more banking services in 1875.

Citizens State Bank opened Feb. 1, 1876 in

downtown New Ulm. Citizens was not the first bank

in New Ulm. There were a handful of older banks in

In the photo below, Citizens Bank executive team in 2026, left to right, Lisa Reinarts, SVP/chief operations officer, Justin Gode, SVP/chief credit officer, Mark Denn, president/chief executive Officer and John Rieser, SVP/chief financial officer

New Ulm prior to 1875.

A new bank building made of stone, brick and

concrete, was completed in 1914 at the location of

the current bank that is the oldest bank in New Ulm and one of the oldest in

Minnesota.

Submitted photo Citizens Bank President Michael Mullen is pictured at left in the bank lobby. .

More than 3,000 people participated in the Citizens Bank 50th Anniversary

celebration in 1926. The main lobby was transformed into a flower garden.

A booklet “After 50 Years of Service” that described the Minnesota River

Valley as it began to be settled by pioneers from 1850 to 1855, was distributed

at the bank’s 50th anniversary celebration.

Below, the front of the bank in 1976.

New Ulm came into being during this period as a little pioneer town. It differed

from other pioneer settlements, however, being the center of a very large

German colonization.

New industries came to New Ulm during reconstruction days after the Civil

War. In response, Citizens National Bank was organized. Michael Mullen was

chosen as president, a post he held for 35 years, until he died in 1910.

Citizens Bank and Brown County Bank were the only survivors of the great

depression of 1931, when Brown County Bank merged with Citizens.

Over the past 149 years, Citizens Bank has had only 13 presidents.

With continued growth, the bank bought the adjacent Dacotah Hotel in 1968

for future development and operated the hotel until it was closed in 1971 and

the building was torn down.

A bank expansion was completed in 1973 with walk-up banking, a community

first.

The bank purchased another adjacent property, The Office Bar, in 1988 and

added an insurance agency in 1989.

Citizens purchased a Lafayette branch office in 1992 and another branch

office in La Salle in 1998.

A major renovation project was completed in 2000. Online banking was

added in 2001. A Lakeville branch opened in 2004. Ormsby State Bank was

acquired and remodeled in 2021.Bank presidents following Mullen were A.W.

Bingham, 1910-1911, Charles Silversonk 1912-14, O.M. Olsen 1914-1929, H.

N. Somsen Jr. 1930-1933, F. H. Retzlaff 1933-1953, A. G. Meile 1953-1960,

H. H. Prahl 1960-1964, V. P. Reim 1964-1968, R. C. Eichten 1968-1981, D. J.

Gollnast 1981-1988, L. H. Geistfeld 1988-2019 and Mark Denn 2020-present.

Citizens Bank Minnesota celebrates its 150th year including an all-client

celebration Tuesday, July 21 at the Brown County Fairgrounds, the week after

Bavarian Blast. Events include live music by Revline, a band that includes Citizens

Bank Minnesota Vice President Stacy Merkel.