniform.

“It was a tough one to march and play as we were in wool attire,” she remembers.

The spectators lining the route had it easier, enjoying plenty of bratwurst and beer as the parade went by.

“As you can imagine, with much beer and brats for the people along the parade route, things could often get a little wild,” she says. “That’s all I’ll say on that. LOL!”

Saturdays with Fritz the Plumber

German music was always heard around Milwaukee, especially on Saturdays, when a radio program called Fritz the Plumber played four hours straight of German music.

For a time, Nadyne’s family lived downstairs in a duplex owned by a German couple who lived above them. Every Saturday, they played the program loudly enough for everyone to hear.

“They also attended our church,” Nadyne fondly remembers. “I loved listening to them tell their stories of being in the ‘old country.’”

Years later, after Nadyne married, her husband worked in an automotive machine shop where every worker there was German. On Saturdays, they also listened to Fritz the Plumber.

Her husband would call Nadyne, place the phone beside the radio, and let her listen from home.

“We always laughed!” she remembers.

It was a small and touching way of sharing something special together.

Milwaukee’s changing German community

The German community around Milwaukee has changed a great deal during Nadyne’s lifetime. Many German restaurants and gathering places have closed, but German traditions did not disappear completely.

Beginning in the mid-1970s, the Summerfest grounds began hosting cultural festivals throughout the summer. There was Polish Fest in June, Summerfest itself, Festa Italiana in July, German Fest near the end of July, and Irish Fest in August.

Nadyne even made sashes for the Spielmannszug, a traditional German drum-and-bugle marching band that took part in German Fest.

To this day, the Bavarian Inn continues holding Oktoberfest celebrations, and Mader’s is still thriving as one of Milwaukee’s best-known German restaurants.

While the community continues to change, German food, music, festivals, and traditions still have a place in the city.

Skills passed down through the women in her family

Cooking was not the only tradition passed down to Nadyne.

She also sews, embroiders, tats lace, crochets, smocks, draws, paints, gardens, and carves wood. Her grandmother and mother taught her sewing, tatting, and embroidery.

After her grandmother died, Nadyne received some of the things she had left behind: leftover fabric, a tatting shuttle, a sock darner, her wedding ring, and her beautiful china.

These were more than old household objects. They were reminders of the hands that had used them and the skills that had moved from one generation to the next.
 

(left to right): Nadyne’s early family, Nadyne’s grandmother and mother

The grandparents who shaped her life

When Nadyne looks back, one of the strongest parts of her story is the relationship she had with her grandparents.

“The bond I developed with my grandparents is still with me today,” she says.

She was close to both of them throughout her childhood and into her teenage years. Her grandmother died when Nadyne was 14, and her grandfather died only two days before Nadyne’s first child was born.

“I wish they could have been alive to see their great-grandchildren,” she says.

They did not have that opportunity, but their influence continued. It remained in the church memories, the lessons about frugality and neatness, the smell of kuchen, the inherited fabric and china, and the traditions Nadyne carried into her own family.

Family and tradition

When asked what her German heritage means to her today, Nadyne’s answer is simple.

“Family and tradition.”

Those two words hold nearly everything in her story.

They include a teenage boy travelling from Prussia through Canada and working his way through Wisconsin logging camps. They include grandparents caring for a little girl while her parents worked, German church services, restaurant celebrations, marching bands, radio music, old crocks, potato dumplings, and apple cake.

They also include loss, remembrance, and the responsibility of passing things on.

Some traditions are still made regularly. Others survive as written down recipes, inherited objects, familiar smells, or stories told about people who are no longer here.

Together, they form a heritage that remains active in Nadyne’s home and heart.

As she says, in one way or another, there is still something German going on every day.

A few favourites from her German kitchen

A smell that brings back her grandmother’s kitchen:
Kuchen baking in an old-fashioned stove.

Favourite family desserts:
Apfelkuchen, applesauce cake, Schaumtorte, and baked apples.

A meal learned from her husband’s grandparents:
Sauerbraten with gingersnap gravy, potato dumplings, rutabaga, and apple cake or baked apples for dessert.

Grammy’s potato dumpling instructions:
Use potatoes that are at least two weeks old and place a bread cube inside each dumpling.

German foods she still prepares:
Cooked cabbage with sausage, slab potatoes with pork chops, homemade sauerkraut, German potato salad, and cucumber salad.

A remembered Christmas tradition:
Stuffed tenderloin, prepared for more than 30 years.

Lessons passed down through the family:
Use what you have, avoid waste, keep things neat, and always return things to their proper place.

What German heritage means to her today:
Family and tradition.