74A History

74A History

Designed by German-born architect August H. Blankenstein, 74 East 4th Street is known as the Aschenbroedel Verein building. Aschenbroedel Verein was a German-American professional orchestral musician’s social and benevolent association founded in 1860. By 1866 the society had grown large enough that it purchased this site and eventually built this structure for its use. Aschenbroedel Verein became one of the leading German organizations in Kleindeutschland (Little Germany) on the Lower East Side and boasted among its membership top orchestral musicians in the city at this time. The society moved to Yorkville in 1892 and the building was subsequently owned by Gesangverein Schillerbund, one of the city’s most important and oldest German singing societies. It was at this time that the main facade of the building was altered and the cast iron ornament was added as well as the three composers’ busts above the second floor windows. The design for this alteration was the work of German-born architects [Frederick William] Kurtzer & [Richard O.L.] Rohl. After 1895 the building housed a variety of uses including a series of public meeting and dance halls, the Newsboys' Athletic Club, a laundry, and a meatpacking plant. Since 1969 it has been the home of the renowned La Mama Experimental Theatre Club, one of the oldest and most influential Off Off Broadway theaters in New York City. https://www.villagepreservation.org