MANSFIELD — Elizabeth Burmeister and her group made the long trip from Los Angeles to Mansfield with one goal in mind — keeping German culture alive.
As president of the Danube Swabian Folk Dance Group, she said her club wouldn’t miss Treffen 2025 at the Mansfield Liederkranz, 1212 Silver Lane.
Burmeister’s Los Angeles group stood as the only one west of the Mississippi at this year’s festival at the locally-based German social club.
“We are the lone group out there, but we make our way back every year,” Burmeister said. “It’s a way to celebrate our culture and maintain friendships all over the country.
“In Los Angeles, we don’t have as much of the German influence as people do here,” she said. “Because of that, we’re a little different than the other clubs who do traditional Danube Swabian.
Danube Swabian dances are folk dances rooted in the German heritage of the Donauschwaben people of the Danube River valley in Eastern Europe, incorporating traditional German, Austrian, and unique regional styles.
“We’re always referred to as the more hang-loose, laid-back Californians,” Burmeister said.
The German cultural festival fills Mansfield with music, dancing and food over Labor Day weekend, running Friday through Sunday.
Saturday featured performances from groups based in Los Angeles, Detroit, Akron and other cities across the country.
Heritage celebrated across generations
Burmeister’s group has been traveling to these festivals since the late 1980s. Burmeister first attended in 1990 and has only missed two since then. She started with the group when she was just 4 years old.
Each club includes three age groups: children ages 4 to 10, youth ages 12 to 26 and adults 26 and older.
“People like me who danced in the youth groups, we still want to keep going,” she said. “So now we have the adult group.”
She also noted how families have expanded the community. While the older couples are usually both Danube Swabian, younger couples have changed that.
“A lot of families have married someone who is not a Danube Swabian,” Burmeister said. “They have married outside of the community, so we are introducing this to a lot of other folks beyond our own community.”
Celebrating German culture through music, dance and food
The Deutscher Musikverein of Cleveland performed a lively mix of traditional polkas, waltzes and folk songs, along with a few new pieces played for the first time.
Saturday’s events kept the festival grounds alive with energy. Dance groups took the stage at both the pavilion and Hunsinger Halle, while families enjoyed classic German food and drinks.
Children joined in on games and activities, and vendors offered everything from baked goods and jewelry to beer and other treats.
From colorful costumes to joyful music and laughter, the celebration carried on throughout the day as people clapped, cheered and came together to honor and share their heritage.
(Pictures from the Treffen 2025 festival. Picture credit: Hannah Martin)
