By Myra Lee Adams Goff

Most towns that actively renovate or recycle buildings have an old movie house downtown. We are fortunate to have our Brauntex movie theater renovated and recycled into a performing arts theater. Before it bit the dust as a movie theatre, we affectionately called it “The Brau…” because often the sign had half the letters missing.

On the former site of Faust and Clemens Store, the Brauntexheld its grand opening in 1942 with Bing Crosby in “Birth of the Blues”. In its 56 year life span (’42-’98) the Brauntex went from smartly dressed ushers and cleanliness to smoke-filled air, dirty broken seats and popcorn flying through the air. Silhouettes of bugs could be observed trying to make their debut on the screen.

The building was rescued in 1999 by a group of concerned citizens that put lots of time and money into a project that all can benefit from. The vertical neon sign and the overhanging marquee are there and the inside has been overhauled.

Movies have a huge impact, especially on children. In my early teens, I saw Ingrid Bergman in “For Whom the Bells Toll” about the Spanish Civil War at the Brauntex. After seeing this movie, I went home, sat in the middle of my bed with a scissor and cut off my hair like Bergman. Why? Because I wanted to be brave like her and overcome my teenage suffering. It didn’t work. The reaction at home was that I had created my own civil war.

Earlier than the Brauntex was the Seekatz Opera House. Originally it opened in 1901 as a place downtown for traveling shows and local entertainment, like celebrations and dances. In the ‘30s, regular movies were added and for business purposes, the Seekatz gave up stage shows. The Kaufmann family ran the movie business until G.A. Cole bought the business and the Seekatz became home to the Cole Theater. When “Stella Dallas” was playing in 1941, the Seekatz Opera House burned down and the Cole was forced to move closer to the Plaza between the Jacob Schmidt building and the First National Bank (Chase).

LaVerne Schwab Pearce remembers her very first movie at the Seekatz in 1934. Her family lived outside of town on a farm and her mother brought her in to see the Shirley Temple movie “The Littlest Rebel”. The movie was a real tear-jerker in which the child (Temple) attempted to rescue her father from the executioner. Her father was charged as a spy, and Temple pleaded directly to President Lincoln for his pardon. Pearce says that she was so upset by the action on the screen that she began wailing loudly and her mother had to take her out of the movies.

In the beginning it was hard for most to tell the difference between reality and fantasy. Case in point: In a Reflections program done in 1977 by Jack Coleman, he stated that when an uncle of his (Nob Richardson) saw his first film, a western movie with lots of shooting, he was so upset that he whipped out his gun and shot at the screen.

The motion picture industry goes back to 1893 when Thomas Edison invented a motion picture camera. First these “movies” were shown in penny arcades in a machine that the viewer turned with a crank. Later movies were shown in halls where seats were installed, like the Seekatz. The price was a nickel, so they were referred to as “nickelodeons”. The first silent movie was “The Great Train Robbery” and the first “talkie” was “The Jazz Singer”.

There were other movie theaters downtown, but the Seekatz was the first and the Brauntex was the last still standing. The Brauntex has been restored and the Seekatz has been rebuilt. Both are recycled. Superkalifragilisticexpialidocious!

The Cole Theatre inside the Seekatz Opera House burns in 1941.

By Myra Lee Adams Goff

Although Johann Nicholas Zink’s stay in NB was relatively short, his impact lives on even today, for it was he that plotted the basic plan for the layout of the town. Upon his arrival at Indianola in 1844, he was hired by Prince Carl on behalf of the German Immigration Company (Adelsverein) to lead the emigrants inland and plot the plan of the town.

According to research done by Everett Fey, an interesting story emerged about Zink. He arrived on the Hershel with his wife, Louise von Kheussen, but immediately below the couple, another woman was registered by the name of W. Zink. This woman may have been Lisabeth Mangold, two years later to become Zink’s second wife.

Prince Carl must have had enough confidence in Zink, a well-trained engineer, to make him a member of the Colonial Council which was appointed to oversee the establishment of the town. After crossing the Guadalupe on March 21, 1845, the emigrants moved to the area which the prince named Zinkenburg (after Zink) and remained there until Zink could plot the town.

Town lots were drawn, 342 of them in the center of a plain with the Marktplatz (Main Plaza) as its center. As to the streets, Seguin St. was the main thoroughfare. Hermann Seele stated that he believed that Zink followed early wagon trails, more or less.

Besides a town lot, each eligible emigrant was to receive farm plots known as “Acre lots”.These 10+ acre lots were mostly located south of the main part of town (beyond Academy). As a map of 1848 shows, five streets were named – Seguin, as the main street, Creek (now Zink), Brücken (Bridge), San Antonio, and Kirche (Church, later Coll). This early map also shows the Butcher Market, Verein Buildings and Magazine (Sophienburg), the Catholic church, the Protestant church, the ferry over the confluence of the Guadalupe and Comal rivers, and Merriwether Mills.

Colonial Council members received town lots but also larger Acre lots. Zink’s town lot was where the Comal County Courthouse now stands. He had a large home built there which, by 1850, became the Millet Hotel. He had two large Acre lots, one 40 acres and one 75 acres.

Zink, somewhat controversial, received mixed reports from Prince Carl. On the one hand he was praised for his work and on the other, he received a negative evaluation. The prince made several reports back to the Adelsverein, and in the seventh report, he evaluated the Colonial Council and described Zink as a liar and a coward. He says he could not be trusted or respected and that no one wanted to work for him. Prince Carl stated that his abilities could not be denied, but are over-shadowed by his selfishness and greed. Then in his eighth report, Prince Carl charged Zink with further incompetence, all the way from dragging his feet when surveying the lots to stealing trees for himself and appropriating Adelsverein whiskey to use for personal trade.

It should be pointed out, however, that the Prince only praised two of the Council: Jean Jacque von Coll, accountant, and Lt. Wilke, Commandant of the Station at Carlshaven.

Give Zink an “A” for doing a difficult job under adverse conditions. Let’s go to the Plaza with a compass. What? North and South Seguin actually go in a NW and SE direction and West and East San Antonio go in a SW and NE direction. He’s bound to have had a compass, but apparently the wagon ruts won out.”A-“.

After about three years, Zink left NB for towns in the Hill Country, including Sisterdale, Comfort, Fredericksburg,and finally Welfare; where he is buried.. He divorced his second wife, and married a third.

Want to look at more maps? The Sophienburg has an excellent collection, or consult Everett Fey’s chapter on early maps in “The First Founders, Vol. I”.

Zink with his third wife in Welfare.