As this hits the press, we welcome our many thousands of visitors to celebrate Green County's cultural heritage once again.
As a kid I recall my dad's sister, Rosa Gruenewald, occasionally refer to Monroe's "Yankees." Initially, that made no sense to me. Then she explained that she was referring to the Yankees from New England, the first of European ancestry that settled in Green County.
Those Yankees came here before the Swiss took over, well, maybe not completely. But our Swiss ancestors left a deep and enduring imprint on this area. Visitors from across the country and across the pond, including a contingent of Swiss dancers from Canton Bern, will be celebrating that cultural heritage this weekend.
During the 1840s Switzerland's Canton Glarus was in considerable poverty. The Canton Glarus Emigration Society sent two of their citizens, Nicolas Duerst and Fridolin Streiff, to America to find a suitable location for a colony. With its lush grass and water supply, northern Green County was selected. With the aid of loans from the Emigration Society to purchase land, several families from Glarus arrived at the chosen site in 1845, the beginning of the present village of New Glarus.
During that era, wheat was this region's primary agricultural crop. After initial winters in the colony, residents purchased cattle from Ohio. Women made cheese from the surplus milk. Swiss immigrants Adam Blumer and Rudolph Benkert are identified as the first male cheesemakers, making Limburger cheese in "farmstead factories."
The first commercial factory is identified with Nic Gerber in 1868. As wheat succumbed to invasive organisms, dairy farming and cheese soon became the dominant agricultural activity. The two primary cheeses produced were Limburger, and what is known as "Swiss cheese," that is fashioned after Emmenthaler cheese that is native to Switzerland's Emme Valley in Canton Bern.
By 1883 there were 75 neighborhood cheese factories in Green County, and by 1902, there were 105. The late 19th Century saw large numbers of Swiss immigrants arriving in Green County, primarily from the German-speaking cantons.
A combination of Old World Swiss enterprise and Yankee merchandising ingenuity combined to propel the cheese industry and lay the foundation for Monroe's claim as USA's "cheese capital." In 1873 some Monroe merchants were complaining about the wagon loads of Limburger going through town on the way to the railroad. Yankee merchant, Arabut Ludlow, organized a bunch of cheese-producing farmers and paraded wagon loads of Limburger into town. As a crowd gathered, Ludlow declared that Limburger was the smell of money, it was here to stay, and would make Green County famous. The complaining stopped, and the rest is history.
In 1913 five Monroe businessmen traveled south to Forreston, Illinois to visit its Sauerkraut Festival. They reasoned that if Forreston could have a Sauerkraut Festival, Monroe surely could host a cheese festival. The first Cheese Day was held in October 1914, followed by celebrations in 1915, 1916, and 1917, the latter dampened by snow, rain, and military conscription for WWI.
The next Cheese Day was not held until 1923, and another in 1928. The anticipated five-year cycle was interrupted by the Great Depression of the 1930s, although one was held in 1935, and another in 1940. WWII interrupted the cycle again, and the next one was not until 1950, and again in 1955. The next ones were in 1965, 1967, and 1970. Since then it has been held every two years, and is now a three-day festival, attracting an estimated 150,000 visitors.
Various activities are too numerous to mention, but two cultural venues stand out as "must see" regarding our cultural heritage. These are the Turner Hall, and the National Historic Cheesemaking Center, the latter doubling as Green County's Welcome Center.
Turner Hall is a magnificent structure fashioned after the Emmenthal style of architecture. Turner (German for "gymnast") Halls were common to central Europe and can lay claim to being early "fitness centers" as well as community gathering places.
Monroe's original Turner Hall was built in 1845 but burned to the ground in 1936. The new Turner Hall, completed in 1938, is the aesthetically pleasing structure we enjoy today. Many celebrities have spoken or performed at Turner Hall over the years. Those gifted with powers of the occult and find their way into Turner Hall on a dark night might commune with the lingering ghosts of Susan B. Anthony; Jack Dempsey; local Olympian Marie Blumer-Hoesly; Lawrence Welk; Polka King Frankie Yankovic; and then-Sen. John F. Kennedy who spoke here during his presidential primary campaign of 1960.
Saturday will feature Swiss Heritage exhibits and artisans in its beautiful Grand Hall. And of course, Turner Hall is the place to partake of outstanding Swiss cuisine.
The National Historic Cheesemaking Center (NHCC), located on the south side of Monroe, was once a railroad depot on the old "Milwaukee Road." When it was scheduled to be demolished in 1989, some visionary citizens arranged to have it moved to its present location and turned into a museum for cheesemaking equipment. Visitors are cordially invited to visit the museum this weekend, without charge. Its knowledgeable docents are well-versed and will regale you with interesting cheese stories.
An interesting feature of the museum is the restored Imoberstag Factory. This factory was originally a family operation on a farm in northern Illinois, operated by Swiss immigrants, Alfred and Anna Imoberstag. The factory ceased operation in 1917, and was idle for decades. In 2010 it was rescued from abandonment, moved to the NHCC campus, and refurbished, retaining its original equipment. Every June, local cheesemakers hold a public demonstration, making a wheel of Swiss cheese exactly as it was made a century ago.
With that, we welcome our visitors from across the country and around the world to celebrate Green County's Swiss heritage. "Gruetzi," as they say in Swiss, and Swiss greetings to all.
- John Waelti of Monroe can be reached at jjwaelti1@tds.net. His column appears Fridays in The Monroe Times.
