By Myra Lee Adams Goff —

Once upon a time there were two large Victorian houses sitting side by side on Seguin Avenue next to the First Protestant Church. These two houses belonged to Joseph Faust and his son Walter Faust. Walter Faust’s house was right next to the church and it still stands there. Joseph Faust’s house was right next to Walter’s. That house no longer exists. Well, that’s not exactly true because it was sold and moved a little way down the street. It seems impossible that the large house could be moved, but it was.

Before we get to that almost impossible story, let’s look at the history of hotels in New Braunfels. Hotels, earlier called inns have been popular forever. A traveler getting a good night’s sleep, food, drink and good fellowship was essential to a mobile population. The first inn known in New Braunfels was that of Count Henkel von Donnersmark located across the street from the present McAdoos Restaurant. Von Donnersmark catered to those immigrants newly arrived who had money to spend and still nowhere to stay. Supposedly this inn did a big liquor business. It even became the post office.

Soon to follow were inns on the Main Plaza such as the Millett Hotel on the property where the courthouse is located. Also the Guadalupe Hotel which still stands. The Guadalupe became the Schmitz Hotel in 1855. This was the most well-known hotel because it was also the stopping place of the pony express.

Down East San Antonio Street was the Comal Hotel or Eggeling Hotel built in 1899 (Prince Solms Inn). By the time trains came to NB, passengers were picked up at the train station and taken to the hotel.

Now we get to the granddaddy of them all, the Faust Hotel. What prompted the building of this big downtown hotel was interest in attracting the early 1900s tourist. Paul Jahn with the Chamber of Commerce reported that a committee had been formed to promote the idea of a hotel. The New Braunfels Hotel Company Inc. organized and it was decided to form a stock company of local citizens.

At the first meeting of stockholders, Emil Fischer was elected president, Walter Faust, vice-president, and B.W. Nuhn, secretary-treasurer. An offer was made by the Joseph Faust Estate to place a hotel on the Joseph Faust property where his house was. It was moved off the lot and sold to the Drs. Frueholz. It is cattycornered to the church where it still stands. The story of that move can be found in the Sophienburg.com column on 11-30-2010. The Walter Faust house was eventually purchased by the First Protestant Church.

Although primarily an agricultural community, because of the rivers, New Braunfels was also tourist town. With the coming of the railroad, the town was becoming more well known. After a severe drought in the early 1920s, the community recovered and saw a need for hotels. Salesmen called drummers were flocking to town to sell their goods. They not only needed a room to stay in, but also a temporary room to set up their products. This practice was very important to the mercantile business. The New Braunfels Hotel Company would build a hotel called the Travelers Hotel.

My husband, Glyn, grew up living in the Goff Hotel in Kenedy and remembers the salesmen that stopped at the only hotel between San Antonio and Corpus Christi. The 65 room hotel was owned by his grandparents, P.R. and Ida Goff. Stories about this hotel are very similar to the stories of the Faust and they were both built about the same time.

Bids for the four-story Travelers Hotel were requested and the total was to be $120,000 for the building only. Architect was Harvey P. Smith of San Antonio and contractor was Walter Sippel.

After completion in 1929, the hotel was leased to Nagel & Wuest of San Antonio for 15 years. About the time of opening, Nagel & Wuest who agreed to pay for some of the furnishings could not pay for what they had agreed. Since several conventions were already scheduled, First National Bank of New Braunfels agreed to pay the suppliers until they would be reimbursed. That never happened.

A grand opening celebration was held Oct. 12, 1929, in spite of the trouble. It was quite an affair with over 2,000 people attending. Who didn’t show was the governor, Dan Moody, even after sending in his RSVP accepting.

A few years after opening, the hotel was turned back to the Hotel Company ending the contract with the Nagel and Wuest. They released the building with all bills pending. The Board turned down future lease offers because they wanted to sell the building.

Upon the death of Walter Faust, Hanno Faust was elected president of the company and he was given full power to operate the hotel in 1933. The hotel was renamed the Faust Hotel after the Faust family. Milton Dietz was the executor of the will of Walter Faust. In 1946, Dietz became president of the company and also became general manager of the Faust Hotel. In 1947, the hotel was purchased by local businessman Arlon Krueger who retained ownership until 1977. Hotel businesses everywhere were being replaced by motels that were more accessible and less expensive. By this time the grand old building was showing its age. The exterior had blackened, windows had broken, squirrels had moved in, and water had damaged the inside.

In 1977, Jackson and Houser purchased the building out of an interest in old hotels. They began the restoration process. Over time with several owners and several restorations, the once-beautiful hotel returned.

In about 2008, the hotel was sold to Vance and Priscilla Hinton. They closed in the hotel’s original outdoor patio to house the Faust Brewing Co. while maintaining the 1920s atmosphere. Brewmaster Ray Mitteldorf, who had extensive experience with several other breweries, was hired to brew the beer. Making beer takes time and everything brewed in the Faust had to be sold there. The Faust then opened the Faust Brewing Company on the corner of Butcher and Castell to manufacture and sell both bottled and keg beer, while serving “brew-pub” food with a “German flair.”

Update: The next chapter of the Faust Hotel began in May of 2022 when it was purchased by Sante Fe developers Andy Duettra and wife, Bonnie Borchers Duettra (NB hometown girl). The historic hotel was closed for two-and-a-half years while undergoing extensive renovations.

They completely gutted the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floors, taking them down to the beams, allowing for larger, more luxurious rooms, suites, baths, and up-to-date amenities. The Spanish Colonial Revival style of the lobby has been retained with the color palette carried throughout. On the first floor, the expanded dining “Texas-style brasserie” and lounge/patio bar elevates the historic Faust Hotel experience to that of its glory days.

