New Ulm Review Archive

The first issue of the New Ulm Weekly Review was published above a drug store in Brown County, Minnesota, on January 2, 1878. Published until 1961, the Review’s first editorial column correctly stated “there was an opportunity for a real live newspaper not only to exist, but to thrive and grow in New Ulm.” In its first year of publication, the paper contained five columns and four pages; thereafter it fluctuated between eight and 12 pages. The New Ulm Weekly Review was an English language newspaper in contrast to the many German language newspapers also published in the area. Located in southeastern Minnesota, New Ulm had been settled by German immigrants, and the city retained a strong German heritage.

The New Ulm Weekly Review provides a unique perspective distinct from the large metropolitan newspapers of that time and covers important local events during the early years of statehood. New Ulm was the county seat and a commercial center in the Minnesota River Valley agricultural region. The devastating cyclone that hit New Ulm on July 15, 1881, was featured in the July 20^th issue. Not only did the newspaper describe the path of the twister, identify the citizens killed and wounded, and discuss the property damage; it also included reports from a group of businessmen who traveled to Saint Paul to seek relief from Governor Pillsbury and telegrams from neighboring communities giving their support and offering volunteers. Another interesting local story pertains to the journey of a small group of New Ulm citizens to what are now known as the prehistoric Jeffers Petroglyphs. The trip is told through a series of articles from July 29, 1885 to August 19, 1885, titled “Report on the Sojourn of the Mound Creek Exploring Party.” An important resource on the fighting in New Ulm during the U.S.--Dakota War of 1862 is a series of articles titled “Reminiscences of Early Days.” These were published in July to November of 1912 and include transcribed documents kept by Charles Roos, the sheriff of New Ulm at the time.

The founder of the New Ulm Weekly Review, Colonel Joseph Bobleter, was a Civil War veteran of considerable community influence. He filled the first page of his newspaper with editorials and state and national news items, the last page with city and county news, and the middle pages with other interesting reading material. The Review became so popular within the first few months that Bobleter doubled its size to allow for more advertising space. Originally a Republican newspaper, it gradually shifted its editorial stance, especially after its sale in 1891 to the active Democrat Fred W. Johnson. Under Johnson, the newspaper also shortened its name to the New Ulm Review. In 1905, it became the property of the newly established New Ulm Publishing Company. Over the next decade, the company purchased another local newspaper and two German language papers: the New Ulm News and Der Fortschritt, which they merged with the New Ulm Post in 1915. The New Ulm Review continued to appear weekly until it was absorbed by the New Ulm Daily Journal in 1961.