We last visited New Ulm MN July 2006 during Bavarian Blast, a three day German Heritage celebration. We were camping with two other couples that trip. This trip earlier this week was to revisit some of the landmarks and to geocache.
We spent time on the main street. The community has done a great job of creating a fun and welcoming downtown area. All the fire hydrants were delightfully painted.
A brick relief wall sculpture shared the history of New Ulm depicting the westward movement of the white settlers and the retreat of the Dakota, that is on the first half of the wall.
a colorful mural
New Ulm's Glockenspiel is one of the world's largest free standing carillon clock tower at 45 feet high. The largest bourdon bell weighs 595 pounds. The total weight of the bells is 2 tons.
The bells chime the time of day and play special pieces at noon, 3 and 5 pm. The three German band pieces are replaced with a Nativity scene from Thanksgiving through Christmas. A door below the clock slides up and a stage projects featuring 12 three-foot-tall animated figures depicting the history of the city. (at noon, 3 and 5 pm)
The clock tower was dedicated May 25, 1980. The Glockenspiel has 37 chromatic three-octave bronze bells which were cast in Holland.
The Heritage Tree was planted in 2004 to celebrate New Ulm's 150th anniversary. The symbols on the tree branches tell of the history of New Ulm. This website has a very good closeup and explanation of each decoration: New Ulm Heritage Tree We saw similar trees in several of the German communities we have visited. They all had the beer wagon!
This stunning building originally was the Post Office for New Ulm. Today it is the Brown County Museum.
The Milford Monument is a tribute to the 53 men, women and children of Milford Township killed during the Dakota War of 1862. The three bases on which the cross rests represent faith, hope and charity. The rugged cross represents the stalwart and hardy character of the pioneers: their strength, endurance and courage. The statue Memory, holds a lily in her right hand that is about to drop as a last tribute to the departed. A plaque to the right lists the names of the 53 settlers killed in 1862. The monument was erected in 1929.
We ate dinner at the Kaiserhoff in 2006 and were excited to see it was still open in 2024. We enjoyed local beer (Grainbelt) and delicious German food on Sunday evening.
Neuschwanstein Castle is one of the murals in the Kaiserhoff. Since we have been to the castle in Germany, it was appropriate to take a photo. It is just one of several murals in the restaurant.
What we did not visit was Hermann the German statue and Schell's Brewery, which we did in 2006. We both agreed we'd really enjoy another visit to this friendly German community.
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