The Wallachei

The Wallachei was a New Ulm neighborhood dating to the town’s early days, with borders preserved in oral history and a name of uncertain origin, most likely meaning “low land horse pasture,” though local legend tied it to Mr. Kraus’s horse Walla and the phrase “Gibs” du Walla heu” (“Give Walla hay”). It was a tough, hard-working area with a few large families, large gardens, numerous farm animals, flocks of chickens, outdoor privies, and a reputation for not always welcoming outsiders. A small grocery, mink ranch, and gravel pit served the area, with the Hauenstein Brewery as its anchor, and a Wallachei Clubhouse offered low-cost gemutlichkeit, or fellowship. German-Bohemian names such as Hesse, Lamecker, Kagermeier, Prokosch, Wallner, and Wieland predominated, and the area’s character began to change as it became built up beginning in the 1950s, though its proud name endured.

New Ulm, Minnesota · United States