By Myra Lee Adams Goff

Ein Prosit der Gemütlichkeit! Powerful words for an idea that is truly German. Loosely translated, it means “salute to German fellowship.” According to the late author Curt Schmidt, Gemütlichkeit is a concept that has grown out of thousands of years of German tradition based on history and folk wisdom. It is facilitated by good food, beer, drinks, singing, and laughter in the company of family and friends. “It is a state of the mind, the body and the emotions in perfect harmony.” This truly is what Wurstfest strives to attain.

The Prosit is done with mugs and steins in the air. The Wurstfest has produced a mug and/or stein for sale since 1969 when Herb Skoog was president of the organization. He has a collection of every Wurstfest stein. The ceramic mugs have no lids and the steins have pewter lids. Skoog’s sister, Doris Wallace, made the first mug and she made about 50 of them. The next year (’70) an undated mug was sold at Ken Armke’s Opa’s Haus, followed by another undated mug in 1971 when Wurstfest president Walter Zeisig  sent the parking sticker to Germany and had some mugs made.

There are different theories of why steins have lids, but the most prevalent is that steins go back hundreds of years and Germans in particular like to sit outside in beer gardens and drink a liter or two. Lids were put on mugs to keep insects from flying in and carrying disease from one stein to another. Imagine that problem during the plague.

An interest in German imports prompted Ken Armke to produce dated mugs and he added steins in 1981. His OHI Collectibles has exclusive rights to the official Wurstfest mugs and steins. The NB Art League has designed the last few steins.

Herb Skoog has other steins in his collection, perhaps over 1,000. His collection began when he made trips to Germany, which he has done about 35 times. When he was general manager of KGNB in 1968, Lufthansa and the radio station sponsored a trip to Southern Europe and the collection began.

Wurstfest, which starts in 10 days (Oct. 30 through Nov. 8 ) has plenty of steins, mugs, and souvenirs for sale. Our Sophienburg’s Sophie’s Shop has a booth at the celebration and we have an impressive collection of German mementos.

This year’s souvenir is an affordable Christmas ornament made of solid pewter. On the front is a little German man holding a stein with “Wurstfest, New Braunfels” on it. On the back is “Sophienburg Museum and Archives, New Braunfels, Texas”. Years from now when you see this ornament hanging on your Christmas tree, you can remember that you were there.

As expected, Sophie’s booth features outstanding German Christmas ornaments. Big sellers at our booth are the Smoking Men. They are made close to the border between Germany and the Czech Republic,in a village well known for its wooden toy manufacturing. The Smoking Men are hand made wooden art forms  representing all walks of life. Yes, they do smoke. Insert a small toothpick–sized wood into his mouth and the small smoker has smoke circling his head.

By far the most sought-after ornaments are the star-crowned Inge Glas ornaments. The company goes back to 1596 in Germany. Mouthblown and handpainted, the ornaments are  heirloom quality. Nancy Classen who runs Sophie’s Shop is particularly excited about two ornaments that appear to have been sent here for Wurstfest; 5”ranz in his lederhosen and 5” Risi in her dirndl. Their faces are beautifully hand painted cherubs.

Next year the Wurstfest Association will celebrate its 50th birthday and Skoog says big things are planned. Armke says that the 2010 stein will reflect the anniversary. When Wurstfest says “big”  they mean big. So polka on down to the Wursthalle and give a Prosit to Gamütlichkeit.

Franz and Risi with Nancy Classen in Sophie’s Shop

By Myra Lee Adams Goff

This year the Heritage Society of New Braunfels is 25 years old. The formation of the Society happened because of a gift of land, buildings, and antique collections from the late Bill and Nan Dillen.

Here’s the story: After the 1972 flood here in NB, the citizens of Braunfels, Germany sent a gift of $1,500 to the Chamber of Commerce for the purpose of restoring the beauty of the town. As a result, the Chamber established the Braunfels Foundation Trust for restoration projects.

In 1985 the Dillens turned over their property to the Trust and the Heritage Society was formed to manage the property. Roxolin Krueger became the first president of the Society and Laverne Eberhard became the executive director

This valuable gift included the old Breustedt House on about 13 acres of land next to Conservation Plaza. The Breustedt house, built in 1858, was in danger of being demolished because of the expansion of Hwy. 46 (next to the NB Smokehouse) so the Dillens purchased it in 1965. The house was of German fachwerk construction and had been built by cotton farmer Andreas Breustedt and his wife Caroline. The small separate kitchen remained behind.

Like many others, the Dillens discovered NB while he was stationed at Kelly Field in San Antonio during WWII. Looking for a small town, they moved to NB and opened an interior decorating shop in 1946 on the corner of San Antonio and Santa Clara Sts.

In 1952 the Dillens purchased the Comal Hotel on the corner of San Antonio and Market and renamed it Prince Solms Inn. Marie Offerman, in describing the Inn said that the dirt basement under the Inn had been used by former owner Ted Eggeling to grow mushrooms to sell to restaurants and hotels in San Antonio. The Dillens added outside steps into the basement using stones from the torn-down jail building originally located on Main Plaza (vicinity of Black Whale Pub). These same stones formed the patio. Look at the steps the next time you go to the Piano Bar.

After selling Prince Solms Inn, the purchase of the Breustedt house was their next project. The house was renovated and they began collecting pieces of early handmade furniture by such craftsmen as Franz Stautzenberger, Friedrich Tietze, Heinrich Scholl, Johann Jahn, and other less known local craftsmen. Presently there are over 75 pieces of furniture made mostly of black walnut from banks of the Guadalupe and pine from the Bastrop area. Check out our Web–site for more on Johann Jahn (www.sophienburg.com, May 12, 2009).

Besides an extensive ironstone collection, there are many appointments from the old days like a rifle from one of Prince Carl’s soldiers. The Prince formed a group of 20 emigrants to serve as protectors of the group on the trek to the colony. They also protected the emigrants from Indians after arriving in New Braunfels. Looking at the rifle, one has to wonder what these soldiers must have felt like in a strange land, protecting the emigrants against who-knows-what.

The Foundation Trust deeded the property to the Heritage Society in 1999 and the name was changed to Heritage Village home of the Museum of Texas Handmade Furniture. The Society has added many buildings, including that small Breustedt kitchen. We can look forward to the restoration of the first German Protestant Church now in storage. Over the years the Society has been the home of Folkfest and the Kindermaskenball became part of that event in 1999.

The Heritage Society has done a good job of preserving a huge gift to New Braunfels by Bill and Nan Dillen. Executive Director Chere Stratemann invites you to attend their Silver Anniversary Celebration next Thursday (Oct. 15) at the McKenna Events Center. Reservations are due day after tomorrow, so call them at 629-6504 or go by the Chamber.

Ann and Bill Dillen stand in front of the Breustedt House. Their costumes are from Alsace-Lorraine (Elsass-Lothringen in German). There are many French and Germans living in the area.