Overview

Leavenworth is a city in Chelan County, Washington, United States. It is part of the Wenatchee−East Wenatchee Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,263 at the 2020 census. The entire town center is modeled on a German Bavarian village as part of a civic initiative that began in the 1960s.
Leavenworth was designed with an Alpine German theme from the 1960s onward, with most buildings modeled after Bavarian settlements and adopting stereotypical fonts and names. However the town retains wide streets and large parking lots which are atypical of Bavaria. The Alpine German architectural theme is regulated by a design review board that approves plans for all new businesses, including chain establishments, leading to unusual designs for local fast-food restaurants and other retailers. Leavenworth’s transformation into a theme town was inspired, and assisted, by Solvang, California. Later, the Washington town of Winthrop followed Leavenworth’s example and adopted a Western town theme.
The Bavarianization of the town waned by the 1990s but was revived through the establishment of annual events, including an Oktoberfest begun in 1998. The Oktoberfest was later cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic before the original was moved to Wenatchee beginning in 2022, and the city’s Chamber of Commerce started their own Oktoberfest event that remained in town.
Leavenworth is home to the Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum, which opened in 1995 and contains more than 7,000 nutcrackers dating from the 16th and 17th centuries to modern examples. The city hosts an annual Christmas tree lighting celebration in December that draws thousands of visitors and causes congestion on local highways. By 2001, Leavenworth had 19 annual weekend festivals and events, including a Maifest and Autumn Leaf Festival.