[4] The group was originally formed in 1865 by Otto Lob to perform songs while the body of Abraham Lincoln lay in state in Chicago before being buried in Springfield.
The two groups maintained a rivalry,[5] producing a number of high quality productions of operas such as The Magic Flute (by Concordia) and Der Freischuetz and Stradella (by Germania Männerchor).
[9] The Chicago-based Germania Männerchor participated in the 1867 Nord-Amerikanischer Sängerbund held in Indianapolis, performing the works of Franz Abt under the baton of Balatka.
[14] The club purchased German related architectural items to furnish the club, including an 18 foot tall section of Manufacturer's Building from the World's Columbian Exposition which had been made by a German porcelain company and 18 inch tall wooden panels that measured up to 11 feet long decorated with intricate carvings of scenes from Wagner's operas that had originally been created for a Chicago mansion.
[3] With the anti-German rhetoric that accompanied American entry into World War I, the group changed its name to the Lincoln Club in 1917.