GERMAN IMMIGRANT MEMORIAL

We invite you to visit our German Immigrant Memorial, located just a half-block east of the four-way stop. (209 East Main, Cole Camp, MO)  The dedication of The German Immigrant Memorial happened in June of 2016. It tells the story of the great immigration into this part of Missouri beginning in the 1830s.

This impressive memorial was built through an effort of our Plattdüütscher Vereen or Low German Club. Additionally, the selling of engraved bricks financed the project.

You’ll find that these bricks tell the story of not only the immigrants but also of their descendants.

• The gray-colored bricks are numbered and engraved with the names of the German immigrants. They also tell where they came from, what year and which county (Benton, Morgan, or Pettis) they settled in.
• The descendants of the immigrants are represented by their names engraved on the red-colored bricks.
• There are numbers following the names, which indicate the relationship to the numbered immigrant bricks.
  • As an example: 1-12, indicates this person is the son or daughter of immigrant number 12.
  • Subsequently, the grandson or granddaughter would be numbered 2-12.

The Large Monument

The vast majority of immigrants to this area came from the German province of Hanover.

Today this province or state is Niedersachsen or Lower Saxony. And the back-side of the monument contains a map of this province and the 38 districts within its borders.

The 38 districts (or counties) are abbreviated on the map. Likewise, the coat-of-arms of each is shown on the individual, porcelain plaques on the surrounding wall.

The large, encased icons at each end of the wall were recovered from the rubble of the destroyed city of Berlin as it was being restored.