History

"German in Every Particular"

It is commonly believed that the Hermann area's resemblance to the Rhine Valley prompted scouts from the German Settlement Society of Philadelphia to choose the site for a colony on the American frontier. Dismayed at how quickly their countrymen were being assimilated into American society, the Philadelpia Germans dreamed of building a new city in the "Far West" that could and would be "German in every particular."

In 1837 school teacher George Bayer, who was appointed to serve as the society's agent, traveled to Missouri and purchased 11,000 acres of the steepest, most rugged terrain to be found anywhere on the Missouri River. It was a beautiful, if highly impractical, site for a town.

Meanwhile, back in Philadelphia city planners were mapping out a grand new city, undeterred by their total ignorance of the actual terrain. On paper, Hermann was flat, with spacious market squares and sweeping boulevards. Thinking big, they made their city's main street 10 feet wider than Philadelphia's.