By Myra Lee Adams Goff

One of the more exciting stories concerning the early settlers of New Braunfels was that of Betty Holekamp charging across the Guadalupe on a horse after Prince Carl’s spectacular show of bravado. The story was probably somewhat embellished over the years, but nevertheless it’s a good one.

Prince Carl was of the highest class of aristocracy and I doubt seriously if he appreciated anyone trying to upstage him, much less a woman. He would not be leading the parade for women’s sufferage, but I think Betty would have.

Here’s the story: Georg and Elizabeth Holekamp had married in Germany on March 17, 1844. They set out for Texas to make a new life for themselves. They were on the brig Johann Dethart which was the first ship of the Adelsverein. They arrived in Galveston November 24, 1844.

Georg Holekamp, the son of the royal architect Daniel Holekamp, was educated at the University of Hanover and could speak German, English, French and also studied music and medicine. His father discouraged him from being a musician. He couldn’t have gone farther away from that career – a brick maker and a farmer. Music did become his hobby. For that matter it was while pursuing this hobby that Georg met Elizabeth Abbenthern. While playing the piano, Georg asked for a vocalist and Elizabeth (Betty) came forward. She was 10 years younger and he was impressed.

Betty’s father was the ministerial accountant in the royal court of the King of the state of Hannover. Betty was educated along with the king’s daughters to become a governess.  She had been around the aristocracy before so that may explain her willingness to challenge the prince.

Georg and Betty married and set out for the Republic of Texas. They arrived in Galveston on November 24, 1844. They made their way to New Braunfels and when they could, crossed the Guadalupe to get to the settlement.

Now Betty is the one that tradition says would not want to be outdone by Prince Carl. Supposedly he was riding a white horse and   plunged into the raging flood waters. This white horse story made me question the accuracy of the story. After all, “good” cowboys ride white horses. We don’t know what color Betty’s horse was but she followed suit in true pioneer fashion. Don’t you know Georg was impressed?

In New Braunfels they enrolled in the German Protestant Church. Their town lots bordered Garden St., from Comal St. to the Comal River.

When Texas became a state of the Union, Betty Holekamp sewed a 6 ft by 3 ft United States flag with the 13 red and white stripes and a lone star on a field of blue in the left corner. This earlier Texas flag was known as the Texas Lone Star and Stripes flag. Tradition says that the Holekamp flag was flown on the Plaza and believed to be the first American flag flown in town. Some think that the flying of this flag could have been a message to the aristocratic Prince Carl. What do you think?

Two years after arriving in New Braunfels, the Holekamps moved to Fredericksburg where they received property and Georg became an administrator in property settlement. They never gave up their properties in New Braunfels. Georg built a home and a saw and grist mill on the Comal River at the foot of Garza St. It was also a paper pulp mill and an ice plant. A flood nearly totally destroyed the mill in 1869. This property became Camp Landa and finally the property of Schlitterbahn.

In 1854 the Holekamps moved to Comfort as one of their first settlers. A small rock house is still preserved by the Comfort Historical Society. They also lived in Sisterdale and San Antonio. The Sisterdale house still stands also.

When the Civil War broke out, Georg enlisted in the Confederate army as a surgeon. His  small amount of medical training qualified him to do that. He was the company’s band director at the same time. Unfortunately he was killed in Brownsville in 1862 and neither the cause or burial site was revealed.

Betty Holekamp continued living in Comfort and raised her seven children alone. She outlived her husband by 40 years. What a woman!!

Mill at the end of Garza St. built in 1850 by Georg Holekamp. This 1890 photo shows L-R John Peter Nuhn and son, Ben, and possibly H. G. Koester who owned the mill at the time. (Source: Roger Nuhn)

By Myra Lee Adams Goff

Research for this year’s July 4th article led me on an unexpected journey into the past. My aim was to inform you, the reader, of the history of a certain piece of property at the Main Plaza, observable when you watch the Sophienburg’s annual parade and Independence celebration. That property is the present UPS store that looks amazingly like a filling station. That’s because it was. Before that, it was a mercantile store, a tavern, a residence,   and a fruit stand.

Here’s the history of that piece of property: In 1847 a small wooden building was leased to John Torrey in the exact location of that UPS building. The provision was that he would not open a saloon or a boarding house, and it became a mercantile store. John Torrey, along with his brothers owned a trading post near Houston on the Brazos River and he was the one that provided the provisions for the emigrants to New Braunfels from the coast. Guns and swords were sold to Prince Carl for his Mounted Company. Consequently, John Torrey accompanied the settlers to New Braunfels. He stayed here, engaged in many merchandise and industrial businesses and after industries on the Comal were destroyed by flood and once by fire, he left the town forever.

Now here’s where I got off the track. Seeking information about the Torrey Brothers’ Trading Co.  near Houston, I ran across Dr. Ferdinand Roemer’s story in 1846 about his trip to the trading co. He describes the topography of that particular area of Texas as much like the region between Austin and New Braunfels. Instead of dense forests, there were prairies covered with mesquite trees and occasional oak groves. One evening, he and his companion observed a prairie fire which they thought the Indians had started in order to drive the game in a certain direction for hunting and to burn off dry grass.

The next morning the trading post appeared before them with seven rough unhewn log houses. The largest house contained pelts received in trade from the Indians, most of which were buffalo robes, buffalo rugs, and deer hides. Some of the buffalo hides were painted artistically, which determined their value. Some were sold in Houston and most shipped to the Northern States and Canada. Indians also brought in skins of raccoon, cougar, beaver, antelope, bobcats and gray wolves.

