Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, production of iHeart Radio. Hey, brain Stuff,
Speaker 1: Lauren Vogelbaum. Here, It's safe to say the Atlanta is
Speaker 1: a fairly American place. It's the home of Coca Cola,
Speaker 1: the Ebenezer Baptist Church where Dr Martin Luther King Jr. Preached,
Speaker 1: and the house where Margaret Mitchell wrote Gone with the Wind.
Speaker 1: The city is both the gateway to the South and
Speaker 1: itself a big old hunk of Americana pie. And just
Speaker 1: a ninety minute drive north in the Chattahoochee National Forest
Speaker 1: section of the Appalachians sits another Georgia town, teeming with
Speaker 1: a certain distinct national aesthetic. Helen Georgia is more of
Speaker 1: a nod to the German Alps than a testament to
Speaker 1: the Red, white, and Blue. But it's sprouted up as
Speaker 1: a result of a very American instinct capitalism. We spoke
Speaker 1: with one Matt Getney, the author of the Story of
Speaker 1: Helen Georgia, a book chronicling the town's history. He said,
Speaker 1: we have basically no cultural authenticity. When the thing was started,
Speaker 1: it was purely a marketing scheme. Okay, So this little
Speaker 1: Alpine town, complete with pretzel shops, beer halls, and blacksmiths
Speaker 1: did not rise from the Appalachians on the facts of
Speaker 1: Northern European immigrants who wanted to celebrate their Old World
Speaker 1: heritage and culture. Instead, it was a couple of local
Speaker 1: entrepreneurs and a creative sketch artist who dreamed up the
Speaker 1: village as a way to create some buzz and draw
Speaker 1: in some tourist dollars. Still, this faux Bavarian village looks
Speaker 1: enough like the real thing, thanks to a smartly appointed
Speaker 1: mountain esthetic that was decades in the making. Annual German
Speaker 1: inspired events like Octoberfest and a European car show also helped,
Speaker 1: and perhaps that's why every year, under normal circumstances, hordes
Speaker 1: of visitors wander their way into White County, Georgia for
Speaker 1: a little slice of Bavaria. And weirdly, Helen is not
Speaker 1: the only town in the United States that aims to
Speaker 1: recreate the Old Country. There are at least a handful
Speaker 1: of European replica towns spanning the US, from Leavenworth, Washington's
Speaker 1: Bavarian vibe to Little Switzerland, North Carolina's Swiss Alpine esthetic.
Speaker 1: Each has its own unique story, but all of them
Speaker 1: have been attracting tourists for decades. They all go for
Speaker 1: a nostalgic take on Northern European nations, perhaps because they
Speaker 1: are also located in mountainous areas, and also because of
Speaker 1: the timing of immigrant waves intersecting with the new found
Speaker 1: love of travel in the nineteen fifties, thanks to America's
Speaker 1: burgeoning car culture. Take Solvang, California, which draws inspiration from
Speaker 1: the North Sea nations. The Danish inspired village and its
Speaker 1: assortment of windmills popped up near the southern California coast
Speaker 1: after three Danish teachers struck out to establish a community
Speaker 1: for their compatriots in nineteen eleven. They also created a
Speaker 1: folk school to teach area kids about reading, writing, and arithmetic,
Speaker 1: as well as the basics of Danish culture. Solvang remained
Speaker 1: fairly insulated until the nineteen forties, when the media began
Speaker 1: to take notice. In the Saturday Evening Post ran a
Speaker 1: feature boasting about the town's annual Danish Days celebration. We
Speaker 1: also spoke with Ester Jacobson Bates, the executive director of
Speaker 1: Solvang's Elvar Joy Museum. She said people started coming looking
Speaker 1: for that Danish culture, so the local businessmen decided to
Speaker 1: come together collectively and create this plan that the downtown
Speaker 1: area would have new buildings built in a Danish style
Speaker 1: and existing buildings would transition from Western to Danish fronts.
Speaker 1: Like Helen. Solvang's provincial look may have been developed in
Speaker 1: response to business interests, but Bates says the town is
Speaker 1: still rooted in Danish culture and that the cultural links
Speaker 1: to Denmark remain strong. That includes regular visits from Danish
Speaker 1: royalty and ambassadors, as well as a student exchange program.
Speaker 1: Wine lovers and sinophiles alike may recognize Solvang and the
Speaker 1: surrounding area as the set for the two thousand four
Speaker 1: Academy Award winning film Sideways. Solvings is a similar story
Speaker 1: to the one behind Franken Muth Michigan, also known by
Speaker 1: locals as Little Bavaria, a small batch of Lutheran missionaries
Speaker 1: from Germany established the town in eighteen forty four. The
Speaker 1: settlement served as a fairly insular community for German immigrants
Speaker 1: until after World War Two, when interstate highways in the
Speaker 1: infrastructure boom made it easier to reach the mouth from
Speaker 1: nearby cities like Detroit. Today, the town welcomes about three
Speaker 1: million tourists per year to its German style village. Franken
Speaker 1: Muth's annual bavarian Fest may be the biggest event on
Speaker 1: the local calendar, but like any self respecting Alpine town,
Speaker 1: it also celebrates october Fest each year. Visitors can expect
Speaker 1: lots and lots of pretzels, if not that many German accents.
Speaker 1: Today's episode was written by Chris Opfer and produced by
Speaker 1: Tyler Clang. For more in this lots of other curious
Speaker 1: top X, visit how stuff works dot com. Brain Stuff
Speaker 1: is a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts
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