Staff photo by Clay Schuldt Terry Sveine delivers part one of a presentation on the “Life of Harold Loeffelmacher.” The presentation included historical photos from Loeffelmacher’s life.

NEW ULM–Local history buffs and music enthusiasts received a lunchtime treat, Thursday.

The Brown County Museum Annex hosted a Lunch and a Bite of History featuring a presentation from Terry Sveine on local musician Harold Loeffelmacher.

Loeffelmacher was a well-known band leader from the New Ulm area and was the founder of the Six Fat Dutchmen.

During the museum’s fall gala, Sveine portrayed Loeffelmacher. He took the role seriously and researched Loeffelmacher’s whole life. The research led to this presentation.

Loeffelmacher’s grandparents John and Christina immigrated to the United States in July 1857, from a part of Prussia that is now a suburb of Berlin, Germany. The family first went to Henderson but moved to west Nicollet County soon after. The Loeffelmacher family acquired farmland.

John Loeffelmacher’s name appears on the monument at Fort Ridgely. He was credited for giving unarmed militia services during the U.S.-Dakota War. Sveine suspects John risked his life to bring supplies to the fort from his home.

John had many sons. His son John Jr. married a neighbor girl named Lucia Julius. They had 13 children. Harold Loeffelmacher was the youngest, born on March 14, 1905.

Harold’s music career started at a church near his family farm. The pastor wanted to start a church band, and Harold was brought in to learn an instrument.

Sveine said many assumed Harold Loeffelmacher first learned a horn instrument, but he started on the violin. It is unknown when he first began playing, but Sveine presented old photographs of Loeffelmacher with a violin. Loeffelmacher later learned to play the trombone, the tuba and the sousaphone.

Loeffelmacher’s musical career began in the mid-1920s. The exact date of his first concert is unknown, but he was playing weddings in 1927. In this era, he played with Whoopee John’s band. Whoopee John already had a radio show in St. Paul but would visit New Ulm to perform.

The Depression hit in 1929 and affected everyone. Sveine said it was a difficult time to be in a band. Audiences were not going to dances when money was tight. The popularity of the radio further hurt live band performances.

This did not dissuade Loeffelmacher. In 1932, he started his first band called “The Continental Band.” After a year he changed the name to “Broadway.” In 1934, the name changed again and became the “Six Fat Dutchmen.”

Sveine said there is no definitive explanation for this name. Loeffelmacher told multiple versions of where the name came from. Dutchmen is a corruption of Deutschland, meaning Germany. Sveine suggested Six Fat Dutchmen sounded better than Six Fat Germans.

Six Fat Dutchmen did receive steady work in the 1930s, despite the Depression. In 1940, Columbia Records sent a sales representative to New Ulm and caught a performance of Six Fat Dutchmen at Kalz’s Korner. Loeffelmacher was offered a record contract which he accepted. Unfortunately, the band never recorded with Columbia.

World War II disrupted the music business in the United States. A waterproofing agent used for creating records was repurposed for the war effort. Gas rationing made it difficult for bands to travel. Band members were drafted. Union disputes brought the recording to close from 1942 through 1944. In response, The Six Fat Dutchmen played local shows.

The war ended in 1945, and the need for bands spiked. It was a time of prosperity. Sveine said ballroom owners were having trouble booking bands because the demand was so high. In the post-war years, the band would sign a recording career with RCA.

Sveine’s presentation only covered the first half of Loeffelmacher’s life. The research he compiled was enough to fill a second presentation, which Sveine will give later this year.

Part two of the Harold Loeffelmacher is scheduled for Sept. 5. Sveine will cover the last years of Loeffelmacher’s life and touch on New Ulm’s status as a center for music.