The Faust Hotel is on the National Register of Historic Places, is a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, and is a New Braunfels Historic Landmark.

Sources: Around the Sophienburg by Myra Lee Adams Goff; Update by Tara Kohlenberg

“Around the Sophienburg” is published every other weekend in the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung.

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By Tara V. Kohlenberg —

Have you ever taken a walking tour of New Braunfels? Whether with a group or self-guided with detailed maps, the tours are basically a clever way to learn history while you exercise.

While digging in the archives, I came across a 1969-version of a walking tour, which is more of a “driving tour” of New Braunfels history and includes Gruene. It is full of photographs and frankly, bits of information that I have not seen before.

In comparing the old version to the walking tour currently listed on the New Braunfels Chamber of Commerce website, I found the listings quite different. They both list big stuff — Courthouse, downtown commercial buildings, the Faust homes, etc., but many of the smaller older homes have been left off the Chamber list. Just like in real life, bigger, more beautiful homes draw attention.

So, let us explore some of those. Just as in fashion, architectural styles and influences change with time, providing natural time periods as dividers. Today, I will point out a few of those not on the current walking tour, dating from 1845 Colonial Texas up to 1860 (pre-Civil War) period.

First up is 354 W. Bridge. The home of Phillip Schmidt is perched on the bluff overlooking Comal Creek. The small 1850 house, built in the fachwerk style, is of adobe and hand-hewn logs. It was originally a one-and-a half-story building with a high-pitched roof and outside stairs up to the loft. It is still inhabited, but well hidden behind thick foliage.

Another remarkable building is the office building located at 259 N. Seguin next to the Comal County Tax Assessors office. One would never think that it is that old. It is a basic 1850 German Colonial Cottage of fachwerk and cut stone with a basement. Fachwerk (pronounced fock-verk) is the European building method that German immigrants brought with them.

Fachwerk consisted of hewn timber frameworks secured with treenails (wooden pegs). The open spaces were filled with bricks made of mud and grass, which served as fireproofing, soundproofing and insulation. Often the exterior was covered with cypress shingles or stucco. Porches much like those in Europe were added to homes to help survive the Texas heat. This structure is painted now, but in the 1970s, the exterior wood was stained/varnished wood.

Next on the list is the Julius Habermann house at 543 W. Mill Street. Although it was built in 1862, the house looks basically the same today. Julius Habermann was a shoemaker. He bought acre lot 12 to build the home. The fachwerk structure is built of hand-hewn cedar logs and cut limestone with wide plank board flooring throughout. His youngest daughter married William Tolle. The home stayed in the family until Mrs. Tolle’s death in 1958.

The house located at 189 Comal Av. is one of those that you have probably driven by unnoticed hundreds of times. It is constructed in a simplistic version of the Greek Revival style. The characteristics of Greek Revival include strict symmetry and balance of elements, prominent gabled roofs and columns supporting a gabled roof. The buildings are often painted white. Greek Revival style dominated the United States, especially the South, from 1820 to 1850, finally reaching Texas in the 1860s.

This original Comal Street structure was built in 1860. The first addition was in 1880; the rear addition was added in 1940. The front of the house is perfectly symmetrical with a small gabled porch on the front. It has 6-light or 6-over-6 paned windows.

The next couple of houses on the old historic home tour are located on Hill Avenue, the narrow street on the west side of the railroad tracks. Both are now part of the shopping village behind Huisache Grill.

The first one off W. San Antonio Street was originally at 178 Hill Ave., the home of August Wetzel. It is a little outside of the pre-Civil War era, but still an excellent example of early home. The residence was built in 1872 with a Greek Revival pediment and porch. Six-light windows, a single narrow front door and a basement. I am sure that Mr. Wetzel had no idea that the train tracks would be built along the path of Hill Avenue in 1881, slicing off his property and bringing the train to his front door. Even with the porch now removed, the building is in amazing condition.

The next one was the home of F.W. Tietze. The German Colonial style residence was constructed in 1852 by Mr. Tietze. It has very ornate double front doors, latticework ballustrade and columns on the porch. It basically looks the same today.

Now, comes the sad part of my tale. The last few of the homes on the 1969 list are no longer in their spots. Whenever you see newer or mid-century modern buildings in the heart of New Braunfels, you know that a piece of history was removed to make room for it.

The 1850 Victorian Cottage home, originally located at 488 Castell, had unique double doors and extravagant porch detailing. It was removed to make way for New Braunfels City property driveway (old City Hall), now the recycling exit driveway.

Another sad removal, the home originally located at 545 Comal Avenue was constructed about 1855 for early immigrant Johannes Heinrich Hohmann (Heinrich). The fachwerk structure was built as two separate buildings covered in wood siding. The kitchen was separate. The Hohmann House, was removed to make way for one of the huge mansions above the Comal River. Others along Comal Street suffered a similar fate. The particular house at 575 Comal was saved by Carola Davis, having been dismantled and then reassembled elsewhere.

The house previously located at 231 S. Seguin across from the Faust Hotel is another missing gem. Actually, there were two fachwerk houses on the site, one behind the other. The houses were once the residences of the Henne sisters and were thought to be built by early New Braunfels businessman Louis Henne.

In 1969, Bob Warnecke, then a student at the University of Texas, dismantled the two houses. He saved boards, windows, beams and square-headed nails, storing the materials for restoration.

The last lost gem was the building formerly located at 290 S. Seguin Ave., which is now the landscaped corner next to Johnson Furniture (Ludwig Building). The store was built in 1850. It served as the Rudolph DuMenil General Merchandise Store in 1860, then as the Ludwig Furniture Store and later Johnson’s Furniture warehouse. Fortunately, you can still see it, as it was moved to Gruene and last served as Hunter Brothers store at 1254 Gruene Road.

