In front of the Brown County Historical Society, Sarah Sveine and her father-in-law Terry Sveine examine a map of downtown New Ulm as it was during the 1862 Battle of New Ulm. Earlier this year, Sarah Sveine began a new business Teutonic Tales and Trails. The tour features many unique stories from New Ulm’s past. Most tours include a stop in front of The Brown County Historical Society.

NEW ULM – Few places in Minnesota have as much history as downtown New Ulm.

Nearly every block features some point of historic interest. Historic walking tours are not uncommon and thanks to a new business, Teutonic Tales and Trails, they could be regular feature.

Teutonic Tales and Trails was started by Sarah Sveine. She moved to New Ulm over 10 years ago and in that time has learned a lot about her new home, thanks in large part to her father-in-law Terry Sveine.

Terry Sveine — retired Tourism Manager and former Mayor of New Ulm — has been hosting walking tours of New Ulm for years with different organizations.

“Terry was always doing tours and after years of hearing him talk I realized what he needed was a manager,” Sarah Sveine said.

Combined with her background in marketing and event planning, Teutonic Tales and Trails was born.

The goal of the business venture is to collect the quirky and fascinating stories of New Ulm into a collection of tours.

Teutonic Tales and Trails began offering its first tours in July. The starting location for the tour changes from time to time. Sometimes the tour begins by the Glockenspiel. Other times it starts next to The Coffee Keller.

Terry Sveine said unlike some of the previous tours he has led for Brown County Historical Society or the New Ulm Chamber, the focus is not exclusively on the U.S. Dakota/War. The tour covers a large range of history. Nearly every building in the downtown district has a unique story. Sometimes he will focus on previously buildings occupying the space and other times he will highlight a specific event.

For example, The Franklin Downtown is an event and party venue at located at the corner of 2nd N. and Minnesota.

Terry Sveine explained that the buildings name is a nod to it’s past as a Ben Franklin’s store. Sveine said the store was once known as the candy king of New Ulm. This is because the store’s close proximity to the former New Ulm Municipal Swimming Pool. The pool was once located in German Park two blocks away. Kids coming and going from the pool were responsible for many candy sales.

It’s stories like these that make the tour worthwhile. Many of the visitors on the tour might remember the former Ben Franklin’s, but might have forgotten its connection to the former pool.

Sarah Sveine said it is common to hear people on the tour say, ‘I never new that’ or ‘I forgot about that.”

The tour will change based on questions people ask. If they wanted to know more about a building a specific story, Sveine will expand on it.

The former Marktplatz Mall is a topic of conversation. The building is currently empty, but was once a thriving downtown mall. Sveine said conversation on creating the mall began in the 1970s. Unlike many communities that place malls on the edge of town, New Ulm wanted it at the center of the community to benefit downtown.

Sveine said Marktplatz was a full mall with unique businesses. There was a toy store specializing with wooden German toys. Plaza Garibaldi got its start in the mall before moving to the north side of New Ulm.

Sveine said though the mall is now empty, there is a plan to develop it into additional housing, similar to the plan for the former George’s Ballroom site.

The tour included more than architecture history. It included colorful true crime stories from the New Ulm’s past. Sveine tells the story of Dr. Louis Gebhardt, who was murdered in his second floor dental office at 5 ½ N. Minnesota Street in 1904. The crime was partially witnessed by Asa Brooks, the editor of the New Ulm Review. Brooks saw a man committing the murder, but the individual fled and Brooks was never able to make a positive identification.

The prime suspect in the case was George R. Koch, a rival dentist. Koch was arrested for the crime and many suspected his guilt, but since Brooks never could not confirmed he saw Koch, the jury found him not guilty. No other suspect was ever considered in the case.

Sveine said one of his favorite story to tell is how New Ulm transitioned from horses to cars. One of the first auto dealerships opened south Minnesota Street. A former veterinarian, whose main business was horses, saw the rise of the combustion engine coming. He replaced his livery station with a car dealership.

Sveine said there were actually six different auto dealerships located in the downtown.

“Almost all cars were custom orders,” Sveine explained. After a customer ordered the car, it would be shipped in by the railroad. Today, dealerships have around 100 vehicles on a lot and are located on the edge of town.

The tour documents a lot of the changes in trends throughout New Ulm’s history.

“The single biggest change in New Ulm was in 1960s,” Sveine said. “Women went to work. There was not as much time to shop. They needed a one-stop shop for groceries. This was the rise of supermarket.”

The corner grocery stores began to drop off dramatically. By the ’70s there were no downtown grocery stores left and the supermarkets moved to the edge of town.

Though New Ulm has seen many changes, Terry Sveine has an optimistic view of the town’s future.

“I am encouraged by the state of New Ulm,” Terry said. “We’ve got aggressive entrepreneurs now.

It has brought new life to the town.”

It is one of the goals of Teutonic Tours to show off what has accomplished in the town. Sarah Sveine said, “It is a very lively town with out of the box thinking.”

Currently, Terry Sveine is serving as the primary tour guide, but as the business grows Sarah Sveine hopes to expand the types of tours offered. Sarah Sveine said she would like to have a tour of famous homes in New Ulm. They might be able to host ghost tours if there is interest.

The next available tours are Oct. 13, Oct. 19, and Oct. 26. For more information visit https://teutonictalesandtrails.com/