[3] Now open to members of any heritage, the order provides low-cost insurance and mutual aid and has historically promoted the preservation of the German language and traditions.

The organization is named for Hermann the Cherusker, also known as Arminius, a German hero who overthrew his people's Roman oppressors.

[4] The Sons of Hermann were formed by Dr. Philip Merkel, George Heiner, John Blatz, A. Auer, R. Schwendel, W. Kohler, and Philipp Germann on the Lower East Side,[2][6] in response to anti-German sentiment during a period of heavy German immigration to the United States.

[1] Hundreds of lodges were organized during the nineteenth century; by 1895 there were about 30,000 members,[2] and in 1896 there were Grand Lodges in California, Connecticut, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington in addition to New York, as well as scattered members in 15 other states with a total membership of 90,000.

[9] However, renewed anti-German sentiment with the outbreak of World War I led to the order's sharp decline.

1 in San Antonio was the first Sons of Hermann lodge to offer its members non-profit life insurance (proposed in 1873).

[18] Following the First World War, anti-German sentiment remained in America and the local order disbanded thereafter, donating the statue and grounds to the City of New Ulm in 1929.

[23] A profile of it by Ray Wylie Hubbard appears in Pat Green's Dance Halls & Dreamers.