This stein is more than a cup; it represents a story of a family success and ultimate destruction. My great grandfather, Otto Lang, immigrated to the United States in 1913 from Germany to escape the life of farming in rural Northeast Germany. After arriving to Ohio via New York, he opened a bar in a predominately German neighborhood known as German Village in Columbus, Ohio, serving beer in this stein. He achieved success in a short period of time; Otto was financially stable enough to marry and my grandfather, Jacob Lang, was born in 1924. However, circumstances soon occurred that changed the fate of my family. In 1920, the US government passed the Prohibition Act, banning the sale of alcoholic beverages. The Lang family bar closed in German Village, but Otto continued to distribute liquor illegally, making trips from Kentucky back to Columbus, Ohio with large quantities of liquor. When Jacob was just 4 years old, his mother died of TB, leaving Otto the sole caretaker of Jacob. When he was 5 years, Otto was arrested and sent to jail for selling liquor; Jacob was sent to a large orphanage run by Catholic nuns. Otto was released after serving four years, but died shortly after from lingering ailments he had picked up in jail.The orphanage was overwhelmed with abandoned children during this period of financial instability in the United States. Jacob was treated very cruelly; he escaped at 17, lied about his age and joined the Navy, serving all four years of WWII.

– Emily Lang

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