“Musical entertainments as there were reflected a strong Germanic influence. The city had a Germania Orchestra, a Maennerchor, an Abt Male Chorus, a Beethoven Society, and a Philadelphia Philharmonic Society with William Wolsieffer as leader.” (Mary Maples Dunn and Richard S. Dunn, Philadelphia, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1982, 451)

The Philadelphia Orchestra

The Philadelphia Orchestra has to date been directed by six music directors, three of which were Germans, i.e., the first, second and current music directors Fritz Scheel, Carl Pohlig, and Wolfgang Sawallisch. In the early years of the orchestra, many prominent Orchestra members were also German, including Anton Hoerner, the principal of the horn section and his son, Joseph Hoerner, for whom the library at the German Society of Pennsylvania is named.