It began as a central alliance of German Catholic organizations from all over the United States that was established at a founding Convention in Baltimore, Maryland.
The philosophical roots of the journal and its parent organization are to be located in the German Romantic tradition of such thinkers as Johann Josef von Görres (1776-1848), as well as in the solidarist economics of the Jesuit Heinrich Pesch (1854-1926).
Pesch's ideas were highly influential in the background of Pope Pius XI's famous social encyclical, Quadragesimo Anno, and in later papal documents.
Among the noteworthy achievements of the Central Verein have been its successful support of laws enabling credit unions, establishing workmen's compensation, and permitting public school buses to transport Catholic schoolchildren.
The decline in membership of German ethnic organizations in the United States has left the publication of the Social Justice Review as the Central Bureau's main activity.