Established to honor the German immigrants who founded Gretna, Louisiana in 1836, the German-American Cultural Center created a museum with historic photographs as well as educational displays about the founders and their way of life and a genealogy research room.

The center’s building celebrates those German roots with large, colorful exterior murals painted by famed muralist, Robert Dafford.

Built in 1911 and contributing to Gretna’s National Historic District, the building originally was a primary school. Its history also includes serving as a hospital during the Spanish flu epidemic in 1918, a welding school that trained both men and women during World War II and as headquarters of the Jefferson Parish School Board.