Presented by
Trudy Knauss Paradis

Trudy Paradis will recount the lately forgotten story of the Germans in Milwaukee and the profound influence these German-speaking immigrants and their descendants had upon the dynamic city of today.   From the early German-speaking arrivals to Milwaukee County in the 1830s, to the vibrant “German Athens on Lake Michigan” which these immigrants and their children created, to the suppression of German identity following the two World Wars, to the renaissance of German ancestral pride of today.  Not only did the German immigrants significantly contribute to the commercial, industrial, cultural, religious, educational and social foundations of Milwaukee, they also brought Schnitzel and Sauerkraut to the coast of Lake Michigan.  Trudy will highlight the culinary contributions of German immigrants by turning an inviting light onto four of Milwaukee’s German restaurants, including Mader’s, The Bavarian Inn, Weissgerber’s and Karl Ratzsch’s.    We will be serving Wurstsalat aka Sausage Salad from Trudy’s family recipe.

Trudy Knauss Paradis was born in Milwaukee to German immigrant parents.  She was raised in a close-knit Milwaukee neighborhood where residents regularly spoke German.  Very proud of her German heritage, Trudy served as a volunteer at Milwaukee’s German Fest for 20 years and as Cultural Exhibition Director for eight years.

Program hosted at Kendall College.