Kloeppinger's Bakery
 German Roots in Washington

  • U.S. Passport for Mrs. Frederike Kloeppinger and her two children, 1869. When 29-year-old Mrs. Kloeppinger went home to Germany with her two children to visit her family after her husband’s death, she obtained this passport, issued May 5, 1869 and signed by the Secretary of State, William H. Seward. The document impresses most by its official-looking nature, created by the images, seals, and formal script. This must have been a proud document for the immigrant to show to local officials and family back in Germany. Image: Historical Society of Washington, D.C.
    U.S. Passport for Mrs. Frederike Kloeppinger and her two children, 1869. When 29-year-old Mrs. Kloeppinger went home to Germany with her two children to visit her family after her husband’s death, she obtained this passport, issued May 5, 1869 and signed by the Secretary of State, William H. Seward. The document impresses most by its official-looking nature, created by the images, seals, and formal script. This must have been a proud document for the immigrant to show to local officials and family back in Germany.
  • William C. Kloeppinger’s Confectionery and Bakery, corner of G and 6th Streets, NW, 1900. Image: Historical Society of Washington, D.C.
    William C. Kloeppinger’s Confectionery and Bakery, corner of G and 6th Streets, NW, 1900.

With fresh pretzels, candy, and baked goods in the window and two children carefully posed by the door, family pride beams out from this fixture of neighborhood life, which doubtless attracted passersby as much by the smell of fresh-baked bread as by its window display. 

German-Americans stand in the doorway, while an African-American stands to the left, near the sign advertising oysters by the pint. A Chinese laundry stood next door, long before the Chinese community moved en masse to the neighborhood around 1930. Kittycorner across the street from the bakery stood Temple Adas Israel between 1876 and 1906.