Wiesner Bros. Nursery INC.

We also visited Wiesner Bros. Nursery and interviewed the German owner, whose family has been running the flower shop since they immigrated in the 1920s. When you enter the Wiesner Bros. Nursery, you can quickly see the beautiful landscape of flowers and plants that would not be expected to come from an establishment located on the busy Victory Boulevard in Staten Island, NY. Besides the name, one might not automatically assume that Wiesner Bros. is a German establishment. However, after learning more about the history of Wiesner Bros., from Mrs.Wiesner herself, we see how the German influence is truly prevalent through out the nursery.

 

Wiesner Bros. is a business that was founded over eighty years ago when Max Wiesner bought the land between WWI and WWII in 1928. At the time, Staten Islands German presence was much larger then it is today and the area around where Wiesner Bros. stands today flourished with German bakeries, stables and farms. Being a “forester” at the time Wiesner Bros. started was considered a highly regarded profession. Mrs.Wiesner also described how strong the German work ethic is; in that they try to find a path to a goal, and do everything they can to attain that goal.

When speaking about how the family and their business assimilated to being in America she mentioned that once they received the letter home to speak English the family quickly adopted the language. We asked if they maintained anything from their culture and she told us they still ball their trees by hand, rather than with machine, because Germans are hard physical workers. She also told us their main sign was first created in 1928 and also has not been changed. It looks sort of like a well, with roofing over the main sign. She told us this is a very common way of Germans displaying signs.

 

She went on to tell us about the clientele. She said mostly Russians come by now, as Germans have largely left the island, though it is not limited to this and can be ethnically diverse, particularly around holidays. She also referenced the chickens, citing them as a source of fresh eggs. Immigrants still come by to buy fresh eggs from them.

The Wiesner Bro. Nursery carries a plethora of different plants and flowers, but two things in particular that appeal to the German clientele basis are the evergreen trees and wreaths. Mrs. Wiesner had told us that these items are native in Germany and are some of the ways she preserves her culture. She acknowledged that one of the first Christmas trees was a German Evergreen. Also, throughout her nursery, there were signs in German, allowing her culturally similar cliental basis to feel at home, but she didn’t forget to include the English translation, making everyone feel welcomed and secure. Mrs. Wiesner was very enthusiastic and passionate about her work, which gave us a good sense of how she was raised and how she runs her business—that is, with a German arm and the American acceptance of all cultures.