MEQUON — What started as a couple of German farmers coming together to play music in the 1940s became one of the longest-performing bands in Wisconsin. This type of band used to be more common. Now, there aren't any bands like it left.
Introducing the Freistadt Alte Kameraden Band. In 2025, the band will begin its 84th season of entertaining audiences across Wisconsin.
“When we’re on stage, that’s our happy place. We like to have fun," Dale Blank, a percussionist who has been in the band for 41 years, said.
The Alte Kameraden Band is a German brass band with 30 members. They play German folk music, marches, festival music, and more.
As the weather warms up, the Alte Kameraden begins rehearsals again. They practice at the Lindenwood School Community Center in Mequon. Their calendar is already pretty booked from April through October. During Oktoberfest season, they will play two to three times per weekend.
"It becomes a part of who you are, you know. The band becomes family," Blank said.
He has a strong German heritage. Blank is a fifth-generation German. He grew up around the band.
“I followed this group as a young kid, and then my brother got into it and went on a trip to Germany with the group, and a few years later, I started in," he said.
During Blank's four decades of performing with the band, he has gotten the chance to play for President Ronald Reagan, President Bill Clinton, German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, and Governor Tommy Thompson.
The band is well known here and in Germany. Alte Kameraden has performed in Germany seven times. They have toured all across the United States, playing at various Oktoberfest celebrations. In fact, they've played for President Ronald Reagan twice.
"It's also an opportunity to entertain and share the culture with everyone around us," Scott Bell, a trumpeter and member of the band for 24 seasons, said.
The Freistadt Alte Kameraden Band traces its roots back to early German immigrants in what is now known as Mequon.
“Started in 1942 as a 4-H group, and it was the Victory Band. This was a band that the guys got together because they were Germans, and there was a concern that they weren’t necessarily supporting the war effort, so they called themselves the Victory Band," Bell said.
The group played at many weddings and parades. Later in the 1960s, the name was changed from Victory Band to Freistadt Alte Kameraden Band.
“It was really just a bunch of guys from the farm community that was here that wanted an opportunity to entertain people, and that’s really what the band has become," Bell said.
The band is keeping this German tradition alive in a state with a long German history. You’ll likely see them on the festival circuit this summer and absolutely at Oktoberfest celebrations. Find the band's schedule here.
Watch the video to hear what the Alte Kameraden Band sounds like...
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