Frankenmuth sits on the Cass River in Saginaw County. The city's visitors bureau traces the name to Franconia in Bavaria and the German word for courage, and it dates the first colony to 1845, when fifteen people from the Neuendettelsau area walked in from Saginaw and bought land along the river. 1

What to see

The first congregation named its church St. Lorenz, after the mother church in Rosstal. The visitors bureau says a combination church-school-parsonage log cabin was up before Christmas of 1845, and that the town later grew about a mile east of that first settlement where a dam and mill were built on the Cass. 1 St. Lorenz Lutheran Church still stands on West Tuscola Street among the landmarks the bureau lists. 1

The bureau calls Frankenmuth Michigan's Little Bavaria and points visitors to Main Street, River Place Shops and the Cass River. 2 Family-style chicken dinners at the Bavarian Inn Restaurant and Zehnder's are the meals the town writes about. Current menus belong on those restaurants. 12

Bronner's CHRISTmas Wonderland is the year-round Christmas store the bureau and the store both describe. The bureau says the store has been drawing visitors since 1945. 23 Bronner's describes a half-mile drive on Christmas Lane lit from dusk until midnight with about 100,000 lights, and a Silent Night Memorial Chapel on the same grounds. 4 Hours and whether a display is up that week belong on Bronner's.

Best seasons

Christmas is the season the town is known for, and the store presents itself as open most of the year. 34 The river and the Bavarian streetscape are year-round walks. This page does not name a festival week.

How to get there

The visitors bureau lists Bronner's at 25 Christmas Lane, Frankenmuth, Michigan, 48734, and St. Lorenz Lutheran Church at 1030 West Tuscola Street. 13 Downtown shops sit along South Main Street.

Tips

  • The Cass River is the civic spine the history page starts from. A walk along it is the quiet counterpart to Main Street. 12
  • Bronner's and the chapel are a short walk from each other on Christmas Lane. 34
  • We do not have a Frankenmuth listing in the shop. The Michigan-map ornament in the holiday gift guide is the closest piece we print.

Safety

This is a town street, not a Great Lakes park. Winter sidewalks ice over, and Christmas Lane is a drive after dark. This page does not report today's weather. Check the Frankenmuth visitors bureau and Bronner's before you go. 24