This German Town in Washington Is Completely Fake
A couple of weeks ago, I stayed in a town called Leavenworth, and I have not stopped thinking about it since I left.
It is a Bavarian-style village that shines as a beacon of German culture, surrounded by the state of Washington.
The first thing I thought when we pulled up to the town was, “How cool is it that Germans sailed across the Atlantic and braved the treacherous journey out West, and the town preserves that lineage to this day!”
I was thinking it was like an 1883-style situation where a group of German settlers crossed the Great Plains, dodged rattlesnakes and raiders, and made it all the way to what is now Leavenworth.
Then, I find out... the entire town is MADE UP! There’s no German heritage.
It’s literally all fake.
Leavenworth was a struggling logging town, and in the 1960s they held a committee on how to save the town.
Apparently two Seattle businessmen stood up and said, “The town’s failing. What if we... pretend we’re in Germany?!”
And it worked! Tourism skyrocketed.
They remodeled the town with classic German building facades and beer gardens, and they even have their own Oktoberfest.
I wonder if this experiment would work the other way around.
I wonder if failing towns in Europe remodel themselves after the United States to survive.
I don’t think it would have the same effect.
The mayor of some Bavarian village is like:
“Ze town iss going under. So vee have decided to open ze drive-trough vape shops, twenty-five percent tip on everyzing, und vee take avay all ze healthcare, except for people who have jobs.”
“Ze upside, though, iss ze kids vill be safer because zey have access to ze loaded firearms. Any qvestions?”
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