As a kid I recall my dad's sister, Rosa Gruenewald, occasionally refer to Monroe's "Yankees." Initially, that made no sense to me. Then she explained that she was referring to the Yankees from New England, the first of European ancestry that settled in Green County.
Those Yankees came here before the Swiss took over, well, maybe not completely. But our Swiss ancestors left a deep and enduring imprint on this area. Visitors from across the country and across the pond, including a contingent of Swiss dancers from Canton Bern, will be celebrating that cultural heritage this weekend.
During the 1840s Switzerland's Canton Glarus was in considerable poverty. The Canton Glarus Emigration Society sent two of their citizens, Nicolas Duerst and Fridolin Streiff, to America to find a suitable location for a colony. With its lush grass and water supply, northern Green County was selected. With the aid of loans from the Emigration Society to purchase land, several families from Glarus arrived at the chosen site in 1845, the beginning of the present village of New Glarus.
During that era, wheat was this region's primary agricultural crop. After initial winters in the colony, residents purchased cattle from Ohio. Women made cheese from the surplus milk. Swiss immigrants Adam Blumer and Rudolph Benkert are identified as the first male cheesemakers, making Limburger cheese in "farmstead factories."
The first commercial factory is identified with Nic Gerber in 1868. As wheat succumbed to invasive organisms, dairy farming and cheese soon became the dominant agricultural activity. The two primary cheeses produced were Limburger, and what is known as "Swiss cheese," that is fashioned after Emmenthaler cheese that is native to Switzerland's Emme Valley in Canton Bern.
By 1883 there were 75 neighborhood cheese factories in Green County, and by 1902, there were 105. The late 19th Century saw large numbers of Swiss immigrants arriving in Green County, primarily from the German-speaking cantons.
A combination of Old World Swiss enterprise and Yankee merchandising ingenuity combined to propel the cheese industry and lay the foundation for Monroe's claim as USA's "cheese capital." In 1873 some Monroe merchants were complaining about the wagon loads of Limburger going through town on the way to the railroad. Yankee merchant, Arabut Ludlow, organized a bunch of cheese-producing farmers and paraded wagon loads of Limburger into town. As a crowd gathered, Ludlow declared that Limburger was the smell of money, it was here to stay, and would make Green County famous. The complaining stopped, and the rest is history.
In 1913 five Monroe businessmen traveled south to Forreston, Illinois to visit its Sauerkraut Festival. They reasoned that if Forreston could have a Sauerkraut Festival, Monroe surely could host a cheese festival. The first Cheese Day was held in October 1914, followed by celebrations in 1915, 1916, and 1917, the latter dampened by snow, rain, and military conscription for WWI.
The next Cheese Day was not held until 1923, and another in 1928. The anticipated five-year cycle was interrupted by the Great Depression of the 1930s, although one was held in 1935, and another in 1940. WWII interrupted the cycle again, and the next one was not until 1950, and again in 1955. The next ones were in 1965, 1967, and 1970. Since then it has been held every two years, and is now a three-day festival, attracting an estimated 150,000 visitors.
Various activities are too numerous to mention, but two cultural venues stand out as "must see" regarding our cultural heritage. These are the Turner Hall, and the National Historic Cheesemaking Center, the latter doubling as Green County's Welcome Center.
Turner Hall is a magnificent structure fashioned after the Emmenthal style of architecture. Turner (German for "gymnast") Halls were common to central Europe and can lay claim to being early "fitness centers" as well as community gathering places.
Monroe's original Turner Hall was built in 1845 but burned to the ground in 1936. The new Turner Hall, completed in 1938, is the aesthetically pleasing structure we enjoy today. Many celebrities have spoken or performed at Turner Hall over the years. Those gifted with powers of the occult and find their way into Turner Hall on a dark night might commune with the lingering ghosts of Susan B. Anthony; Jack Dempsey; local Olympian Marie Blumer-Hoesly; Lawrence Welk; Polka King Frankie Yankovic; and then-Sen. John F. Kennedy who spoke here during his presidential primary campaign of 1960.
Saturday will feature Swiss Heritage exhibits and artisans in its beautiful Grand Hall. And of course, Turner Hall is the place to partake of outstanding Swiss cuisine.
The National Historic Cheesemaking Center (NHCC), located on the south side of Monroe, was once a railroad depot on the old "Milwaukee Road." When it was scheduled to be demolished in 1989, some visionary citizens arranged to have it moved to its present location and turned into a museum for cheesemaking equipment. Visitors are cordially invited to visit the museum this weekend, without charge. Its knowledgeable docents are well-versed and will regale you with interesting cheese stories.
An interesting feature of the museum is the restored Imoberstag Factory. This factory was originally a family operation on a farm in northern Illinois, operated by Swiss immigrants, Alfred and Anna Imoberstag. The factory ceased operation in 1917, and was idle for decades. In 2010 it was rescued from abandonment, moved to the NHCC campus, and refurbished, retaining its original equipment. Every June, local cheesemakers hold a public demonstration, making a wheel of Swiss cheese exactly as it was made a century ago.
With that, we welcome our visitors from across the country and around the world to celebrate Green County's Swiss heritage. "Gruetzi," as they say in Swiss, and Swiss greetings to all.
- John Waelti of Monroe can be reached at jjwaelti1@tds.net. His column appears Fridays in The Monroe Times.
