Missouri 2008 Official Vacation Planner - (Page 98) CENTRAL The Germans By 1860, more than half of Missouri’s foreign-born residents were German. In central Missouri, they settled in the Missouri River Valley and southward toward the Ozark foothills. They started their own towns — such as Westphalia in Osage County — or found new homes in existing, English-speaking communities such as Cole Camp and Warsaw. In 1840, German stonemasons erected the new state Capitol in Jefferson City. Prussian-born Charles Lohman started a mercantile business on the city’s steamboat landing of Mid-Missouri Eichenberg (German for “oak hill”) Winery, Cole Camp in 1852. His Lohman Building — a threestory, limestone beauty — now houses a museum of frontier history. Across the street, an 1855 hotel hosts an Amtrak station. Religious freedom was a big issue for many immigrants. The large churches built by early Catholic and Protestant congregations still impress from hilltop locations. Holy Family Church dominates the Freeburg skyline, and Westphalia’s St. Joseph can be seen for miles, but they only hint at the number and prominence of GermanAmerican churches in the Central Region. German immigrants held their language and culture close. Church services and school lessons often were conducted IN 1840, GERMAN STONEMASONS ERECTED T H E N E W S TAT E C A P I T O L I N J E F F E R S O N C I T Y. in German. Town bands with old country repertoires were common. Some ethnic trappings disappeared during the anti-German hysteria of the world wars, but others have re-emerged in recent decades. The Plattdeutsch speakers of Cole Camp, in Benton County, have done theater productions in that northern German dialect. The town’s Saengerfest in June attracts German-language choral groups from around the Midwest. Seasonal festivals, a feature of GermanAmerican life in the 19th century, thrive in the 21st. In addition to Saengerfest, Cole Camp also sponsors Maifest, Oktoberfest and Christbaumfest celebrations. Left: Lohman Building, Jefferson City 98 Missouri Vacation Planner 2008
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