Help us preserve Frankenmuth History
Frankenmuth Historical has always relied on the generosity of members and residents who, over the years, have donated approximately 95% of our collection. At times, they have even bid at auctions or on the Internet and donated their purchases to the Museum. They not only made it possible to preserve many important artifacts, but also to document and preserve the stories which these artifacts illustrate. A few “illustrations” are still needed to tell the stories of Frankenmuth, Frankentrost, Richville and Frankenlust. Although no list can be complete, the following are objects we hope to add to the collection.

 

   Artifact Wishlist

 

Locally made items

    with information on their makers.

       Examples:

         Springerle boards, handmade tools,

         women’s crafts, Fraktur work, small

         quilts/wall hangings

Photos Needed:

    We're looking for pictures of the scrolling images in order to scan them at a higher resolution.

 

 

                              Toys and childhood objects

 

Photographs of school interiors and children at play

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Holiday decorations, holiday-related recipes, and photographs

 

Objects, documents and photographs relating to being German in Frankenmuth from 1917-1946:

    Scrap brigade, bond sales, and relief efforts

 

Objects, documents, photographs and stories relating to:

• clamming or cutting ice on the Cass River

• local rifle clubs (Schuetzenverein)

• political opinion in Frankenmuth before 1910

 

Objects/documents relating to:

    Midwifery or to the following doctors:

      Kahn, Sarles, Friedrich, Koch.

 

A Gus Beyerlein fishing rod

 

Letters (English or German) and anything written in Old German Script

 

Minutes of Frankenmuth clubs and bands

 

Diaries

 

Business ledgers

 

The following issues (only) of Der Lutheraner:

    1846, 1849, 1850, 1855, 1856, 1858, 1866,and 1868

 

      Books with Frankenmuth Township 

                           Library bookplates

 

 

Elementary school yearbooks from:

                 St. Lorenz (we have Spartan for 1967 through 2003) and public schools

 

 

Frankenmuth High School yearbooks (we need 1998, 2004, 2014, 2015, 2017)

 

 

Identified photographs of St. Lorenz confirmation classes for years:

• 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1913, 1927, 1931, 1933, 1938, 1939, pre-1900 and post-1941

• St. John’s, Frankenmuth confirmation classes (any year)

Clothing:

    Especially work clothes, Bavarian Festival Princess

    Dirndls, black wedding dresses and German

    immigrants’ clothing

The following schoolbooks (English or German):

• Towns/Holbrook readers (1860s)

• Sheldon’s readers (1880s)

• Thompson’s arithmetic (pre 1883)

• Mitchell’s geography for Michigan

• Pinneo’s grammer (pre-1883)

• Whitney/Lockwood grammar (1904-1916)

• Parley’s United States History (1860s)

• W. C. Hewitt’s Civil Government (post-1887)

• “Yaggy’s Anatomical Charts” (post-1887)

• Webster’s speller (1870’s)

 

 

 

Trade Tokens:

• "Auernhammer Bros., Frankenmuth"

• "Theo Fischer, Frankenmuth"

• "Frankenmutth Kinderfest Committee"

• "Geyer Bros., Frankenmuth"

• "Ernie Geyer Cafeteria"

• "G. Heileman Brewing Co., Inc.,"

• "Martin Zucker, Frankenmuth"

• "Theo Schneider Tavern"

• Iron for Gold

Photographs of following businesses:

• The plastic shop on North Main

• Topham welding on North Main

• Sugar beet weight station and freight house on Hubinger Street

• Herman Hoerauf Radio

• Jakob Bickel thresher barn on Franklin

• Cooper Shop on the SE corner of Main and Genesee

• G. A. Bickel blacksmith shop on the NW corner of Main and Tuscola

• Wirth building on Tuscola

• Veitengruber Watch Repair on Tuscola

• Weber Jewelry on Tuscola

• Heine and Denkhaus harness and shoe repair

• Frankenmuth City Office when it was 465 S. Main Street (top of the hill)

• Louie Goetzinger property on S. Main

• Nuechterlein Mortuary on S. Main (on the hill)

• Fred Goetzinger property

• Schmunk store on S. Main

• Tourist Camp (downtown, near the river)

• The electric control house downtown-Main Street

• Hessig Shoe Repair

• J. M. Leickham cigar factory

• Hubinger’s ice house

• Schreiner blacksmith shop

• The buildings that were in Zehnder’s parking lots

• Fire truck barn across from Carling Brewery

• Heine General Store

• Wakeman house on Jefferson

• Fritz Bickel house on E. Tuscola

… and anything you

      consider important

           about life in Frankenmuth today!

• Aerial images

       of Frankenmuth

       and photographs