Midwestern Towns With European Flair

Air Date:
Heard On The Larry Meiller Show
An old windmill, Elk Horn Iowa. Smallbones (cc)
An old windmill, imported from Denmark, is now in Elk Horn, Iowa. Smallbones (cc)

Larry Meiller learns about the many lovely small Midwestern towns that still embrace their European cultural roots.

Featured in this Show

  • Travel Writer Highlights Midwestern Towns That Revel In Their European Heritage

    Big metropolitan areas like Chicago or New York City are great for getting a taste of many different cultures in one place. But some small towns in the Midwest also do a great job of showcasing a heritage that was shared by their earlier residents.

    Mary Bergin, a Madison-based travel writer specializing in Wisconsin and Midwestern destinations, researched and wrote about six such communities in a recent article for the Chicago Tribune titled “Europe in the Midwest: Tiny Towns Still Celebrate their Old World Identities.”

    “I think it’s a challenge for any community to stay vibrant,” Bergin said.

    For example, a large employer might leave an area, or a major road can be rerouted. Even besides obstacles like those, Bergin said, it takes vision and forward thinking for a community to showcase its heritage.

    While there are larger communities that capitalize on their cultural identity to attract tourists and their dollars, Bergin decided to focus on towns with a population of 3,000 or less as a way to “reward” those smaller communities.

    “The smaller communities that do this well tend to not be as heralded because they don’t have the big marketing budgets that larger communities do,” she said.

    In addition, Bergin wanted each community to be in a different state, and to have a different ethnic heritage. A peek in a Midwestern phone book would reveal that many of the region’s immigrants came from northern Europe. Bergin’s choices reflect that background, with the six towns representing German, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and Swiss cultures.

    The Wisconsin offering is New Glarus, which embraces the culture that came with immigrants from Switzerland beginning in 1945.

    “Visitors will notice the chalet design of many of the buildings,” Bergin said.

    With a population of just over 2,000, New Glarus might not seem like much competition with larger cities. But Bergin pointed out that New Glarus was chosen over Chicago and other places with Swiss populations to the home of the Swiss Center of North America, “a nonprofit that collects artifacts and promotes all things Swiss.”

    New Glarus also keeps things fresh with annual events like the Heidi festival, which just celebrated its 50th anniversary last month. Later in the summer, New Glarus will kick up its heels at the Volkfest on Aug. 3, which marks Swiss Independence Day.

    Then, the Wilhelm Tell Festival will be held Aug. 29-30. Named for the Swiss folk hero known for, among other things, shooting an apple off of his son’s head, the celebration includes outdoor performances of the classic drama about Swiss independence.

    Information about these New Glarus events and others are available on the New Glarus website.

Episode Credits

  • Larry Meiller Host
  • Judith Siers-Poisson Producer
  • Mary Bergin Guest