By Myra Lee Adams Goff

In 1910 Professor F.  E.  Giesecke was teaching architecture at A&M College. He was the son of Capt. Julius Giesecke who was at one time former owner of the “Neu Braunfelser Zeitung”.

Intending to buy property for a summer home, Prof. Giesecke bought 60+ acres  on the Comal River including what would later become Camp Warnecke. There was a suspension foot bridge where the Garden St. Bridge is, making it possible to have access to and from town.

The beautiful piece of property proved to be too large for a home, and so Dr. Giesecke established a summer school camp (Camp Comal) affiliated with both A&M College and the University of Texas. The purpose was to prepare students for college entrance or to help those already in college with deficiencies.

Students lived in tents on one side of the peninsula and teachers on the other in cottages. Meals were served in a large dining hall. Classes were held outside under the trees.

Some of you might remember the water wheel (gone with the flood) at the Camp Warnecke rapids. This area was also part of Giesecke’s 60+ acres. According to the 100th Anniversary edition of the “Neu Braunfelser Zeitung” (1952), the wheel belonged to Gus Tolle and was intended to furnish electric power for lights. Giesecke borrowed a motor and generator set from A&M the first summer. The light produced was unsatisfactory because the paddles of the old wheel were water-logged on one side and the wheel ran with a lope that caused the lights to dim and flare up with each revolution. The second summer Harry Landa had a power line run to the camp from his power plant at the entrance of Landa Park.

Prof. Giesecke was transferred to the University of Texas in 1912 so the larger part of the 60+ acre farm was sold to Otto and Martha Warnecke in 1918 who developed their property into Camp Warnecke. Dr.Giesecke retained a 4 ½ acre peninsula and converted it into Camp Giesecke. Descendants of the Gieseckes ran the resort until 1968 when the property was sold to Claudine Hovestadt, Jack Krueger, and Stanley Woodward. In 1994 Barry and Sarah Woodward Shea became the sole owners.

Since 1968, the resort has been called “The Other Place”. There are various interpretations of why the resort has that name, but perhaps the most popular reason is that when people would drive on to the property and ask if it was Camp Warnecke, the response would be, “No, this is the other place”. The name stuck.

Owner Barry Shea has a 1929 brochure from Camp Giesecke that advertises any of the nine screened cottages for rent for 50 cents a day per person (if you stayed at least a week). The rate for staying less than a week was 75 cents and $1.00 for holidays. Additional charges per cottage for lights, water, and gas was 25 cents. The brochure ends with this note: “No person afflicted with any disease should apply for admission”.

Over the years floods have taken their toll, but the one building still standing and historically significant is the original Giesecke house on the highest point of the bend of the river.  The screened porch has been closed in but the original floors are there and pine siding on the inside is still there. It was the only building during our flood of ’98 that had no water inside. Architect Giesecke would have been proud.

According to Roberta Mueller who wrote “Oma, tell me about olden times” (compiled and edited by Roxolin Bose Krueger), Prof. Giesecke left UT to go back to  A&M College in 1927. Giesecke had married an ancestor of Mueller and Krueger’s, Hulda Gruene.

Camp Warnecke eventually became part of Schlitterbahn, and “The Other Place” is still the other place. By the way, they will celebrate their 100th birthday next year.

Shown is one of the larger buildings at Camp Giesecke, circa 1950. The insert is Prof. F.E. Giesecke, circa 1912.

By Myra Lee Adams Goff

Did you know that April was declared “Confederate History Month” by the Texas Legislature in 1999? I have little knowledge of Comal County’s involvement in the Civil War. That, however, is about to change because Wilfred Schlather has written a book about that very subject that will soon be for sale at Sophie’s Shop. The Sophienburg is very proud to sponsor his endeavor and all proceeds will go to the Museum and Archives.

My knowledge of the Civil War in Comal County has been confined to the statue on the east side of Main Plaza and the saltpeter extracting plant in Landa Park. One hundred pounds of bat guano produces four pounds of saltpeter used in making gunpowder. (Just proves that everything has a purpose). We have some photos in the archives, a beat-up Confederate cap, and a collection of muskets.

Schlather began researching “War Between the States – Participants from Comal County, Texas” in 2005. His interest in this particular period of history stems from the fact that his g-grandfather, Pvt. Franz Heimer, was involved in the war. Also, Capt. Julius Bose, an important leader in the war, is an ancestor of Schlather’s wife, Marlena Winkler Schlather.

The book contains lists of soldiers in the regular army (those who left Comal County) and militia under the auspices of the state (those who remained in Comal County). Included also are unit histories. The lists include battle locations, duration of service, and mustering out dates.

Not every male wanted to fight in the war. I had always heard that many didn’t think it was their war, and after all they came to Texas to get away from conscription. Schlather said that he ran across some information from family histories that some had hidden out in the hills, gone to Mexico, or switched sides.

Each county in Texas was charged with voting “for” or “against” seceding from the Union. Newspaper accounts and personal letters show that there was much conflict in Comal County about this issue. Texas Governor Sam Houston made a trip around Texas trying to convince Texans to vote “no” to secession. He stood on our courthouse steps (where the Chase Bank stands).”Zeitung” editor Ferdinand Lindheimer began a campaign against Houston urging Comal Countians to vote “for” secession. The vote locally was 239 ”for” and 86 ”against”. Statewide, the vote was 46,158  “for” and 14,747 “against”. Thereby, Texas became part of the Confederate States. Interestingly, Comal County was the only predominantly German county in Texas that voted to secede.

A certain number of units were to be organized from each county.  In 1861 three regiments were formed. Volunteers could choose their regiment. Leaders were chosen by the soldiers. The three leaders, all with previous military experience in Germany before emigrating, were Capt. Gustav Hoffmann, 7th Cavalry, Capt. Theodore Podewils, Company 36th Regular Texas Cavalry, and Capt. Julius Bose, Volunteer Texas Infantry.

In September of 1863, the militia companies were ordered to assemble at Stebbin’s point (Guada-Coma area) for the purpose of drafting 25% of men for State Troops and organizing such a company. They were to be armed and show up or be designated as deserters. On that day, Capt. Friedrich Heidemeyer was elected commander of the Comal County Company of Infantry. These men were in the service of the Confederate States Provisional Army and served for six months.

I found Schlather’s “Postface” most interesting. These are thoughts that he had after collecting the information, studying the Civil War and finally writing the book. There are some real “thinkers” in there, and some surprises. But I won’t tell you! Buy the book at Sophie’s Shop when it comes out. I can’t wait to get it. Were my ancestors on the lists or did they hide out in the hills?

Capt. Julius Bose sometime after the Civil War.