Tombstone mystery

By Keva Hoffmann Boardman — Last week Sylvia Segovia and I were walking through Hidalgo Panteon searching for the graves of several people. If you have never visited this charming little cemetery, you are in for a truly cultural treat. You will find rows and rows of concrete crosses and

Continue reading

Joshua Wesloh wins Sophienburg history scholarship

The Sophienburg Memorial Association is proud to bestow the Sophienburg History Award, established in 2013, honoring Myra Lee Adams Goff for her dedication to the community and her steadfast love of history. The award recognizes a student who demonstrates a love and passion for New Braunfels history. The 2022 recipient

Continue reading

Flood of ’72 through 50-year-old looking glass

By Tara V. Kohlenberg — May 11, 1972. It was a normal Thursday in May. The New Braunfels Herald was filled with promise for the future – announcing top graduating scholars and graduation parties; preparations for the next day’s Lions Carnival at Wursthalle; and numerous choices for that special Mothers’

Continue reading

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

Continue reading

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

Continue reading

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

Continue reading

“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

Continue reading

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

Continue reading

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

Continue reading

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,

Continue reading