Picture Courtesy of Jim Kuntz

Picture Courtesy of Jim Kuntz

Picture Courtesy of Jim Kuntz

Picture Courtesy of Jim Kuntz

On this site, the important radical journal Licht-Freund (firned of light) was published by Edward Muchl and his brother-in-law, Carl Procopius Strehly. Muchl, a freidenker (free thinker), was opposed to slavery. His influential voice among Germans statewide helped Missouri to stay with the Union during the Civil War.

The Strehly house is noteworthy for its attached commercial building. In 1855, carl Strehly went into the wine business, which the city council had actively encouraged since 1844. He built an addition that included a wine cellar, production area, tavern, and dance hall.

[photos on marker:
Wine Cask
The last known carved wine cask in Missouri, this one is signed and dated 1875, it depicts Baccus, god of wine.
Dance Hall
The upper floor of the winery served as dance hall and merriment corner in the 19th century.
Vineyard
In the 19th century, vineyards were interspersed among the houses in this part of Hermann. The vines still growing behind the Strehly house date from the 1850s.

This house combines the European half timber construction with the local brick tradition. It is representative of the less affluent Germans who emigrated to Missouri in the early 19th century, survived frontier hardships, and prospered in the New World. Carl Strehly did well enough to add two rooms to his house, completing it in the 1860s.

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