World War I Sparks a GREAT Change

From left: Advertisements across the U.S. shared the news of the company name change; marketing material issued at the time used the same Uncle Sam imagery used on posters to recruit soldiers to fight in the war.

For its first 45 years, our company operated under the name German American Insurance Company. Founded and funded originally by many German immigrants, the company’s German roots were apparent. The company seal included the German imperial eagle and we issued many policies in German under the title Germo–American Versicherungs Gesellschaft. In many agencies, the German-language policy was the only policy issued. Early German American marketing also was often published in multiple languages.

Pressure to change the company name increased due to the anti-German sentiment that began growing in the country in 1914 with the start of World War I. Although the U.S. was initially neutral, American support shifted to the Allies and there was a general national backlash against German culture. The names of schools, foods, streets, towns and businesses were changed. Anti-German sentiment increased after the U.S. declared war on Germany in 1917. Some state insurance commissioners forbade the use of any policy printed in a language other than English. People feared that German Americans, the largest non-English speaking immigrant group in America at the time, were still loyal to the German Emperor.

German American’s management grew concerned. They had enjoyed increased respect and popularity for decades but were now confronting forces outside their control. According to company records, “agents were hesitating to advertise the company and inquiries were declining.” Since the start of the war, German American lost business in Canada where agents were refusing to do business with any company that appeared to have ties to Germany.

As a result, the company took steps to demonstrate their loyalty to the American cause. German American’s Board voted in 1917 to advertise the “Americanism of the organization” in daily papers in 24 leading cities in both the U.S. and Canada.

In this period, the U.S. government sold war bonds, or liberty loans, to help finance the war effort. German American purchased $1 million of the liberty loan and publicized their support in newspaper advertisements, declaring that German American was the “first fire company to announce $1 million subscription to the United States Liberty bonds. Directors and officers, all American citizens born in the United States.”

When the Trading with the Enemy Act was passed in the fall of 1917, the Secretary of the Treasury announced that German fire, marine and casualty companies were no longer allowed to do business in the United States. The Board of German American met to discuss the cancellation of their reinsurance treaty with Cologne, Germany. All agents were notified on November 17, 1917, of the cancellation and that the company had no foreign treaty arrangements.

On September 25, 1917, the Board of Directors voted to recommend that the name of the company be changed to Great American Insurance Company. The name change was effective January 1, 1918.

Interested in seeing how Great American grew into the company it is today? Visit our Company Story to see why our yesterdays tell an important story about our tomorrow.