James Derheim with his fiancée Martina in Paris, November 7, 2025.
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James Derheim was born and raised in the landlocked state of Minnesota, but from an early age he felt drawn to the wider world beyond the horizon. After attending college for several years, he chose a different path, joining the United States Navy and allowing Uncle Sam to provide the education — and adventure — that would shape the course of his life. Along with military service came extensive travel, photography experience, and a deep appreciation for Europe and its people. While stationed in Germany as the sole Navy photographer for the European edition of the Stars and Stripes newspaper in Griesheim, James discovered not only a profession, but a calling. In 1989, he founded European Focus Photography, pioneering a unique concept long before the days of Google Images and online genealogy resources: professionally photographing the ancestral hometowns and villages of Americans with European roots. What began as an innovative photography service eventually grew into an extraordinary archive of more than 2,200 towns and villages across Europe. That passion naturally evolved into European Focus Private Tours. The turning point came when one client asked James to accompany him and his wife on a deeply personal journey to the tiny village of Flammersfeld, Germany, as a special 50th wedding anniversary gift. After the couple shared their remarkable experience in a newspaper article, word spread quickly — and almost overnight, a new business was born. Today, European Focus is far more than a travel company to James. It is the fulfillment of a lifelong mission: helping others experience, understand, and fall in love with Europe in a deeply personal way. Comfortable working across more than fifteen countries — from Norway to Sicily, Ireland to Croatia, and nearly everywhere in between — James brings unmatched experience and insight to every journey. With more than 373 custom private tours completed as of May 5, 2026, he offers clients the rare luxury of traveling with one trusted guide throughout their entire European experience. A naturally curious traveler, James rarely resists the temptation to stop along a quiet country road to photograph an old church, hidden village, or breathtaking landscape. Those photographs not only enrich the European Focus archives and website, but are also shared with clients as treasured memories of their journeys. His love of driving complements his passion for exploration; each season he covers more than 40,000 kilometers (24,000 miles), often favoring scenic back roads over highways in search of authentic experiences far from the ordinary tourist path. Since March of 2020, James has lived full-time in the beautifully preserved medieval town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, nestled in the Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany — a fitting home for someone whose life’s work has been devoted to sharing the beauty, history, and soul of Europe with others.