New Bremen Historic Association's Luelleman House and museum receives historical marker

NEW BREMEN, OH (WLIO) - History buffs in Auglaize County celebrated the dedication of a historical marker for New Bremen's oldest standing home on Sunday. New Bremen Historic Association members told us more about the village's museums and the stories they tell. 

As part of Auglaize County's efforts to document as many historic places as possible in honor of its 175th anniversary, the Luelleman House, a home almost as old as the village of New Bremen itself, has now received official signage highlighting the structure's significance for both locals and tourists to see. 

"The marker was placed here 51 years after the house was put on the register of historic homes. It took a while, but we now have a plaque, and it really looks official and beautiful out front," said David Maurer, the president of the New Bremen Historic Association. 

One of the topics that the association can tell you a lot about is the German heritage of the town. Most of the settlers and immigrants came from Germany, including the former town doctor, Dr. Michael Rabe, a Jewish man who fled the Holocaust. Many of the structures in the village are a lot older than they look, thanks to the quality of the building materials the Germans used. 

"They built a lot of sturdy buildings when they got out of the first original log buildings, and some of the buildings are still standing. This one (the Luelleman House) is from 1837, but some of the other buildings were built during the Civil War, 1864/1865. There are a couple prominent brick buildings," explained Don Gagel, a board trustee and unofficial photographer for the association. 

They have two properties on Main Street: the Lueulleman House, which has a second open building in the back, and the Pape House, where you can learn about the former furniture company and wool mill. Some of the public's favorite rooms in the museums include items like historic hats and clothes, kitchen equipment, and the belongings of famous New Bremen natives. 

"We had the head trumpeter for John Philip Sousa's band, and the trumpet is on display. There are Civil War memorabilia; there are a lot of artifacts from the speedway upstairs. The New Bremen Speedway was the first dirt race track in Ohio," Gagel added. 

You can learn more online at newbremenhistory.org. These museums, and others like them across Auglaize County, are free and open to the public every last Sunday of the month all summer.