Obituary:
Ruth Marion Reichmann
1928-2024
Ruth M. Reichmann, PhD passed away on 6 January 2024 in her home outside of Nashville, Indiana at the age of 95. She was well-known in Brown County, throughout the state, nation, and in her native Germany because of her many activities and publications. She was an academic and a civic activist.
Dr. Reichmann was born in Munich, the capital of the German state of Bavaria on 29 July 1928, the daughter of Dr. Karl-Heinz and Lillianne Bachmund. She grew up in the famous city of Nuremburg in Franconian Bavaria, where she witnessed the destruction of her city and country during the Second World War. This had a profound effect on her.
Her academic career began in Nuremburg, earning a business school certificate in 1951, qualifying her to work in the export department of a manufacturer rebuilding after the war. Seeking greater opportunities, she immigrated to America in 1952 and enrolled as a pre-med student at the University of Cincinnati. At U.C. she met her future husband Eberhard Reichmann, an immigrant from Swabia Germany. They married in 1956 and enjoyed 53 years of marriage and shared interests. The couple moved to Bloomington, Indiana, in 1959 where Eberhard had secured a teaching position at Indiana University, Department of German. Ruth was endowed with an oversized intellectual curiosity and with the energy to match. At Indiana University in the 1960s she earned her B.A. in Speech and Theater, a Master of Arts in Teaching, and ultimately a PhD in 1986 with her dissertation “Intercultural Adult Education: Its Nature and Exemplification.”
Ruth was engaged in her many activities rooted in what she experienced during the war. She was a practical Weltverbesserin, working to make the world better through civic engagement, democratic participation, the defense of nature, preservation of the historic environment, intercultural and international understanding, education, and studying Indiana’s rich and diverse German heritage. She was an active member and leader in the Brown County Historical Center, Brown County League of Women Voters, Indiana Sister Cities, Inc., Sassafras Audubon Society of south-central Indiana, the Max Kade German-American Center of IUPUI, Society for German-American Studies, the Indiana German Heritage Society, the Brown County Community Foundation, the Peaceful Valley Heritage and Preservation Society, the Athenaeum Turners, and the Athenaeum Foundation. She was instrumental in reviving Karneval and starting the St. Nikolaus Fest in the Athenaeum.
Her German-American activities started with research with her husband on the New Harmony Ethnic Heritage Project in 1980-81. New Harmony was the state’s first German community. Both Reichmanns were appointed by Governor Robert Orr in 1983 to the Indiana State German Immigration Tricentennial Commission with Ruth as Executive Vice Chairman. Through this commission they met many Indiana Germans throughout the state longing for recognition of Indiana Germanness and history. Ruth and Eberhard and others founded the Indiana German Heritage Society (IGHS) in 1984 to continue the work of the commission, with Ruth as its first president. Tours, conferences, workshops, exhibits, and publications followed. Ruth served as editor and contributor to the IGHS Newsletter for several decades and served on the board of directors of the IGHS for over 30 years. IGHS named her President Emerita and Hoosier German-American of the Year in 2013. Although Ruth and Eberhard left Germany a century after the massive wave of German immigration to Indiana, they were aware that they were in the footsteps of the Auswanderer of the nineteenth century. They had their own immigrant experience.
Ruth and Eberhard put their money where their mouths were. They and Drs. Giles and Dolores Hoyt endowed the chair to the Max Kade German-American Center in the School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI, which they founded in 1989 to guarantee the perpetuation of the teaching of the German language and the study of German Americana. She served as the center’s first director.
She leaves behind a legacy of service, making Indiana, America, and the world a better place by thinking, doing, and leading. Ruth received many awards recognizing her vision, planning, passion, devotion, time, energy, and stubbornness in her many fields of interest. Her many awards came from the Sassafras Audubon Society, Brown County Community Foundation, IUPUI (Spirit of Philanthropy Award), and the Society for German-American Studies. Prestigious awards came from Indiana Governor Orr (Sagamore of the Wabash, 1987), and the Federal Republic of Germany’s highest civilian honor (Bundesverdienstkreuz, 1991; and German-American Friendship Award, 1985).
Ruth was preceded in death by her loving husband and partner, Dr. Eberhard Reichmann (1926-2009). She is survived by son Robert “Toni” Reichmann (Mitzie), and daughter Maria Chapin (Chester); grandchildren Zachariah, Elijah (Shannon Brunton), and Jeremiah (Lorna); and five great grandchildren.
A memorial program and celebration of Ruth’s life will be held on Sunday, February 25, 3-5 p.m. in the Athenaeum, 401 E. Michigan Street, Indianapolis. It will be hosted by the Indiana German Heritage Society, IUPUI Max Kade German-American Research & Resource Center, and the Athenaeum Foundation. Gifts in memory of Dr. Ruth Reichmann are welcomed by the Indiana German Heritage Society, the Max Kade Center, and the Athenaeum Foundation.
