The Deutschheim State Historic Site on West Second St in Hermann captures the culture and heritage of the German people who migrated to Missouri in the mid to late 19th century. Their home interiors, tools, implements, garden plantings and architecture quickly became a reflection of Missouri's diverse culture.
The Deutschheim is operated by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and tours are offered daily at 9:30am, 10am, 12:30pm and 2:30pm.
Two main buildings are featured at the site. The Pommer-Gentner House built in 1840, is a sterling example of high-style German neoclassicism and is furnished to reflect the earlier settlement period of the 1830's and 1840's. Behind the house, visitors will tour a period garden and a small half-timbered barn containing an exhibit of 19th century tools.
The Strehly House, built in stages from 1842 to 1869, has a traditional German vernacular front. It once contained a full-service printing company that produced a German-language newspaper.
In about 1857, Carl Strehly built a winery next to the house, which today displays one of a few remaining carved wine casks in the Midwest. Grapevines, planted by the Strehlys in the 1850's can still be seen running the length of the backyard.
Deutschheims's varied collections of German Americana are represented by galleries of changing artifacts and photographs. Tour Deutschheims's buildings and experience the daily life of German Americana the way it really happened 150 years ago.
For more information, contact Deutschheim State Historic Site, 107-109 West 2nd St., Hermann, MO 65041, or call 573.486.2200.
Deutschheim (meaning German home) is the German cultural museum of the state of Missouri operated by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. In 1978, the Hermann Brush and Palette Club, a local preservation group, donated several buildings to establish the site. In addition to the Pommer-Gentner house and the Carl Strehly house, the site currently includes a half-timbered barn with a display of 19th-century garden tools, period gardens, and several recently acquired buildings that house the office, library, and gift shop.
 

The Carl Strehly house is open to tour. It depicts the life of a middle-class family of moderate means from 1865-1880. The main part of the building was constructed in 1842, and for the next 27 years it was modified and enlarged. It housed a printing business that provided the community with two German-language newspapers. In the late 1850s, a winery was added. 

The Pommer-Gentner house was built in 1840 and is one of the oldest surviving buildings in Hermann. It is currently closed for restoration, but when it reopens it will feature furnishings that reflect the life of an aristocratic family of the 1830s and 1840s. The family was among the founding fathers of Hermann. Cheryl Hoffman, Interpretive Resources Technician for the site, says there is some very interesting investigation work going on at the house. When possible, she allows visitors to view the historical renovation project.

Directly across the street from the German School, at 315 Schiller St., stands the former Farmers & Merchants Bank built in 1909. It is the current home of the GCHS Archives and Records Center. For those interested in researching family histories and genealogies in Gasconade County, this is a one-stop research facility.  A volunteer staff is available to assist the public in using the records Tuesday through Thursday from 9:00 to 5:00 and on Saturday from 9:00 to noon. For information, or to make arrangements for groups, call 573-486-4028 or send an e-mail to gchsarc@ktis.net.

You can read about Missouri history,  the War of the Rebellion, Gasconade County history,  Gasconade County families, and  Missouri & Gasconade river history.  The Center houses a wide variety of materials for  genealogical research. Real estate records, census records, and much more are accessible for study.

The Gasconade Historical Society, in a cooperative arrangement with the Gasconade County Commission, has assumed responsibility for housing and preserving the permanent records of the people of Gasconade County and, over a period of three to five years, will transfer all of those records from the Courthouse to the Archives and Records Center.

An archives shop features books on local and family history, a publication on genealogical research by a local authority on the subject, and postcards of Hermann area scenes and historic structures.

The countywide facility opened in August of 2001 to preserve and make accessible a comprehensive collection of information for researchers. Records of Gasconade County date from 1812. The collection features probate, circuit court, real estate and county commission records. Also available are marriage, death, birth, and census records. Copies of the local newspaper are on microfilm.

A little known museum is located at Hermann Fire Company's station #2 on 214 East Second St, located in the Historic District. While the firehouse is not always open, anyone who wishes to tour the museum may contact Chief Schulte by calling 573-486-2461. Much of the museum can be viewed through the large windows at the fire station. But, the fire chief says that if one of the volunteer firefighters is at the station, he will gladly let visitors tour the museum.
The museum was established in 1971 when station #2 was dedicated. The volunteers salvaged and restored old fire equipment that had been stored in sheds throughout Hermann. Much of it was in poor condition having barely survived several floods.

But their work paid off because several pieces, which were among the oldest in the state, have won trophies and ribbons that are on display at the museum. Fine examples of equipment include the hand pumpers Consiquence and Washington. The first motorized vehicle, a 1932 Chevrolet quad truck, is on display and includes ladders, hose, pump, and water tank. Samples of old uniforms also are displayed, along with trumpets and drums. The drums date to 1865 and are still in usable condition.

In addition to the equipment, which is in mint condition, the department has maintained a set of records of all their meetings since the Fire Company was formed in 1859. Records were kept in German until 1939. Since 1939, they have been written in English. All of the minutes from Day One until 1939 were translated from German to English by Elmer Danuser, a retired Hermann school teacher.
 

In the year 1847 the first people came to the area known as Rhineland or Loutre Island, along the Missouri River.  The area was soon to be named "Starkenburg."  The settlers were Germans from the Hermann, Missouri area. They would have special services when missionaries came.  In this barn was a statue, which the Germans named "Weisse dame" or  "White Lady."
St. Martin's Parish was chartered in 1848.  The Parish was named after St. Martin, Bishop of Tours, France.  One year after being charted, forty acres were obtained and a log church was built.
 

since May 2006