COLORADO POLKA: Paul Weingardt / Motherinlaw Polka / Alpine 309 / early 1960s

Paul H. Weingardt was a native Colorado accordionist born of Volga-German immigrant parents in Sterling on September 24, 1915. Both of his parents were born in the area along the Volga river where Russian Empress Catherine the Great had invited Germans to immigrate in the mid-late 18th century. A century later many of them came to America, settling in (among other places) northeastern Colorado and the adjacent western Nebraska panhandle, and working in the sugar beet industry. Paul’s parents, the Weingardt and the Appelhans families, came to Sterling, while his future wife’s family, the Klugs, stopped in Julesburg, 50 miles up the recently completed Union Pacific Railroad line near the Nebraska border. Many of the musicians who played with Paul were also from Volga-German immigrant families, by the name of Schneider, Deines, Sewald and Walters. During the 1940s and 50s, Paul joined his brothers Frank and Alex, performing as the “Alpine Boys” or the “Alpine Dutch Hop Boys,” along with hammered dulcimer (tsimbal) players Palmer Deines or Henry Schneider, reedman Jake Walters and horn man V. A. Hartman. Later, Paul was joined by his nephews, Leroy Weingardt and Paul E. Weingardt, both of whom taught music with him at the “Alpine School of Accordion Champions.” Henry Schneider’s younger brother Alex also performed with the Weingardts, and Henry and Alex performed together as the “Schneider Brothers.” In 1948, the Cooper Music and Appliance Center of Fort Collins advertised five 78 rpm records as new releases by the Weingardt Brothers and Palmer Deines, a hammered dulcimer player. The label was “C.R.S.” with the discs numbered 102 through 106. These recordings appear to have been reissued in the early 1950s on Frontier, a Denver label that issued additional releases by Weingardt, as well as by other musicians. Paul also issued material on his own “Alpine” label. Tragically, Paul and Anna Weingardt, along with Henry and Frieda Schneider, died in a car crash in Wyoming, returning to Denver from a performance at the Scottsbluff/Gering VFW Hall in Nebraska. Paul and Anna’s eleven-year-old son, Kenneth, was injured but survived. Paul was aged 49 and Anna 47. Paul H. Weingardt, September 24, 1915- November 22, 1964 Anastasia J. “Anna” (Klug) Weingardt, March 14, 1917- November 22, 1964 Henry Schneider, 1908- November 22, 1964 (born in Russia) Frieda (Albrandt) Schneider, 1912- November 22, 1964 Note 1: “Dutch Hop” is an event (“Biggest Dutch Hop of the Year”), a style of dance (“A Dutch Hop is a polka . . . but a polka isn't necessarily a Dutch Hop”), and a style of music (“Dutch Hop, Polkas and Modern”). See also the YouTube channel Colorado Dutch Hop. Note 2: Extensive information about German immigrants to Russia can be found at “volgagermans(dot)org”. As of 2010, their population was estimated at 400,000 in Russia, and 200,000 in Kazakhstan. The US population in 1920 has been estimated at 120,000. [Motherinlaw Polka, Paul Weingardt, Alpine 309, recorded early 1960s, matrix 7192-C] The flip side of this disk is Eins Zwei G'Sūffa:    • COLORADO POLKA: Paul Weingardt / Eins Zwei...   Polka Playlist:    • Polka Time