Anti-German Feeling and Riots in London

[Spangle]

As I understand it the War caused a lot of ill-feeling to Germans who were resident in England, resulting in riots in London's East End and elsewhere. I can't make out though, whether this was largely directed at German nationals/German speakers or whether anyone with a German name was at threat.

My own family were the Oppenheims (who lived and owned businesses in the Mile End area) and the Kohlers. The former were Jews who seem to have been in England for a century or more by the advent of the War, the latter of German descent though the first man in England from my family who bore the name Kohler was born in Ireland.

Can anyone tell me any more about the riots and the experiences of Germans in England at the time please, or direct me to a source of information? I would be particularly interested to learn whether my own family might have been the targets of Londoner's anger!

Thank you very much.

[poissa]

Hi Spangle.

If you do a Google search for 'Lusitania riots' you will find a lot of information about anti German activity during the war.

Many of my ancestors were German, and had been living in Liverpool since the 1850s. Through marriage, most of the females had English surnames, but my great great uncle changed his name from Zimmer to Rimmer, in an attempt to avoid trouble.

Finbar.

[Spangle]

Thank you - I'll do that. My own G G Uncle changed his name from Oscar Heinrich Kohler to Oscar Henry Coler, said to be for "business reasons", but oddly not until about 1921. As far as I know the other family members kept their original surnames.

If only they had written it all down!

Thanks again,

Spangle

[Charles Rignall]

Great information - I am a WWI buff and knew nothing about the Lusitania riots. BTW my grandfather Faust wanted to be a minister (Methodist) during WWI and they suggested he change his name to Foster. He said he would think about it, and let the matter drop.

Charlie Rignall

[lesleys]

My grandfather didn't change his name (Baehr) but his two sons did, one using his mother's maiden name. Grandfather was interned in WW1 and had to report to the police regularly in WW2 despite being in his 70s and having lived here since he was about 19. For some reason he never naturalised.

[Sue Mackay]

Can anyone tell me any more about the riots and the experiences of Germans in England at the time please, or direct me to a source of information? I would be particularly interested to learn whether my own family might have been the targets of Londoner's anger!

Thank you very much.

Did you see the Rick Stein episode of Who Do You Think You Are? The anti German riots were mentioned.

[Mutley]

In May 1915, German families living in Docklands, many of whom had fathers and sons in the British Army, had their homes vandalised and property stolen by rioting East Enders. In the 1936 Battle of Cable Street, Oswald Mosley and his menacing Blackshirts were blocked by anti-fascist groups from marching through the East End.

There is quite a lot of information if you google even the New York Times reported the 1915 riots.

[daggers]

A family connection was from Ragusa, [now Dubrovnik?] and was born when the city was within the Austrian Empire. His shop in Liverpool was attacked during WW1 because of local belief that he was German, though his surname was not Germanic, but his accent may have been.
D

[Barbara F]

My Gt Grandfather, German by birth and a baker had his shop in Marylebone stoned because of his German name, Kaiser but all of his five sons fought in the British Army during WW1 under their german name. My grandfather was in the Middlesex Regiment locally known as the 'Kaiser's Own' because of all the germans recruited into it from the London area. The five sons all eventually changed their names to either King or Keen but again not until a long time later, in Grandfather's case 1928. Try putting Kaiser's Own into Google, it brings up more information.

[Spangle]

Thank you all. Although my family isn't named (or not that I can find at any rate) from what I read and you have said the chances are that they were none too popular (nothing new there then!). And Sue... my hands are up, it was from Who Do You Think You Are that I started wondering. Thanks again!