German Mutual Insurance Association of Nebraska is a mutual insurance company committed to providing our members exceptional service and comprehensive insurance protection to satisfy their property insurance needs.
The company will work to assure financial strength through profitable growth, while maintaining a competitive position in the marketplace. We are also committed to the effective use of technology to help provide our members with the best overall value and service available.
The annual meetings of this Association shall be held on the last Tuesday of January of each year at one (1) o’clock P.M. at the place selected by the Board of Directors. Each policyholder shall be and constitute a member of the company and shall be entitled to one vote at any annual or special meeting. Each member shall be entitled to one vote irrespective of the number of policies held by said member.
Our History: Organized 1890 – Incorporated 1896
The German Mutual Insurance Association was established in Nemaha County, NE in 1890. A tremendous amount of history and service to the community is part of the German Mutual story which has its home office in Auburn. Today’s Association is a direct outgrowth of an assistance society formed on the principles of Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia over 200 years ago. That principle was carried to Indiana and from there to Nemaha county, Nebraska to the Hickory Grove church southwest of Auburn by Johannes Wittig, a Lutheran missionary minister. Rev. Wittig brought the idea of a farmers mutual insurance association with him from his former church. The basic principle of the society was to provide a helping hand to those who suffered misfortune. After several meetings at the Hickory Grove church, as well as at the St. John’s and St. James churches, the constitution and by-laws were approved at Hickory Grove on May 12, 1890. In 1896 the Association filed incorporation papers and was then licensed to sell insurance in the state of Nebraska for 99 years.
The first board of directors included C.F. Harms, Sr., President, Henry Hector, Secretary/Treasurer, William Hooper and Ernest Oestmann, Directors. The Association has been managed through the years by direct descendants of the original charter members. Some of those who served in the past as board members and as secretary/treasurer have included Henry Rohrs, Herman Holtgrewe, Fred Hector, Lowell Hahn, A.H. Weible, Albert Hector, Herman Harms, Melvin Moerer, Edna Moerer-Lowe, Craig Moerer, Rick Janssen and Julie Thompson.
The first constitution of the Association provided for fire and lightning protection on livestock, buildings, hay and grain in bins, and household contents. The early days of the assistance society were marked by pledges of members through a pledge system. The current Association still adheres to the same basic principle of the earlier society except that the helping hand or aid is now measured in dollars and cents based on the amount of insurance carried by each policyholder member. Coverages have also been extended to provide for many perils. Until 1918 all policies were printed in the German language, as most early members were immigrants from that country. The organization was not, and is not, intended to be a religious or ethnic group but open to anyone who wants to participate. Each policyholder member is entitled to one vote at all special and annual meetings of the Association, making an organization that is operated for and by the members. When the constitution was adopted it was agreed that the home office of the company should always be in the neighborhood of the Hickory Grove church. Over the years, the headquarters have moved to Rohrs, to the homes of the secretary/treasurers, to the former Auburn State Bank building at 1920 “O” Street in Auburn, to the present location at 914 Alden Drive in the Crestview area of Auburn.
German Mutual is also a member of the State Association of Mutual Insurance Companies of Nebraska and the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies.