The Mural Tour · 23 stops · May 9, 2026

Reading the Walls

Kornelia Heinrich liest die Wände

Our walls are covered in murals, painted sayings, choir photographs going back to 1949, and a century of plaques and certificates. Longtime member Kornelia Heinrich researched every one of them and led a filmed tour of the clubhouse, translating each German line herself. This page presents the filmed tour and her translations.

Two minutes, all 23 stops, set to Brahms. English captions include Kornelia’s translations, and the full list of stops, in her words, is below.

About the tour

On the morning of May 9, 2026, club president Joe Koch introduced his “personal goodwill ambassador” and Kornelia walked the building from the Herzlich Willkommen at the kitchen window to the flags in the Biergarten door. Along the way she read the wine-cellar painting, Burg Rheinstein, Neuschwanstein, the Lüneburger Heide, the greeting of the German singers, and the line painted across the top of the hall: Wo man singt, da lass dich ruhig nieder.

She also pointed herself out in the choir photographs, three times.

The documentary is coming. A five-minute film of the tour, in Kornelia’s own voice, is being finished now and will be added to this page.

If you scanned the QR code on the poster or the bar television, you are in the right place. clevelandmaennerchor.com/tour will always bring you here.

The poster

Reading the Walls poster: 21 photographs of Kornelia Heinrich touring the Cleveland Maennerchor murals, numbered and captioned with her translations
Download the 24×36 poster Come see the walls

The 23 stops

In the order she walked them. Quotations are Kornelia’s words on camera.

IWelcome

  1. 01
    Herzlich Willkommen
    “Heartfelt welcome,” in her word-by-word reading11:02 AM
  2. 02
    Joe Koch, president
    introduces “my very good friend and personal goodwill ambassador”11:06 AM

IIChoir & community

  1. 03
    “Power of voices”
    The 1949 choir photograph. She points herself out in it.11:10 AM
  2. 04
    Urkunde
    “A document of accomplishment.” Her word for every certificate on the wall.11:12 AM
  3. 05
    “Off the boat, not off the plane”
    A framed print: “to live as brothers”11:13 AM

IIIMurals & songs

  1. 06
    Who all has been here
    Bands, choirs, a Cleveland Elvis “with a K in front,” and the Beatles11:14 AM
  2. 07
    Alter Wein und junge Weiber
    “Old wine and young women are the best way to spend your time”11:15 AM
  3. 08
    Burg Rheinstein
    “By the Rhine. Built 1316 to 1317. A medieval castle.”11:16 AM
  4. 09
    Greeting of the German singers
    “We greet you with a joyful sound, with German word and song”11:18 AM
  5. 10
    Neuschwanstein
    “King Ludwig II of Bavaria lived there. Near the border of Austria.”11:19 AM
  6. 11
    Trink, Brüderlein, trink
    “Brüderlein makes it endearing. Come on, little brother, drink.”11:19 AM
  7. 12
    Lüneburger Heide
    “Heide is heath. It blooms in late summer, way up north.”11:21 AM

IVThe ladies’ corner

  1. 13
    Heights Damenchor, 1876
    “Thank goodness people wrote this down.” A member for 60, then 70 years.11:24 AM
  2. 14
    “That’s me right there”
    The 125th anniversary, 1876 to 200111:25 AM
  3. 15
    Alto
    “I’m always at the end because I sing alto”11:26 AM
  4. 16
    “And now she’s fantastic”
    She took the new president aside and taught her German, quietly11:29 AM

VWords to live by

  1. 17
    Wo man singt, da lass dich ruhig nieder.
    “Where one sings, there you can settle down peacefully.”11:30 AM
  2. 18
    Böse Menschen haben keine Lieder
    “Negative-thinking people, they have no songs”11:31 AM

VIAt the bar

  1. 19
    The Länder over the bar
    “Bremen, Berlin, Saarland. Like our counties, somewhat.”11:32 AM
  2. 20
    The cuckoo clock
    “Ten o’clock, it comes out ten times. Coo, coo, coo.”11:33 AM
  3. 21
    Adenauer
    “Whom I grew up under. He had the hard job. Best Germany.”11:37 AM

VIIFarewell

  1. 22
    Biergarten
    “Garten, with a T. Now we’re all out there picking weeds.”11:39 AM
  2. 23
    Two flags
    Both flags in the window by the Biergarten door. End of the tour.11:40 AM
Tour, research and translations: Kornelia Heinrich · Introduction: Joe Koch, President · Filmed May 9, 2026 · Music: Brahms, Intermezzo Op. 117 No. 2, Solomon (1938 recording, public domain)