Things to Do in New Ulm, Minnesota

This 102-foot monument on Hermann Heights depicts Hermann the Cheruscan, whose army beat Rome in 9 A.D. It was dedicated in 1897, and in 2000 Congress named it a national symbol of German heritage. You can climb a staircase to the base of the statue for a view over the town and river valley.

★ Good to know It’s open weekends in May, September and October and daily from Memorial Day to Labor Day, and it closes in bad weather.

August Schell broke ground here in 1860, and his descendants still run it, making it Minnesota’s oldest brewery. The grounds hold the family mansion’s gardens, a Museum of Brewing and a Rathskeller-style tap room. Schell’s also brews Grain Belt, which it took over in 2002.

★ Good to know Tour tickets are sold first-come, first-served at the brewery on the day, tours often sell out, and you’ll need ID for the tasting.

The 45-foot Glockenspiel at 327 N. Minnesota St. holds 37 bells weighing more than two tons. At each performance, figures of a brick mason, a miller, a beer drinker and other local types rotate out on a stage. From Thanksgiving to early January, a nativity scene takes their place.

★ Good to know Shows run at noon, 3 and 5 p.m. year-round, with extra 1 and 6 p.m. shows from April through October.

The museum fills three floors of New Ulm’s 1910 post office, a German Renaissance building listed on the National Register. Exhibits cover the county’s history and the US-Dakota War of 1862, and there’s a research library for genealogy. The Defenders’ Monument, erected by the state in 1891 with reliefs by local artist Anton Gág, stands a block away on Center Street.

★ Good to know It’s open Tuesday through Saturday and closed Sunday and Monday, so plan around that.

This 982-acre park sits in the Cottonwood River valley on the edge of town, named for Charles Flandrau, who led the town’s defense in 1862. CCC and WPA crews built its stone buildings in the 1930s with a German look, and the WPA barracks later held German prisoners of war. Today it has shaded campsites, a sand-bottom swimming pond and a Hiking Club Trail.

★ Good to know There are no bike trails inside the park, but New Ulm’s 13-mile paved bike loop passes just blocks away.

New Ulm’s Turner Hall is the oldest in the country still used for its original purpose, and parts of it date to 1873. The Rathskeller downstairs serves lunch and dinner under more than 70 feet of murals of Germany, Switzerland and Italy. The murals were painted over during World War I and restored in 1999.

★ Good to know It’s a restaurant and bar, so it’s free to walk in and look at the murals.

Wanda Gág, author of the 1928 picture book Millions of Cats, grew up in this Queen Anne house, which her father Anton designed in 1894. It has his upstairs skylight studio, hand-stenciled borders, and art by Wanda, Anton and her sister Flavia.

★ Good to know Tours run on weekends from May through October, and year-round by appointment.

Founded in New Ulm in 1990, this museum at 27 N. Broadway honors Minnesota musicians across genres. Photos, instruments and costumes cover names like Bob Dylan, Prince and Judy Garland alongside polka bandleader Whoopee John Wilfahrt. That fits a town that once called itself the Polka Capital of the Nation.

★ Good to know It’s open Thursday through Saturday from April through October only.