Hermann Glauch, a printer by trade, was born at Döbeln, Saxony, in 1855; he arrived in Baltimore aboard the Bark Inca on August 31, 1872. He was in Cincinnati in 1872, and soon thereafter went to San Francisco. His poems appeared in the German papers of both Cincinnati and San Francisco. His Gedichte were published at Oakland, California, in 1897. In the preface to this book he reveals his state of mind : “Wahrend ihm (the poet) heute das Herz aufgeht in Lust und Freude beim Anblick der Wunder der Natur, im stillen Frieden des Heimes beim Glücke seiner Umgebung, sieht er morgen das krasse Elend, die bitterste Noth, hört den Jammerruf der Unglücklichen und Unterdrückten — ” This statement characterizes this collection of poems. Such poems as “Auswanderung,” “Ein Landstreicher,” “Ins Armenhaus,” “Moloch Grossstadt,” “Unsere Zeit,” “Arbeitslos,” “Handwerker einst! — Was jetzt — ?” are mingled with others that sing the beauty of nature, home and love. The modern milieu is illustrated in “Ein Lebensbild” beginning :
Feuerfunken sprüht der Schlot
Auf zum grauen Firmamente,
Blutigroth die Flamme loht
Tief im Grunde ; ohne Ende
Dort Cyclopen, schwarz berusst,
Kaum der eignen Macht bewusst,
Ruhren die geschaft’gen Hande.
Source: Socialism in German American Literature by William Frederic Kamman. Americana Germanica Press, 1917.
Hermann Glauch is listed in San Francisco City Directories for the following years with occupation:
1877 Compositor
1880 Printer
1899 Foreman Oakland Journal
1903 Artist, Louis Roesch Co.
1904 Artist, Louis Roesch Co.
1905 Artist, Louis Roesch Co.
1908 Asst. Mgr. Louis Roesch
1926 Louis Roesch Co. Wife: Selma
The Louis Roesch Company was one of more than fifty major printing and lithography businesses in San Francisco around 1906, which together employed over 5000 individuals. It specialized in printing labels for the crated, canned, and bottled foods and wine, produced by California’s booming agricultural industry. The printing industry at the time was characterized by a large number of German American proprietors. (Source: https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=163003)
“Zwei deutsche Dichter in Californien” [Theodor Kirchhoff and Hermann Glauch]. Der deutsche Correspondent (Baltimore, Md.), Nov. 17, 1897 (PDF).
