New Ulm/Minnesota: A German Town on the Prairie

Highway 15 is a four lane road that passes through New Ulm, a small town on the banks of the Minnesota River. People just driving through probably won't notice anything out of the ordinary in this town: they'll pass two gas stations, three fast food restaurants, two motels and some supermarkets. At first glance, New Ulm looks much like any other small town in the US.

But those who look closely will see some striking differences: the street lamps in town are decorated with flags depicting Herman the Cheruscan, who united the German tribes to fend off the invading Romans in 9 AD. The local shopping center in New Ulm is called Marktplatz, there's a bed & breakfast by the name of Deutsche Strasse, and Veigel's Kaiserhoff restaurant serves authentic German food.

Walking along the streets of New Ulm, you can hear familiar German tunes, when the town's bell tower or Glockenspiel rings out old favorites like "Rosamunde" three times a day.

New Ulm calls itself 'The City of "Charm and Tradition"'. It's proud of its German roots, dating back to the mid 19th century. Immigrants from south-western Germany and from the Egerland region, which today is part of the Czech Republic, founded this little town on the prairie.

Each year, thousands of tourists flock to New Ulm to celebrate German-American heritage festivals and to experience a part of "Germany" in the heartland of the US.

The town of New Ulm originated in the 1850s. Many of its historic buildings are beautifully preserved, explains the town's mayor Arnold Koelpin. He draws attention to grand old villas and the 'Ratskeller'. This German-style pub is located underneath Turner Hall , the old gymnasium which was originally called 'Turnerhalle'.

The Ratskeller and Turner Hall were built in the late 19th century by democratic activists from Germany's Württemberg region. They had left their home country because the German revolution of 1848 had failed: The monarchy in Germany was strengthened and their goal of achieving more democratic rights in their homeland was crushed.

The New Ulm 'Ratskeller' still bears witness to some of their hopes and dreams of a better Germany. Mayor Arnold Koelpin explains that the murals on its walls show German castles like Heidelberg or the Wartburg in the town of Eisenach: "They painted them so that they would be reminded of Germany whenever they came down here to drink their beers. People still enjoy being here because it's so gemütlich."

On a wooded hill above New Ulm stands a 102-foot-tall monument to Hermann . It was initiated by the National Grand Lodge of the Sons of Hermann in the 1880s to pay tribute to their German-American heritage. The statue is a smaller replica of another monument to Hermann built near the German city of Detmold in the mid 19th century, a time of growing national pride and sentiment in Germany.

But shortly after the statue in New Ulm was completed in 1897, the mood changed. In the First World War, Germany was the enemy. German-Americans in the US were often shamed and called 'Huns'. The man who was mayor of New Ulm at the time and the principal of the local college even lost their jobs because they refused to go to war against their German brethren.

Today, local radio stations in New Ulm like KNUJ 860 still cater to such strong feelings for the Old World: KNUJ 860 plays a great deal of polka music . German immigrants from the Egerland region brought this music with them to the New World. Paul Kretsch of the German-Bohemian Heritage Society explains that the music was in their blood.

And that's why music is still an integral part of local festivals like the New Ulm Fasching or Mardi Gras, the Bock Beer Festival and the German Heritagefest in July. At these festivals, polka bands will play up a storm and the Concord Singers , who claim to be America's foremost German-language male chorus, sing all-time favorite German folk songs.

Another German-American institution in New Ulm is the August Schell Brewing Company. The Schell family has been making beer on the outskirts of New Ulm since 1860. The brewery is located next to an artesian spring, which provides the pure water needed for brewing.

Schell's brewery is in some ways like a little part of Germany in America: in the brewery's back yard, for instance, you'll come across typically German garden gnomes. And the labels of the Schell beer bottles show an image of a proud stag -- a popular motif in German folklore.

Schell's is the second oldest family owned brewery in the USA. It currently makes 37 different beers. And according to New Ulm's mayor Arnold Koelpin, of all the beer brewed in America, Schell's is the closest to German beer.

This may be partly because some of the owners were trained at breweries in Germany. Over time, they brought back many traditional German brewing recipes from the Old World. Today, Schell's makes some special German kinds of beers like Pils, Alt, and Doppel Bock -- brewed in the USA, but in the true German style.

The number of people who still speak German in New Ulm is declining. But nevertheless, the town's mayor Arnold Koelpin thinks that some German virtues have survived here: "When you walk through the town you'll see right away that everything is very orderly and well-kept.

The streets are clean, the lawns are mowed, and there are flowers in the yards. There are little pavilions in the gardens - just like in Germany. Everything here is gemütlich, it breathes Gemütlichkeit. And when tourists come here, they notice right away that the atmosphere here is special - it's simply gemütlich."