in 1884 the new berlin choral society, established by adolf zander, came to existence through a merger of several smaller choirs. the choir counted already with 117 singers by the end of the founding year. in the "wilhelmian liedertafel" era, the berlin liedertafel counted with more than 250 singers, being the largest male-voice choir in germany. the choir took long trips abroad (austria, romania, sweden, france, baltic states, italy, russia, egypt, the united states, japan), and along with the berlin philharmonic orchestra it gave great concerts. this society gave rise to another, the lehrergesangverein of 1886.