Missouri Germans Consortium

Missouri Germans Consortium would like to take a moment or two and share a few of our wonderful memories of this past year.

January 2015:  The exhibition Utopia – Revisiting a German State in America was open at the Missouri History Museum in St. Louis.

Every Tuesday a 1 hour Curator’s tour was provided by MGC

Executive Director Dorris Keeven-Franke,  for those who wanted a more in-depth and behind the scenes look at the exhibit.  On Saturdays, the Muss i Denn desk was manned by Keeven-Franke and lots of packages for new friends in Germany booked passage, one of its’ most unique interactive activities, making the International traveling exhibition

one of the most popular to be shown at the Missouri History Museum.  MGC also hosted events for the Descendants of the Giessen Emigration Society and the German Heritage Cultural Fest, which featured German groups from all over St. Louis.  We hosted teacher workshops for those great educators who bring German into their classroom every day, and keep the culture alive for young people.

In January, our quarterly electronic Journal Der Anzeiger debuted! Bringing you stories, and history, filled with wonderful photographs of Missouri and Germany, recipes, and even helpful information for those researching their own German ancestry.

In February, we partnered with  St. Louis Stuttgart Sister Cities

bringing the Tandem Guides to St. Louis. Nine students from Bremen working with the Utopia project worked with the Missouri History Museum‘s Teens Make History providing a fresh young interpretation of the Utopia exhibit.

In March, our Executive Director Dorris Keeven-Franke received the Friedrich Hecker Freedom Award from the German American Heritage Society of St. Louis for the promulgation of cooperation and understanding between Germany and the United States.

In April, our Director,  spoke on the Legacy of the Giessen Emigration Society at the Society for the Society for German-American Studies 

Symposium in St. Louis. We provided a tour of the Utopia exhibition to members of the Society attending the Symposium. We hosted our friends from the Traveling Summer Republic in Germany as the

exhibition Utopia – Revisiting a German State in America came to the close at the Missouri History Museum, where it was visited by over 60,000 people. The weekend included a showing of the documentary, Utopia – Revisiting a German State in America, and

a book signing by Dorris Keeven-Franke of the accompanying catalog by the same name. Also various other speakers from Germany provided wonderful programs;  Rolf Schmidt  (with

Autumn Franke) did readings from his various novels, and Ludwig Brake explained the turmoil which brought about the Giessen Emigration

Society. A day was set aside with special events for all Descendants of the Giessen Emigration Society. 

In May, we partnered with the Missouri Humanities Council on a new initiative called the German Heritage Corridor of Missouri, which highlights Missouri’s German culture and history, especially

along the Missouri River. Thousands of German immigrants moved to Missouri in the 1830s, many settling along the Missouri River. An inventory of hundreds of sites pertinent to the story has been compiled.

At the National Genealogical Society Conference in St. Charles, MGC Director Dorris Keeven-Franke spoke on Gottfried Duden: The Man Behind the Book and the Giessen Emigration Society. 

In June, we provided Missouri Humanities Council Director Steve Belko and others, a two day driving tour of the Missouri River and the German heritage sites found in the German Heritage Corridor.

In July,  we partnered with St. Louis Stuttgart Sister Cities and the

German American Heritage Society of St. Louis providing a bus tour  for the public of various sites along the German Heritage Corridor, including Dutzow and Hermann. 

In September, we were part of the St. Charles Oktoberfest, promoting Missouri Humanities

Council‘s German Heritage Corridor  and speaking at a book signing of the book Utopia in the German Cultural Tent. 

In October,  we were very busy with many programs across the State. First there was the German-American Committee of St. Louis‘s German-American Day, and the wonderful

Deutsch Country Days at Luxenhaus Farm in Marthasville where we shared the German Heritage Corridor, and the Missouri Association for Museums and Archives Conference in Columbia where we spoke on the International Exhibition Utopia,  and a program for the Maplewood Public Library  Missouri Where the Sun of Freedom Shines. 

In November, we presented a program on the German Heritage Corridor for the Friends of Arrow Rock and another for the Friends of the Missouri State Archives on the Giessen Emigration Society and the traveling exhibition Utopia. 

In December, we joined the St. Louis Genealogical Society for their Annual Book Jamboree and signed copies of the book Utopia.

We thank all of our partners, and everyone who attended our programs, followed our blog, joined our tours, subscribed to our journal or participated in any of our various activities. You helped make this the best year ever for the Missouri Germans Consortium!  Thank you! Stay tuned for a fantastic 2016!