For a river adventure with a bit of history, fiction and mystery, take a weekend and hit two Missouri landmarks, Hermann and Hannibal.

Start with the farthest point and head for Hermann, then catch Hannibal on the way back. The trip will take less than three hours and if you head for Pittsfield and over the drive is scenic.

In Hermann you will find a great little getaway area that will take you and your family back in time. If you have German roots, this is a place to experience what German culture was and is. Hermann takes its name from a German folk hero called Hermann the Cherusker.

Renowned for defeating three Roman legions in the Battle of Teutoburger in 9 A.D., he is credited in part with removing Roman rule from the Germanic region and is a symbol of freedom to the German people.

Freedom was the reason the settlement of Hermann was developed in the first place. The German Settlement Society of Philadelphia, upset by the loss of their native customs and language in America, decided to create a self-supporting German community they referred to as the “Second Fatherland.”

To ensure success, the society recruited craftsmen of every needed variety, including beer and wine makers who had migrated to the U.S. The immigrants bought shares for the new settlement that would get them 40 acre farms or a town lot. Cheryl Hoffman, site interpreter at the Deutscheim Historic Site, said they had two years to get set up or they lost their investment and had to walk away empty-handed. The site was selected by George Bayer, a schoolmaster and musician the group appointed. The area where Hermann is now is surrounded by bluffs, and the hills were filled with wild grapevines. They reminded Bayer of the area near the Rhine River in Germany.

These wild grapevines, called “Norton,” would later play a huge economic part in Hermann and the surrounding countryside.

Held up by illness, Bayer arrived in the spring of 1838 after settlers had arrived in December of 1837. The pioneers were not prepared for the harsh winters and were quickly disillusioned. In October of 1838, Bayer was relieved of his duties and died of a broken heart. “They buried him in a grave by himself facing the wrong direction,” Hoffman said.