Mules were another article of trade by Comanches which they captured on their annual raids to the northern provinces of Mexico. These mules were tamed and sold as pack animals.
In another house were the goods that the Indians received in trade, mainly woolen blankets, woolen cloth colored scarlet and blue and used to make breech cloths. There was also printed calico for shirts and thick copper wiring used in making ornaments for arms, legs, and knives. Then there were glass beads, powder, lead, and tobacco.

The rest of the houses were dwelling places for those who worked at the post. There was even a gunsmith appointed by the government who repaired guns for the Indians.
The trading post was also where captives (particularly children) were brought by the Indians for sale. Roemer observed three boys for sale. Delicacies such as dried buffalo meat, and smoked buffalo tongue were for sale as well.

Now fast forward to our Main Plaza. Following Torrey’s store, around 1898, the small building became Ferdinand Simon’s Tavern and then Mrs. Yettie Wiedermann’s Plaza Fruit Store. Then in 1925 A.C. Moeller built a two-story brick building for the Wiedermanns right next to the fruit stand (now Comal Flower Shop). The Wiedermanns moved their business to the bottom floor of their new building and lived upstairs.

By 1932 the wooden building had been torn down and Al Leissner assumed the Texaco dealership that same year. Leissner ran the Texaco station until 1945 when he sold it to Al Schnabel.
NB is fortunate to have such an obvious center of town like Main Plaza, one that is recognizable and incidentally hard to navigate. That indeed makes it memorable. Remember, July 4th celebration  at the Plaza at 9:15 a.m.

This enhanced postcard of the early plaza shows Torrey's small wooden structure in the center of the card. Across the street is the former Eiband and Fischer store.

By Myra Lee Adams Goff

Icons are very important. When we think of the iconic Dirndls and Lederhosen, what do we think of here in NB? Wurstfest, of course, and that will be Nov. 4-13.

Both items of clothing have been around in Europe for a long time, particularly Austria and the Bavarian part of Germany. Old- time German native dress, known as Tracht, was made of natural materials such as wool or linen and any embroidery or lace embellishments were handmade. There were traditional forms of clothing given to different regions, and now found mostly in museums.

The Dirndl which actually means “girl” started out in antiquity as clothing worn by female servants. This folk style dress was not worn by others until the mid-1800s. The dress became a sign of national pride of Germany, hence the icon. Certain colors, hat styles and embroideries on aprons also denoted different regions.

The Lederhosen (leather pants) for workmen came from the Alpine regions of Austria and Bavaria. They were worn by riders and hunters. These rugged Hosen were either short or long and made of goat or sheepskin. Prince Carl was a hunter, but somehow I can’t picture him in the sheepskin Lederhosen.

In 1870 Emperor Franz Joseph helped the folk dress along by making it popular among the aristocracy, but of course, made of silk. The material for Lederhosen changed from sheepskin to soft deerskin. Like the Dirndl, there was embroidery on the pants and suspenders, denoting different regions.

All kinds of Dirndls and Lederhosen can be seen at the Munich Oktoberfest and if you want to see a large gathering here in NB, go to Wurstfest. Of course, you will also see traditional blue jeans, incidentally invented by a Bavarian, Levi Strauss, when he emigrated to San Francisco during the Gold Rush.

Another icon of Wurstfest is the beer stein. Read my column of Oct. 20, 2009 found on the sophienburg.com website. A beer stein and mug has been produced every year since 1969.

An interesting side story to Wurstfest icons: Local collector of Wurstfest memorabilia, Dexter Gillespie, has a vast collection of items. He has playing cards with the Wurstfest logo and 300 beer mugs. He has all but the first mugs made from 1971-74. He also has a 1998 mug, the year of the flood, which has become rare because of its significance and availability. Gillespie has an original beer bucket- a paint can with handle- when beer was sold in that container at the beginning. My favorite of his collection is a 12 inch figurine of the late J.C. Reagan made in 1989, complete with Lederhosen, stein, accordion, sausage and pins on the hat. The cartoonish character was created by artist Douglas Lee Harris. Another of these figurines was made the following year of Ed. Grist, but Gillespie does not have one. Both men were good ambassadors for Wurstfest.

Let’s not forget the food items, the most prominent being sausage, potato soup, potato pancakes, pretzels, and all those delicious sweets like strudel and German cookies. Beer is the most sold drink on the grounds. Of course there are other “not so German” food items for sale.

To celebrate 50 years of Wurstfest, two Opas, Alton Rahe and Darvin Dietert, were commissioned to write the history of the organization. Both are 5th generation New Braunfelsers. Rahe wrote the history and Dietert collected the photos of which there are 160. The hardcover book of 140 pages chronicles the history of the organization from its beginning to its present site in Landa Park. Rahe speaks of the unpleasant year that prompted the organization to make improvements. Wurstfest is called the “Giant Fundraiser of the Community” and he tells of the many organizations that benefit from selling food and other items. Wurstfest contributes most of its profit to worthy groups in New Braunfels. The book will be for sale at various booths.

When you’re at Wurstfest, polka over to the Sophienburg booth where there are lots of German items for sale plus our Sophienburg New Braunfels Christmas ornaments.

Left to right: Ed and Betty Grist clowning around; Herb Skoog Family — Cara, Claudia, Herb and Kathy — dressed for Wurstfest.