New Ulm

Sister cities

• Neu-Ulm

History

New Ulm was founded in 1854 by the German Land Company of Chicago. It was named after the city of Ulm in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. Ulm and Neu-Ulm (which may have inspired the name) are twin cities, with Ulm on the Baden-Württemberg side of the Danube River and Neu-Ulm on the Bavarian side. In part due to the Minnesota city's German heritage, it became a center for brewing in the Upper Midwest. It is home to the August Schell Brewing Company. The Sioux called it Wakzupata, which roughly means "village on the cottonwood". In 1856, the Settlement Association of the Socialist Turner Society ("Turners") helped secure New Ulm's future. The Turners (German for "gymnasts") originated in Germany in the first half of the 19th century. Their motto was "Sound Mind, Sound Body". Their clubs combined gymnastics with lectures and debates about the issues of the day. After the failed Revolutions of 1848, many Germans emigrated to the United States. Turners formed associations (Vereins) throughout the eastern, midwestern, and western states. They were the largest secular German-American organization in the country in the 19th century. After a series of attacks by nativist mobs in major cities such as Chicago, Cincinnati, and Louisville, a national convention of Turners authorized the formation of a colony on the frontier. Intending to develop a community that expressed Turner ideals, the Settlement Association joined the Chicago Germans, who had struggled due to lack of capital. The Turners supplied that, as well as hundreds of colonists from the east who arrived in 1856. The city plan represented Turner ideals. The German Land Company hired Christian Prignitz to complete the plan for New Ulm, which was filed in April 1858. This master plan expressed a…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of , of which is land and is water. The Minnesota River and the Cottonwood River flow past the city on their way to the Mississippi River. New Ulm has a hot-summer humid continental climate (Köppen Dfa/Dwa) and experiences four distinct seasons. Summers are typically warm to hot with thunderstorms being common. Winters are quite cold and snowy, yet not quite as snowy as areas further east in Minnesota.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  595
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  442
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  404
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  400
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  392
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  380
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  374
• Killdeer

  Charadrius vociferus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  370

Largest nearby schools

• NEW ULM HIGH SCHOOL
  High · NEW ULM · 706 students · 22.8:1 ratio
• NEW ULM MIDDLE SCHOOL
  Middle · NEW ULM · 648 students · 20.9:1 ratio
• JEFFERSON ELEMENTARY
  Elementary · NEW ULM · 619 students · 13.5:1 ratio
• Washington Learning Center
  Elementary · NEW ULM · 188 students · 12.5:1 ratio
• RIVER BEND AREA LEARNING CENTER
  High · NEW ULM · 63 students · 15.8:1 ratio
• RIVER BEND EARLY CHILDHOOD PROG.
  Other · NEW ULM · 62 students · 20.7:1 ratio
• IMPRINTS PROGRAM
  Other · NEW ULM · 28 students · 7:1 ratio
• R.I.S.E. Program
  Other · NEW ULM · 11 students · 5.5:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.8 — 2017-04-25
  Near Mankato, Minnesota