Philip Buerkle, Mayor and Publisher of the Sandusky Demokrat

Philip Buerkle was born in Bergen County, New Jersey, to Mr. and Mrs. August Buerkle, who were both natives of Germany. When Philip was a young child, he moved with his family from New Jersey to Sandusky, Ohio. He learned the printing trade when in the office of the Sandusky Herald. He worked as a journeyman printer in several different cities throughout the U.S., and returned to Sandusky in 1879. Mr. Buerkle worked at the Sandusky Tribune, the Sandusky Register, and later he became president of the Sandusky Demokrat Publishing Company. In the picture below, he can be seen in the upper window of the Demokrat Publishing building on Water Street.

In 1891, he was elected Mayor of Sandusky, and he was re-elected to that office in 1893. After his service as mayor, in 1897 he formed a partnership with A.C. Lermann in the insurance and real estate business. 

Philip Buerkle died on March 26, 1926, after he suffered a stroke. An obituary which appeared in the March 26, 1926 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal read in part, “For many years Mr. Buerkle was a leading figure among those of German birth and descent in Sandusky, and was prominent in German organizations.” He was survived by his wife, the former Sophia Giedeman, and two daughters, Mrs. W. B. Moon and Mrs. Charles J. Neff, and five grandchildren. The two sons in law of Philip Buerkle were partners in the Neff-Moon Toy Company from 1923 to 1927.

To read more about the business leaders of Sandusky and Erie County, Ohio, visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center.

Employees of the Sandusky Demokrat

This picture from 1888 shows several employees of the Sandusky Demokrat in Sandusky, Ohio. The  Demokrat was a German language newspaper published for the many local residents who spoke German. The company also offered printing services in either the English or German language. 

From left to right in the picture are: Charles Ruemmele, John Erney, Otto Mielke, Albert Kolb and William F. Senn, who was the editor and publisher of the Demokrat in 1888. Peeking out from an upper story window is Philip Buerkle. The building was located at 742 Water Street in 1888, which was later 216 West Water Street. (This structure no longer stands.) You can see 742 Water Street in a portion of the 1886 Sanborn Map below. It was on the south side of Water, east of Jackson Street.

The Sandusky Demokrat was in business in Sandusky from 1856 to 1919. A front page article in the May 7, 1919 issue of the Sandusky Register reported that the Demokrat had become “a thing of the past.” At the time it ceased operations, it was considered Ohio’s oldest German language newspaper. The newspaper closed for a variety of reasons, many caused by pressures arising from anti-German sentiment that was prevalent throughout the United States due to the war in Europe.

You can read more about German language newspapers in Sandusky in a previous post at Sandusky History.

German Newspapers in Sandusky

Some of you may not know that there once was a large, active German community in Sandusky, one large enough to support German-language newspapers. Many native Germans migrated to the United States in the nineteenth century; some chose Sandusky (and many other midwestern towns) as their point of settlement. Ernst von Schulenberg's book about the German influence in Sandusky (written in German, and translated into English as Sandusky: Then and Now) claims that there were about 300 German-speaking people in Sandusky by the 1830s -- out of a total population of about 1000.

In 1851, the first German-language newspaper in Sandusky began publication. The Intelligenz-Blatt was founded by Herman Ruess (left) and August Ruemmele (right). By 1860, the newspaper had ceased publication.

Another German newspaper began publication in Sandusky in 1856. Founded as the Baystadt Demokrat ("Bay City Democrat"), the newspaper later called the Sandusky Demokrat operated until 1919, when anti-German pressure as a result of World War I forced the paper out of business. (During the war, German-language publications were required to seek a government permit to publish; additionally, popular sentiment made it difficult to support German heritage at that time.)

These newspapers help us to understand a part of our culture that no longer exists. Unfortunately, the Sandusky Library has very few copies of these newspapers, and there does not appear to be a complete run of these newspapers in any public institution. Could there be copies of these newspapers in your attic, or in some other storage place? If you find any of these newspapers, please consider donating them to the Sandusky Library, or loaning them for microfilming, so that we might preserve our city's heritage.