Leavenworth(Leavenworth Chamber and Visitor Center)

Lederhosen and all, locals enjoy their adopted Germanic tradition in Leavenworth.

Leavenworth, Washington (Bavaria)
Have a town in need of a cultural theme, but lack the appropriate ancestry? No matter. Where there's enough wills, there's a way.

Marveling at powdery alpine peaks, while savoring a pilsner and bratwurst delivered by a peasant-bloused maiden, a diner in Leavenworth might be surprised to learn that unlike other European incarnations, this Bavarian hideaway has hardly any Bavarian roots.

In the early 1900s the settlement supported a healthy logging and mining industry. Then the rerouting of the Great Northern Railway and subsequent sawmill closures left Leavenworth lingering on the brink of extinction for decades. Then in the early 1960s, restaurant owner Ted Price, who'd spent time in Austria, had a brainstorm. Leavenworth's spectacular Cascade mountain range reminded Price of a Bavarian village. He rallied the community around his idea and went on to secure financing in Seattle.

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Store by store, the town transformed from depressed outpost to a Heidi-esque hamlet with scalloped-trim roofs and balconies. Now strict ordinances keep Leavenworth looking authentically Bavarian. Visitors can hear Maria singing the "Sound of Music" on a ski hill during the summer theater. From Oktoberfest to the Christmas Lighting Ceremony, and from Maifest parades to beer wagons, this "little town that could" has dedicated heart and soul to its new identity. Though few residents with German heritage dwelled there in 1960, they now account for a very Bavaria-minded 21.9 percent of the population. This number includes both German Americans and recently immigrated German nationals charmed by the picturesque pocket of alpine ambiance.

Every corner of the storybook burg overflows with nutcrackers, cuckoo clocks, steins and more Bavarian treasures. Rated a top-10 climbing spot, and mere miles from ski resorts and rafting, the European oasis is also an outdoor mecca.

And Leavenworth has no intention of resting on its Bavarian laurels. Chamber of Commerce media relations director Sherry Schweizer anticipates a giant nutcracker clock in the town's future. With more than a million tourists a year, the former whistle-stop's alpine gamble is an undeniable triumph.

Little Venice?
From Stromsburg, Neb. to Fredericksburg, Texas, more Little Europes beckon in your backyard than you might think. So why not purchase your lederhosen in Leavenworth and stimulate the native economy? Despite the recession, nearly all the theme towns featured have seen tourism profits rise. Perhaps it's wise to give your neck of the woods a cultural tune up.

Christine Champ is a freelance writer and avid traveler who's lived on both U.S. coasts, in Japan and Australia, and now resides in Seattle.