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Wilhelm's Background:
Wilhelm Laegler, founder, has told the Frankenmuth story for more than 40 years in written accounts and photos appearing in newspapers and magazines across the nation, and in private and public tours. He is a former newspaper reporter and editor who did his first travel feature for a junior high school newspaper. Later, he did travel stories and photography to provide U.S. Air Force personnel with ideas of what they could see and do during off-duty time. Still later, he prepared a tourism study for the Illinois Legislature, examining tourism in Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan and Kentucky and promoted the See Our Lands, Lakes and Streams (SELLS) program in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. He also spoke on cruises taking tourists under the Mackinaw Bridge. His stories and photo features on BRONNER'S CHRISTMAS WONDERLAND have been circulated throughout the United States.
A genealogist who recently completed his second term as president of the Saginaw (County) Genealogical Society, Wilhelm is currently serving his second term as vice president of the Michigan Genealogical Council, an organization representing genealogy societies throughout Michigan. He often includes information about genealogy while serving as tour guide.
He likes to walk at least 10 miles a day and is willing to take visitors on walking tours of Frankenmuth, providing opportunities to enjoy gardens, artwork, attractions and more. Walking is a favorite activity in Germany. (For a story on the German love of walking see Laura Lane's "Where Walking Is Everyone's Business" in the October-November 2002 edition of GERMAN LIFE magazine.)
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In his years with THE SAGINAW NEWS, a newspaper serving Saginaw County and 15 other counties, he did travel features covering areas from New York to California as well as covering news events in Frankenmuth. His feature reporting on Bethlehem, Jerusalem and other Holy Land locations also aired on radio.
Of German roots, Wilhelm's family began settling in the Frankenmuth area in 1852 and later throughout Saginaw County. Part of the family also settled in New York and Wisconsin.
His mother's family came from Ireland, some living in the Colonies from before the American Revolution, later coming to Michigan where a great-great grandfather formed the first band in the Flint, Michigan area and provided patriotic music during the Civil War.
Wilhelm's Frankenmuth Tours provides those visiting the area with an understanding of the people, the heritage and the love of God and of the beauty of His creation.
We recommend seeing Frankenmuth both by day and by night. Day is a must, but so is night, especially with lighted Christmas decorations 365 days a year. Frankenmuth is a community to be enjoyed over and over again. From classic car shows and antique fire engine parades to the Bavarian Festival, Oktoberfest and Snowfest, with snow sculptures and ice carving, there is so much to see and enjoy. Don't forget to see the work of the woodcarvers and the murals on the buildings.
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