Ruhe in Frieden
Dr. Reichmann was born in Munich, the capital of the German state of Bavaria on 29 July 1928, the daughter of Dr. Karl-Heinz and Lillianne Bachmund. She grew up in the famous city of Nuremburg in Franconian Bavaria, where she witnessed the destruction of her city and country during the Second World War. This had a profound effect on her.
Her academic career began in Nuremburg, earning a business school certificate in 1951, qualifying her to work in the export department of a manufacturer rebuilding after the war. Seeking greater opportunities, she immigrated to America in 1952 and enrolled as a pre-med student at the University of Cincinnati. At U.C. she met her future husband Eberhard Reichmann, an immigrant from Swabia Germany. They married in 1956 and enjoyed 53 years of marriage and shared interests. The couple moved to Bloomington, Indiana, in 1959 where Eberhard had secured a teaching position at Indiana University, Department of German. Ruth was endowed with an oversized intellectual curiosity and with the energy to match. At Indiana University in the 1960s she earned her B.A. in Speech and Theater, a Master of Arts in Teaching, and ultimately a PhD in 1986 with her dissertation “Intercultural Adult Education: Its Nature and Exemplification.”
Ruth was engaged in her many activities rooted in what she experienced during the war. She was a practical Weltverbesserin, working to make the world better through civic engagement, democratic participation, the defense of nature, preservation of the historic environment, intercultural and international understanding, education, and studying Indiana’s rich and diverse German heritage. She was an active member and leader in the Brown County Historical Center, Brown County League of Women Voters, Indiana Sister Cities, Inc., Sassafras Audubon Society of south-central Indiana, the Max Kade German-American Center of IUPUI, Society for German-American Studies, the Indiana German Heritage Society, the Brown County Community Foundation, the Peaceful Valley Heritage and Preservation Society, the Athenaeum Turners, and the Athenaeum Foundation. She was instrumental in reviving Karneval and starting the St. Nikolaus Fest in the Athenaeum.
Her German-American activities started with research with her husband on the New Harmony Ethnic Heritage Project in 1980-81. New Harmony was the state’s first German community. Both Reichmanns were appointed by Governor Robert Orr in 1983 to the Indiana State German Immigration Tricentennial Commission with Ruth as Executive Vice Chairman. Through this commission they met many Indiana Germans throughout the state longing for recognition of Indiana Germanness and history. Ruth and Eberhard and others founded the Indiana German Heritage Society (IGHS) in 1984 to continue the work of the commission, with Ruth as its first president. Tours, conferences, workshops, exhibits, and publications followed. Ruth served as editor and contributor to the IGHS Newsletter for several decades and served on the board of directors of the IGHS for over 30 years. IGHS named her President Emerita and Hoosier German-American of the Year in 2013. Although Ruth and Eberhard left Germany a century after the massive wave of German immigration to Indiana, they were aware that they were in the footsteps of the Auswanderer of the nineteenth century. They had their own immigrant experience.
Ruth and Eberhard put their money where their mouths were. They and Drs. Giles and Dolores Hoyt endowed the chair to the Max Kade German-American Center in the School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI, which they founded in 1989 to guarantee the perpetuation of the teaching of the German language and the study of German Americana. She served as the center’s first director.
She leaves behind a legacy of service, making Indiana, America, and the world a better place by thinking, doing, and leading. Ruth received many awards recognizing her vision, planning, passion, devotion, time, energy, and stubbornness in her many fields of interest. Her many awards came from the Sassafras Audubon Society, Brown County Community Foundation, IUPUI (Spirit of Philanthropy Award), and the Society for German-American Studies. Prestigious awards came from Indiana Governor Orr (Sagamore of the Wabash, 1987), and the Federal Republic of Germany’s highest civilian honor (Bundesverdienstkreuz, 1991; and German-American Friendship Award, 1985).
Ruth was preceded in death by her loving husband and partner, Dr. Eberhard Reichmann (1926-2009). She is survived by son Robert “Toni” Reichmann (Mitzie), and daughter Maria Chapin (Chester); grandchildren Zachariah, Elijah (Shannon Brunton), and Jeremiah (Lorna); and five great grandchildren.
A memorial program and celebration of Ruth’s life will be held on Sunday, February 25, 3-5 p.m. in the Athenaeum, 401 E. Michigan Street, Indianapolis. It will be hosted by the Indiana German Heritage Society, IUPUI Max Kade German-American Research & Resource Center, and the Athenaeum Foundation. Gifts in memory of Dr. Ruth Reichmann are welcomed by the Indiana German Heritage Society, the Max Kade Center, and the Athenaeum Foundation.
Ruhe in Frieden