Frankenmuth -- Michigan's Charming German Town...

Hi, I'm JD Conrad. I'm the host of American Classic Tour TV. If you love to travel, you are in the right place. Make sure you hit the red subscribe button and ring the bell to get notifications. Okay, on to our two-minute tour. Frankenmuth is in central Michigan, about 90 miles northwest of Detroit. This small town with a population of just under 5,000 people overflows with ethnic tradition. In fact, if I were to describe Frankenmuth in one word, I would say it is German. The city's name is a combination of two words. Franken represents the province of Franconia in the kingdom of Bavaria from which the original settlers came. And the German word Mott means courage. So Frankenmuth means courage of the Franconians. Sounds pretty epic to me. The area was settled and named by conservative Lutheran immigrants from Franconia in Germany. The group of settlers left Germany in April 1845 and arrived at Castle Garden in New York seven weeks later. They traveled via canals and the Great Lakes from New York to Detroit and arrived in August of 1845. The settlers made their way to Saginaw and traveled over land to what is now the city of Frankenmuth. The purpose of the settlement was primarily religious. The Lutheran group planned to start a mission among the Native Americans. However, their attempts to convert the local groups failed because most of the Native Americans moved away within a few years. Frankenmuth was to be an exclusively German Lutheran community. The colonists actually pledged to remain loyal to Germany, specifically the kingdom of Bavaria, and be faithful to the German language. And Germans continued arriving to this colony until the start of the second world war. Today the town's German ancestry is visibly apparent through its architecture. The strong influence of Franconian style architecture can be found throughout the city. Many of the buildings in the downtown as well as many homes feature stylistic interpretations of timber frame buildings found in the Franconia region of Germany. This style is marked by the use of timbers in square and x patterns on the outside of buildings as well as x patterns on windows and doors. Frankenmuth's German tradition can be experienced each year at its annual Oktoberfest, which features food, drink, and music that mimics Germany's signature festival. Frankenmuth is the In 1996, the mayor of Frankenmuth and German parliament gave the official proclamation, making Frankenmuth's Oktoberfest, like I said, the first Oktoberfest to operate with the blessing of the original Oktoberfest in Munich. With this proclamation, the event was moved to September to coincide with the opening of the Munich event. Also, for the first time in history, the world-famous Hofrahaus brewery of Munich exported its beer to the United States for the event. While you're at the event, you're definitely going to want to enjoy some Hofrahaus beer and some of the various fine culinary traditions such as pretzels, spetzels, sauerkraut, bratwurst, and more. While in Frankenmuth, you definitely have to visit Bronner's. This legendary store promotes itself as the world's largest Christmas store, and over 2 million people each year visit Bronner's. It's home to thousands and thousands of Christmas items. I remember the first time I went there, I could not believe just how big the store was. It's really amazing. You're definitely going to want to check it out during your time in Frankenmuth. Well, thanks for joining us on this edition of Two Minute Tour. If you liked the episode, please leave us a like.