In February 1939, more than 20,000 Americans filled Madison Square Garden for an event billed as a “Pro-American Rally.” Images of George Washington hung next to swastikas and speakers railed against the “Jewish-controlled media” and called for a return to a racially “pure” America.

The keynote speaker was Fritz Kuhn, head of the German American Bund.

This real-life scene is the pretext of “Nazi Town, USA” an upcoming episode of American Experience airing on NinePBS, Tuesday, Jan. 23 at 8 p.m. The episode tells the largely unknown story of the Bund, which had scores of chapters in suburbs and big cities across the country, including St. Louis, and represented what many believe was a real threat of fascist subversion in the United States.

What you will see in the episode

“Nazi Town, USA” traces the rise and fall of the German American Bund and the threat posed by domestic fascism in the 1930’s.

“There’s a resonance in the film with today’s fractured times and I hope the story can serve as a reminder of both the fragility — and resilience — of American democracy,” said director Peter Yost in a statement about the episode.

Viewers will learn about the isolationist sentiments of the Bund’s leader, Fritz Kuhn, known as “The American Fuhrer,” and how he aligned with the ideas of “America Firsters,” including Charles Lindbergh. Ultimately, the Bund opposed democracy and believed government was best when organized hierarchically, with a powerful dictator at the top.

Kuhn imagined that America would be a kind of star in a constellation of pro-Nazi governments around the world, and his leadership climaxed with the massive 1939 rally in Madison Square Garden when some 20,000 Bund supporters gathered.

Another Bund leader closer to home had a similar vision. His name was Albert Mueller and he lived in St. Louis.

What you won’t see in the episode

While “Nazi Town, USA” tells the story of the American German Bund, it does not include its activity in the St. Louis region. Locally the Bund was led by Mueller, who envisioned the St. Louis Bund and Missouri as the epicenter of Nazi activity in America.

Mueller led the St. Louis Bund to its greatest prominence in 1937. The organization experienced a surge in membership, attracting approximately 100 individuals and established its regional headquarters at a camp named “Deutsch Horst,” roughly translated as “German Eagles Nest.” The camp was located along the Meramec River near LeMay Ferry in St. Louis.

Mueller’s Attempted National Convention in St. Louis

Mueller’s attempt to host the Bund’s national convention in St. Louis faced pushback. Banned from the city’s German heritage events and establishments, protestors thwarted Bund speeches and activities. Plans for the national Nazi convention were abandoned. A Post-Dispatch editorial highlighted, “German Americans of St. Louis… are distinctly not fertile soil for the machinations of Adolf Hitler’s American agents.”

Explore further

Two area historians have documented the Bund’s rise in St. Louis.

In 2021, Diane Everman, the former archivist of the St. Louis Jewish Community Archives and the Holocaust Museum Archives presented “Right in Our Own Backyard a Nazi Bund Camp on the Meramec River.” The video of her presentation can be viewed here.

In 2022, Missouri S&T history professor Petra DeWitt explored homegrown extremists during World War II. In her program “Hitler’s American Friends, the German American Bund in Missouri” she provided more details on Mueller, who was a 1929 graduate of the Missouri School of Mines, a precursor to Missouri S&T. A video of DeWitt’s presentation can be seen here.

“Nazi Town, USA”

When: Tuesday, Jan. 23 at 8 p.m.
Where: NinePBS,