Highways, motels and diving ladies

By Tara V. Kohlenberg — Have you ever thought about what travel was like before superhighways and chain hotels? It was definitely a much simpler time. Early travel meant dirt roads, complete with ruts and mud holes. Not until after World War I did road improvements became a priority. The

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The Susanna saga continued

By Keva Hoffmann Boardman — “And so,” Michael Freiherr von der Tann continued, “we are so pleased to have these documents returned to our family. They will join the rest of the Tann Archive in the Hesse State Archives in Marburg.” With a hand-off of an acid-free box containing four

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Susanna’s papers

By Keva Hoffmann Boardman — A man walked into the museum. Handing me four folded documents he said, “These are German. Do y’all want them?” A thrill moved through my fingertips to my brain as I took them. The documents were written on vellum. By vellum, I don’t mean the

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“Hairstory”

By Keva Hoffmann Boardman — “Hairstory” is a new and unusual exhibit opening in April at the Sophienburg Museum. The museum’s collection was scoured for artifacts of human hair. What? Yes, the museum has a collection of human hair artifacts that include jewelry, wreaths and saved first curls. You might

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Cold War fears in New Braunfels

By Tara V. Kohlenberg — In recent days, we have all watched heart-breaking images flash across our screens as Russia exerts its power over Ukraine. News of such events has stirred up childhood memories of my classmates and I scrambling under our metal school desks during bomb drills of the

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Easter nests and Easter bunnies

By Keva Hoffmann Boardman — I know it’s a little early, but Easter has already arrived in stores — so why not here? In German families, like mine, we (the children) made Easter nests. No, not for a bird or a chicken, but for the Easter bunny. Everyone gathered Easter

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Millett family

By Tara V. Kohlenberg — There are times, during the course of researching a topic, that we come across a story that just says it all. The following, a reprint of a story written by Susan Flynt England, is exactly that. It appeared in the Herald-Zeitung on Sunday, January 7,

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Comal Sanitarium

By Tara V. Kohlenberg — I love driving through the tree lined streets of New Braunfels in the winter month(s). The absence of leaves invites a closer look at the buildings, the rooflines, the architectural details, the landscaping. Oddly, I have always been drawn to the properties lined with mature

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The House That Jack Built

By Keva Hoffmann Boardman — I have heard some murmurings in town lately about a place called The House that Jack Built. As often happens at the Sophienburg, I had already done some research into this business. Let me share some facts and a couple stories that I discovered along

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Express it with words

Keva Hoffmann Boardman — I have always found that the imagery of an idiom helps me to better understand a person’s meaning. However, discerning the meaning behind an idiom, or expression, in a foreign language is often challenging. At the Sophienburg, we are faced with interpreting German expressions when we

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