We are so fortunate to live in a place with such wonderful history. I am grateful for the still present examples of that history every day. I know that maintaining a historic building is not easy or cheap, but THANK YOU to those preservationists, especially now in what seems like disposable world.

Sources: Sophienburg Museum and Archives; Bob Warnecke; Carola Davis.

“Around the Sophienburg” is published every other weekend in the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung.

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By Keva Hoffmann Boardman —

Let me tell you the story of First Founder Joseph Wersdoerfer. He came to Texas with the Adelsverein on board the brig Ferdinand in 1844. He travelled from Hahn, Nassau, with his wife, Anna nee Schmidt and two children. Joseph received Town Lot #8 on West San Antonio Street just half a block between Castell and Hill Street. Joseph also got a ten-acre lot south of town in the Live Oak Street area. He added a neighboring lot to his holdings. Three sons were added to the little family in 1846, 1849 and 1851.

And then life changed for the family.

In June of 1851, Joseph Wersdoerfer was shot through the window of the Comal County Courthouse where he was being held for shooting Mrs. Wilhelm Klinger in the face with a shotgun. It was said that “citizens dragged him out of town on a cowhide.”

That’s quite descriptive … and telling.

I need to backtrack for you. I found a news article from the Colorado Tribune out of Matagorda, Texas, for July 7, 1851. I couldn’t find anything in the Neu-Braunfelser Zeitung because Ferdinand Lindheimer did not start publishing the newspaper until November 12, 1852. I will let you enjoy the lovely editorial nature of the Colorado Tribune’s story in its entirety.

A Man shot dead in the Court-House

New Braunfels, June 7, 1851

To the Editor of the Western Texian:

Dear Sir — An incident of rather a singularly serious character took place here on the evening of the 3rd. A German of the name Wersdoerfer, well known in this and the surrounding counties as an old offender, was shot dead while bound in irons, and in confinement in our Court house. As customary, this Wersdoerfer was conspicuous in the suits tried at our last District Court, and more particularly in a suit brought against him by the State for stealing horses on the Cibolo, the property of Mr. Perryman.

His guilt seems to have been clearly proved, but from reasons not easily to be defined, two of the jurors disapproved of awarding any punishment. The consequence was, that the old offender, depredator and thief, was allowed once more to prowl at large, to the infinite danger of the community and the indignation of every well-meaning citizen. The common brag of this notorious delinquent, at each offense, was that he had still plenty of gold pieces, (accumulated by his dishonest practices) wherewith to win over the exertions in his behalf of some pettifogging and pitiful lawyer, who would think low enough of himself to accept, thereby showing little respect to himself or the community in which he may reside.

As was to have been foreseen by every thinking mind, from the unpunished catalogue of crimes which this man has committed, his offences would not stop here. He made an attack for some trifling cause, upon an unprotected woman, in the absence of her husband, with a pistol loaded with cut-lead, and discharged the contents, which took effect in the head and upper part of the body. This done, he absconded. This took place on the 2nd, about a mile from town. His own dwelling is about twelve miles distant, in the Santa Clara settlement.

On a report of this cowardly and unprovoked act having reached this place, a general state of excitement ensued, and energetic steps were taken for his capture. With this intent, the officers, with a few citizens, went in search of him and succeeded in bringing him back the evening after the deed was committed. The first stopping place on arriving was the smith’s shop, where he was secured in the most effective manner.

He was then conveyed to the Court house, and there fastened, with a guard of six men around him. The community waxed in excitement, and each mind was absorbed in recapitulating the many crimes of which he had been guilty, and the manner he had escaped all. The want of a jail, & etc., presented obstacles to keeping him in custody until the next term of the Court. No fixed plan seems to have been adopted, but the determined feeling to keep him fast was unanimous.

The streets were noisy with the discussion of this subject until a late hour, when the above mentioned act of the prisoner being shot dead through the window from without, in the immediate presence of his guard, caused some reaction on the subject.

Wow. I get the outcome; he seemed to mock the whole town about his ability to buy his way out of difficulty. He genuinely did not seem to be a very good man which makes me sad for his little family that travelled all the way to Texas for “a better life”. Was he already running from the law in Nassau and just continued his life of crime in Texas?

There is a suggestion in the family history that he shot Mrs. Klinger because she asked him about a piece of land he had said he was going to sell her and then didn’t — but to shoot her in the face for that question? I can understand how people were incensed at the unjustice of it all. As always in these stories, the vigilante who dispensed justice was never identified by the community — out loud.

I found the reference for the story of his body being dragged out of town on a cowhide; it is recorded in Greek letters, not German, in the record books of First Protestant Church. It also has the Latin words Latro & Homicida (robber and murderer) with Joseph Wersdoerfer’s name, followed by words of Psalm 130. Verses 3 and 4 are poignant: “If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O LORD, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee.” That says a lot. Wersdoerfer’s cumulative record of crime was not condoned, but mercy was shown towards the man and his family. I cannot find where or if he was buried.

Poor Mrs. Wersdoerfer. She rose above this family catastrophe and remarried. She had more children and got on with life. They made them tougher back then.

Sources: Sophienburg Museum & Archives: Wersdoerfer Family Genealogy; New Braunfels: The First Founders, Everrett Fey, 1995; The Colorado Tribune, Monday, July 7, 1851; Eternity at the End of a Rope: Executions, Lynchings and Vigilante Justice in Texas, 1819-1923, Caldwell and DeLord, 2016.

“Around the Sophienburg” is published every other weekend in the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung.

The post True Crime Series: ”Latro & Homicida” — The Joseph Wersdoerfer Incident appeared first on Sophies Shop.

By Tara V. Kohlenberg —

One evening last week, as I sat on the porch with a glass of sweet tea, pondering my day and hoping for rain, I heard the low metallic groan of the windmill as the head turned around to catch the wind. I saw the shadows of the windmill blades spinning on the ground before I heard the rhythmic, musical clanging of the rods going up and down in the pipes. It made me smile, to think about the thousands of windmills I have counted on long car rides through the South Plains in Texas.

It also made me sad to realize that windmills, the iconic symbols of pioneer survival across America, are fading away. A much-loved subject of artists and photographers alike is becoming a relic of the past.

My Gran, born to ranchers in the Texas Panhandle at the turn of the century, told me more than once, “Water is life. Without windmills, there would be no water in vast parts of Texas.” Windmills have allowed people to live and raise livestock in places where surface water was limited.

The first windmills, machines powered by the force of wind in sails, were used as early as 17th Century B.C. in Mesopotamia. Windmills were engineered to mill grain and pump water away from low-lying areas in Europe (think Dutch style) and around the world.

Windmills were used in North America to bring ground water to the surface. They were instrumental in settling the Great Plains (the middle third of the US from Arctic Circle to the Rio Grande), to have enough water for themselves, their crops and their livestock.

European windmills were big, expensive and very impractical. Daniel Halladay developed a new, smaller, less expensive wooden windmill and tower in 1854. By the 1870s and 1880s, there were hundreds of companies manufacturing windmills in various designs including solid wooden blades.

The first successful all-metal windmill (water pumping windmill) was designed in 1876, but metal windmills were not popular until the 1890s. Metal windmills were engineered with curved blades, allowing them to capture more wind than flat wooden blades resulting in more water with less effort.

Early water pumping windmills had open-gear boxes that required monthly oiling of the mechanical parts (can you imagine riding outposts on a ranch in summer or dead of winter?). Self-oiling mills came out in the 1920s, making life much easier. The enclosed gearbox only required cleaning and new oil about once a year. Windmill brands at that time were sold exclusively by designated dealers. Each brand came with various size blade diameter — 6 feet, 8 feet, 10 feet, 12 feet, etc. The depth of the well or the amount of water desired dictated what size fan blade was needed. Railroad windmills with giant cisterns for steam engines spanned 24 feet in diameter.

There were a number of different windmill brands in this area, like Aermotor, Fairbury, Flint & Walling, Dempster, Challenger, Baker and Sears & Roebuck beginning in 1915. Henne Hardware was a dealer for The Aermotor Company. Their fan tail carried the Aermotor name on both sides. The word “company” was abbreviated to Co. and stylized to look like a target, making it perfect for a little target practice. The great thing about Aermotor is that the same parts fit if it is 10 years old or 100 years old.

The Faust Company was a dealer for Samson windmills and the Flint & Walling brand (Star Model 12, etc.) which had a star on the tail. If you were to drive around Gruene and out old Hunter Road today, you would see several typical 8-foot and 10-foot Aermotor and Flint & Walling windmills, most of which are not working (pumping water). There are a couple of real treasures on private land. There is a Monitor in really bad shape, but still standing, and an open gear Flint and Walling over 100 years old. Then, at Conservation Plaza, there is an IDEAL windmill.

Kutscher Drilling, over the span of 100 years, have drilled, installed and maintained most of the windmills in a seven-county area. They used to service a lot of them. They estimated only about three dozen working water pumps left in Comal County and surrounding area. Compared to the technology available today, the windmill is antiquated and expensive. Electricity and solar power are much more economical. By the 1970s, only Baker, Aermotor and Dempster were building water-pump windmills.

Today, the use of windmills for more than just yard art is dwindling due to city sprawl, subdivisions (groundwater belongs to city), and the more efficient electric and solar power pumps. There are people who still restore them, but the windmills do not spin the same or sound the same if they are not pumping water.

I love our windmill. It is an Aermotor, pulled off a sulfur well nearby when we drilled our own well. The tower is 30 feet. The cypress cistern (with concrete liner) on a shorter tower was brought from the Kypfer farm in Geronimo. The windmill and both towers are stamped with the Henne Hardware name. I love how the mockingbirds perch on the highest fan blade to serenade us the morning. I love our windmill whether it is standing in a field blanketed in bluebonnets or snow. But I really love it when the windmill silhouette stands against a brilliant sunset. They may soon be relics. Enjoy them while you can.

Sources: The Sophienburg Museum and Archives; Baker, T. Lindsay. 1984. “A Field Guide to American Windmills”. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press.; Mike Blanik; Danny Kutscher; Bobby Kutscher.

“Around the Sophienburg” is published every other weekend in the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung.

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By Keva Hoffmann Boardman —

On Sunday, October 12, 1884, Texas witnessed its very first Fischerstechen right on the Comal River. Earlier in 1882, Clemens Dam had been completed and destined as a source of power for a textile mill. That same year, a benevolent society, the Knights of Honor, had been organized and one of its enterprising members, Dr. August Berger, came up with an idea to promote the mill, the association and the city of New Braunfels. The Knights of Honor would host a Fischerstechen on the Comal.

A Fischerstechen — a fishermens’ joust — was an event the Germans were familiar with since the 12th century. It was and still is in many cities in Germany and France, a festival on land and water. Parades and jousts highlight the day or weekend events. Very basically, there are boats with rowers (the horses) and combatants with padded lances (the knights) who attack each other in order to fell the opposing team’s man. Two styles exist in Europe. The first has two boats propelled by 3-10 oarsmen at high speed towards each other with the aim to go past and strike the opponent’s “knight” off the board he is balancing on. The second has smaller boats, with the “knights” standing in the front of the boat, and the 2-3 rowers manipulating for position around the opposing crew to help stabilize their man so he can knock off the other “knight.”

Obviously, balance is the key to winning. But also important is being in full Medieval regalia! The lance used is 2.8 meters long and has a padded “button” or tip. Blows can only be landed around the shoulders and chest — and yes, bruising and broken ribs are inevitable. The knight not knocked into the water wins the match. After all competition is eliminated, the winners are crowned, including a jousting king who has somehow survived each showdown without getting wet.

OK… even today this would be something to watch, but put it all the way back into 1884 on the Comal River, and you can definitely see the appeal.

The Fischerstechen in the fall of 1884 was beyond incredible. The weather had cooperated and held at a balmy 80ish degrees. First, the Comal was dammed up beneath Clemens Dam to form a large river lake that was 20 feet deep. Man-made “islands” were constructed off the riverbanks to serve as stages for singers and musicians and places for scenery changes. Dr. Berger came up with and advertised an ambitious program that included: canon fire at 2 p.m.; a parade of costumed participants through downtown; maneuvering of gondola-style boats to the river lake; dramatic living tableaus of a Venetian fisherman’s life including a wedding, baptism, dance and funeral; the Fischerstechen, fishermen jousters; children swimming; river fairies; singers and musicians. And that was just the afternoon’s events.

The evening on the banks of the river lake and its “islands” was illuminated with Bengal fire, Chinese lanterns, rockets and Roman candles. The descriptions of this fantastic spectacle filled columns of newspapers in Austin, San Antonio and New Braunfels. Of course, they are mostly in German. But what I found out in the hours of translation is that the journalists were pleased with the event and very cheeky in their assessments of the festivities.

One journalist in particular describes the day in such illustrative words that it takes three full columns in his newspaper. Julius Schuetze was the editor of the Texas Vorwartz out of Austin. He was well known by most of our early founders and good friends with most of them. His day began on a train ride from Austin to New Braunfels on which he met and chatted with Governor Ireland of Texas, who was “coming to New Braunfels on business” but ended up participating in the day. The roundtrip ticket was around $1.45 from Austin and 95 cents from San Antonio. It was advertised in the newspapers for several weeks running.

Governor Ireland was joined on the day by Seguin’s State Senator Burgess. New Braunfels had been festooned with garlands and flags. Matzdorff’s Halle (Eagle’s Hall) was a sort of meet-and-greet place for visitors and dignitaries, who after “much hand shaking” and some beer drinking, walked to the riverbank. While watching the Fischerstechen, Julius Schuetze commented that not only were the young people on the gondolas getting wet, but so were their friends and neighbors shouting from the riverbank with their own “wetness” (beer). Lone Star beer was tapped and flowing thoughout the day.

Journalist Schuetze described in vivid detail each floating tableau of the Venetian fisherman’s life. He makes a snide remark about the bishop on the wedding boat performing the wedding in Lutheran vestments. He wonders aloud how a baby could be conceived and born within thirty minutes, unless of course, it had already been conceived and born prior to the wedding (wink wink). He describes with laughter the tableau of two monks kidnapping a young maiden and then getting dunked by the ferryman and his son who save her.

The night held its own attractions. Neptune made an appearance along with Aphrodite and her nymphs as they swam in diaphanous costumes under the man-made flares and fireworks. Schuetze and Governor Ireland agreed that “the inadequate lighting made the bathing scene uninteresting.”

When the festival had run its course, New Braunfels was still in a party mood. Men and women gathered at Lentzen Hall and the Guadalupe Hotel downtown for dancing, music and glasses of beer. Company F, Woods Regiment were holding their 20-year reunion at Lentzen’s and had the governor for dinner and a speech. When the governor retired to the hotel, Capt. Bose led a brass band into the lobby to serenade him. He came out, spoke again and bought a round for all in the room. Retiring to his room once again, Governor Ireland was recalled by a group of Geronimo Farmer’s Verein members who had come to sing for him. Another speech, another glass of beer, another song — this time he went to bed and stayed there.

You would think that the day/evening had finally come to an end, but you’d be wrong. The Geronimo guys could not cross the river in the darkness to get back to Geronimo. They had to wait for the moon to rise. So, they kept singing and drinking at the hotel until a pale sliver of moon came up at about 2 a.m.

New Braunfels finally went to sleep.

Oscar Haas found this story in the Neu-Braunfels Zeitung and wrote about it in the 1960s. In 1962, there was a Comal County Championship Swim Meet at Landa Park pool to which was added “a special feature … canoe jousting contests between teams composed of Rotarians, Lions and Jaycees.” In 1967, the Alamo Canoe Club conducted canoe racing, jousting and kayak races at Landa Park lake. And in 1971, the San Antonio Canoe Club planned to hold canoe jousting on Landa Park Lake in conjunction with Wurstfest. The event was cancelled because the participants failed to show up due to some of their members being injured at the bridge in Gruene.

If you know any information about these later Fischerstechen please contact me at the Sophienburg Museum.

How many of you want to see this again!?!?

Sources: New Braunfels Herald, 1962, 1967, 1971; Neu Braunfelser Zeitung, 1884; Freie Presse, San Antonio 1882, 1884; Texas Vorwartz, Austin, 1884; Oscar Haas Collection, Sophienburg Museum & Archives.

“Around the Sophienburg” is published every other weekend in the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung.

The post Erste Fischerstechen in Texas appeared first on Sophies Shop.

By Tara V. Kohlenberg —

I have written many times about the treasures of New Braunfels, the people, places and things in our history that make our community so special. Some are prominently displayed — Main Plaza, the Plaza Fountain and such. Others are hidden in plain sight. Some are so well hidden that we do not even recognize it as a treasure.

Today I will tell you about a lesser-known treasure in town, the old pioneer’s home on Coll Street. It is unremarkable in appearance and easy to miss. It sits on a large L-shaped lot that wraps around to Clemens Avenue, which is difficult to distinguish except on a map. The house is located directly across the street from Carl Schurz School and yet has remained fairly invisible to passersby. It has been hidden behind overgrown trees and underbrush until just recently.

The pioneer is Jean Jacques von Coll. You may have heard his name if you hang around in museums. So, who is von Coll and why is this guy with a French name important enough to have a street named after him in a German settlement?

Born Johann Jakob von Coll in Wiesbaden, Germany, in 1814, he was a lieutenant in the service of the Duke Adolph of Nassau. At the age of 27, von Coll and a group of young officers attended a neighbor’s party while still being under the effects of their alcohol consumption the night before. An exchange of words left both the neighbor and von Coll insulted. A duel was called for, but was quickly called off as neither involved could clearly remember who threw the first insult.

Rumors flew about von Coll leaving town to escape a duel, impacting the future of his military career. The entire officers’ corps was commissioned to learn the truth. Von Coll, believing that he would be dishonorably discharged, resigned at the behest of Duke Adolph of Nassau who suggested that he serve in the military of another country. Von Coll eventually joined the French military and changed his name to Jean Jacques von Coll. Illness caused him to be discharged after six months.

He became involved with the Adelsverein (German Emigration Company), where he was assigned to help with the settlement of Germans in Texas. He led the first German immigrants from Galveston inland on December 29, 1844.

Von Coll was given town lot #25 on Main Plaza (now Schmitz Hotel and NB Coffee). He and partner Adolph Nevendorf operated a lucrative saloon and store at that location. Incidentally, the Sophienburg Museum and Archives currently has the original saloon doors on display. They also have the original matching double doors of his home on Coll Street in the collection.

Von Coll was appointed by Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels as the financial officer for the Adelsverein. Not only responsible for keeping the accounts, von Coll was responsible for the new colony’s supplies (kept in the magazine on Sophienburg property) and how they were distributed to the colonists.

For this service, he received acreage adjacent to the Adelsverein Sophienburg property where he built his home. The original acreage encompassed several modern-day city blocks, from Coll Street to San Antonio Street and from Magazine Avenue to Guenther, which includes Clemens Avenue. We will connect these dots in a minute.

Von Coll is famous for stopping New Braunfels from being renamed “Comal.” In 1852, he was elected mayor but served only two months before he was murdered in his store by a discontented settler. Apparently, one of the immigrants walked into von Coll’s store arguing that the Adelsverein was not living up to the promises made in the old country. It resulted in von Coll being shot.

He left behind a wife, Margarethe Elisabeth Schertz, who had come with the Castro colonists, and two young daughters, Kathinka, age 3, and Elisabeth (Bettie), not yet one year old, to live in the home he had built on Coll Street.

The house is built, as many 1845 homes were, a basic house with multiple additions. The small center section is of fachwerk construction (exposed beam frame with straw/mud bricks and stucco exterior). The second, larger section is rectangular and built of stone. The third addition, on the opposite side of the fachwerk house, was built much later in the 19th century after von Coll’s death. The collage of building and window styles is cool to see in person.

And what of von Coll’s little family? Von Coll’s widow, Maragarethe, married Karl Heinrich Guenther. They continued to live in the home at 624 Coll Street. They went on to have seven children between them. Guenther had a brewery on the Comal River. After Guenther died, Margarethe ran the business, becoming the first women brewer.

Daughter, Kathinka, married Senator William Clemens, Jr. Their beautiful home stood on what is now the parking lot of Arlon’s Market at Clemens and San Antonio. Clemens served on the Texas Penitentiary Board and the Clemens Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice is named after him. Daughter, Bettie, married Otto Simon.

This just goes to show you that just because something looks unremarkable does not mean that it does not hold a remarkable amount of history or that the history will always be there to see.

Comal County has more than 124 markers highlighting the historical significance of buildings, areas and events; however, for every marked place or building, there may be two or three times more that remain unmarked for various reasons and an unbelievable amount that have been lost. The Comal County Historical Commission works diligently to identify and mark as many historically significant places and buildings as possible before they disappear into a parking lot. If you know of something out there, let them know.

Sources: Sophienburg Museum and Archives.

“Around the Sophienburg” is published every other weekend in the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung.

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By Keva Hoffmann Boardman —

It was a comfortable warm evening, Valentine’s Day, 1976, in fact. I was one of a group of NBHS seniors sitting on the hoods of several cars parked in front of Ortiz’s Bar across from the Brauntex. We had been told that the Freedom Train was making its way from San Antonio to Austin that night and would pass through New Braunfels, sometime around 10?

We began our vigil well enough, using up the time talking and messing around. Like I said, we were seniors and we were really excited about graduating in the U.S. Bicentennial year. The lure of the Freedom Train was that it had the Liberty Bell in one of the cars. That, and we were out with the guys.

When Saturday, February 14, became Sunday, February 15, Ortiz’s Bar was closed with the perfunctory heavy chain and padlock through the fist-size hole in the double doors. As the world around us grew ever more silent, we became ever more bored. So what do you think a bunch of guys and girls thought they could do in such a situation? You who were teenagers in the ‘70s will know. But for the rest of you reading this, we did the only sensible thing while waiting — we paired off and began “making out.”

I’ll let you guess what that entails, but it was not “hooking up.”

Eventually, the steam locomotive, with its distinctive sound and whistle, reminded us why we were by the railroad crossing on West San Antonio Street at 0-dark-thirty. Engine #610 rumbled by slowly enough for us to see into the lighted glass-sided rail car. And there it was, the Liberty Bell — and there it went. The Freedom Train continued on to Austin and beyond.

The Liberty Bell. It is one of America’s iconic emblems. We have seen it on stamps, war bond posters, bumper stickers, on souvenirs and in movies. But what do we really know about it? Here are some fun facts about our famous symbol of freedom.

1. The Liberty Bell was cast in 1751 in London and hung in the Pennsylvania State House. It cracked on the first ring. It was melted down and recast by local metalworkers, John Pass and John Stowe. Remember the clue in the movie “National Treasure”?
2. The Liberty Bell weighs 2,080 pounds and is 70% copper and 25% tin, with traces of lead, zinc, arsenic, gold and silver. It measures 12 feet around the lip, 7 feet 6 inches around the crown, and 3 feet from lip to crown.
3. The famous words on the Liberty Bell come from the Bible (Leviticus 25:10): PROCLAIM LIBERTY THROUGHOUT ALL THE LAND UNTO ALL THE INHABITANTS THEREOF.
4. In 1835, abolitionists appropriated this message and renamed the Pennsylvania State House Bell the Liberty Bell.
5. The Liberty Bell’s famous crack is a subject of debate. Hanging in the Pennsylvania State House, the bell was often used. The Liberty Bell cracked in 1835, while being tolled in honor of Chief Justice John Marshall. In 1846, the Liberty Bell was repaired so it could be rung at George Washington’s birthday. When the bell was rung a new crack developed. It is this crack that we see today!
6. A story was written by George Lippard in 1847 which associated the Liberty Bell with the first July 4th and it become a part of the bell’s folklore. Most agree that it was not actually rung on July 4, 1776.
7. The Liberty Bell did ring to call the citizens of Philadelphia together to learn news of the Revolutionary War, and it was rung when Cornwallis surrendered to Washington and the war ended. The last time the bell was sounded was for Washington’s birthday in 1846. That was the last time people heard the bell ring freely with its clapper. Since then, “ringing” of the bell is produced by using a hammer against the exterior.

The Liberty Bell has travelled widely. It was first moved in 1777 from Philadelphia to Allentown to keep it from being melted down for cannons by the British. The bell has also made trips across the nation to spread its message of freedom: World’s Industrial and Cotton Exposition at New Orleans (1885), World’s Columbian Exposition at Chicago (1893), Cotton States and Atlantic Exposition at Atlanta (1895), Interstate and West India Exposition at Charleston (1902), Bunker Hill Celebration at Boston (1903), Louisiana Purchase Exposition at St. Louis (1904), and the Panama-Pacific Exposition at San Francisco (1915). It was during its return trip from San Franciso to Philadelphia that the Liberty Bell came to New Braunfels!

On October 8, 1915, the editor of the New Braunfels Herald noted that the Liberty Bell was going to stop at San Marcos on November 17 for a one-hour stop and that “Sunny San” intended to make a big holiday of the occasion. He indignantly asked the question, “Why not at New Braunfels?”

Well, someone must have gotten in touch with someone who got in touch with someone else, because it was reported in the morning release of the November 17 Neu Braunfelser-Zeitung, that the train would come through New Braunfels at 1:50 p.m. for a five-minute stop. A five-minute stop would “afford a chance for citizens to view the precious relic.” Around 2,000 people assembled at the Missouri-Kansas-Texas depot to witness the historic event. Businesses were decorated with U.S. and Texas flags and then closed at noon to allow folks to gather at the station and along the railway tracks on both sides. A local band came to play patriotic music. The New Braunfels Academy released its students. The children then collected again into a group and with little American flags in hand, prepared to sing, “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee.”

But the train didn’t come….

A little before 4 p.m., the much-delayed special locomotive was seen coming down the tracks. The townsfolk and children quickly regrouped in readiness and the band began playing. The locomotive was pulling six cars. One car accommodated the bell’s travelling committee and custodians. A special all-steel Pullman flat car, with a brass railing barrier, carried the Liberty Bell which was suspended in the center on a wooden yoke so it could be clearly seen. The children began singing their practiced song accompanied by the band. Reporters shared that “the hundreds of school children, waving as many little Stars and Stripes, made a most attractive and animating impression, hardly to be forgotten during the lifetime of those who witnessed it.”

They waited to see the Liberty Bell come through town in 1915; we waited to see the Liberty Bell come through New Braunfels in 1976. What I just learned in writing this story is that we 1976ers did not see the real Liberty Bell. What we saw was a scaled down version — well, one of many scaled down versions which traversed America on the Freedom Trains. I must admit, I’m feeling a bit depressed by this revelation.

Sources: Sophienburg Museum & Archives: Haas collection; archived newspaper collections; Texas State Historical Association; Smithsonian Magazine; America’s Freedom Trains.

“Around the Sophienburg” is published every other weekend in the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung.

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By Tara V. Kohlenberg —

Today, July 4, 2026, marks 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence. America’s 250th birthday. New Braunfels has celebrated America’s birthday for 170 years. The celebrations have changed over time but are no less important.

New Braunfels has a long and storied history of July Fourth celebrations, the first being held in July of 1846. Our earliest founders arrived in the Republic of Texas from Germanic regions of Europe in 1845 when the fledgling America was a mere 69 years old. Within one short year, Texas was admitted into the Union, making the citizens of New Braunfels new Americans.

The first Fourth of July celebration in New Braunfels began with a bang, literally. Two cannons on Sophienburg Hill fired off at sunrise to begin the day. The Adelsverein headquarters building on Sophienburg Hill displayed a large American flag of 28 stars. That flag raising was significant because just the year before, Prince Carl had hoisted a German flag above the Sophienburg while a group of settlers strung up the flag for the Republic of Texas on the Plaza. Three different flags flew over New Braunfels within one year.

The newly minted Americans were very patriotic and found it exciting to celebrate their nation in grand displays of music, parades and patriotic oratory (speeches). Nearly every organization had a band or choral group.

In 1866, the day began with cannon fire. The Declaration of Independence was read by a prominent citizen followed by a short address and most likely the Pledge of Allegiance in German. A festive procession of townspeople was led through the streets by the brass band of the 4th Regulars Union Cavalry Regiment followed by evening dances in several dance halls.

One of the most elaborate and dramatic Fourth of July celebrations ever held in early Texas was the one in New Braunfels saluting the U.S. Centennial in 1876. It was so extensive and elaborate that it received statewide publicity. The Texas Post, a San Antonio German newspaper, reported, “The Centennial of the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America was celebrated with dignity befitting the jubilee, greater than in any other city of the State of Texas.”

Citizens went all out for the two-day celebration, decorating their homes and businesses with patriotic flags and wreaths of cedar and mountain laurel. For the parade, they built four triumphal arches downtown close to the plaza and hung a giant picture of George Washington in the Zeitung printing shop.

Setting the tone for the next day’s events, a cannon on Sophienburg Hill was fired 13 times in commemoration of the 13 original colonies. On the Fourth, people were awakened at dawn by the rapid firing of the cannon, followed by trumpets heralding the beginning of the festivities.

The centennial parade was a historical review of the United States of America, played out in pageantry on a grand scale under the 37-star flag. The parade began with bands on decorated wagons, Columbus, George Washington on horseback, followed by floats representing Prince Carl and the founding of New Braunfels, the Liberty Bell, Lady Liberty and a myriad of floats by local organizations and industries.

The entire procession crossed the low-water bridge into Comaltown, where on a large open green (now Eagles Hall), a dance platform had been constructed along with tables and chairs. Hermann Seele gave the opening address before dancing commenced until sunup — for both days!

In 1886, the New Braunfels Volunteer Fire Department was formed. The volunteer department was more than a fire-fighting organization. They were one of the most active civic organizations in town, collecting toys for children and fundraising for fire equipment by putting on costumed shows (they had a band!). For more than 75 years, they were in charge of the Fourth of July festivities.

By the turn of the century, Fourth of July in New Braunfels meant not only parades and speeches but concerts on the Plaza (thus the Bandstand), foot races, baseball games, dances, and fireworks! By 1920s and ‘30s, the Volunteer Fire Department made pumper races (firemen competitions) and water displays part of the fun, shooting arches of water through the air on Main Plaza. There was also miniature golf, boating on the lake and swimming in Landa’s Park.

Many still remember the ‘60s when people gathered across the Landa Park Lake to watch the fireworks. They were set off by local firefighters trained to handle fireworks. Although there were a lot of aerial displays, a number of ground-supported fireworks displays geared to the crowd seated across the lake. Everyone knew it was the end when they saw the American flag sparkling across the water.

New Braunfels grew and changed, gearing summer holidays to more tourist trade. Fireworks displays became the work of professional companies. The volunteer fire Department disbanded as the number of paid fire personnel grew and public Fourth of July events dwindled.

In 1978, Mayor Margaret Naegelin invited city councilmembers to her home for coffee before travelling to the plaza in antique cars, where they enjoyed ice cream and lemonade while the courthouse bells played. Mrs. Naegelin, who was also the president of the Sophienburg Museum and Archives, unknowingly initiated the first Sophienburg Ol’ Fashion Fourth of July Parade and Patriotic Program in Downtown New Braunfels. This year marks 48 years. It has grown into a collaboration with the City of New Braunfels and remains one of the oldest traditions celebrated by our Founding Fathers — of both America and New Braunfels.

Happy 250th birthday, America!

Sources: Sophienburg Museum and Archives; Oma & Opa, German Texas Pioneers by Curt E. Schmidt; Around the Sophienburg by Myra Lee Adams Goff.

“Around the Sophienburg” is published every other weekend in the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung.

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By Myra Lee Adams Goff —

The first July 4 celebration in New Braunfels took place in 1845, just four months after the first emigrants crossed the Guadalupe into what would be the “Neu Heimat” (New home). A lot has happened historically since that first Independence celebration. For one thing, two statues were placed on the Main Plaza commemorating the men who fought in the Civil War and World War I. This is their story.

One statue located on the Main Plaza is called “Spirit of the American Doughboy”. Doughboy became a nickname for American soldiers in World War I and it stuck. No one knows where the name comes from but the term supposedly goes back long before the Civil War. In WWI both Americans and British soldiers were called Doughboys. Originally the term was not a compliment. Herman Melville in “Moby Dick” calls the cabin steward a doughboy suggesting a negative comparison to the sun burnt whalers and harpooners. Later the US Army cavalry looked down on the infantry calling them Doughboys, referring to the shape of the infantrymen’s buttons on their jackets that looked like dumplings .Whatever, it was not a compliment and mostly mocked the American infantryman. After WWI, Doughboy became a popular name for all American troops. This changed by WWII when American service men were called G.I.s or Yanks. Doughboys are now mostly associated with WWI.

Doughboy (we’ll call the statue that name) was placed on the Main Plaza in 1937 in observance of the 19th anniversary of the Armistice of WWI. It is in full uniform complete with pack, helmet, grenade and rifle. The granite base contains tree stumps and barbed wire. There it remained for 49 years until it was run over by an inebriated driver in 1986. The statue broke into five pieces, losing its head, both arms and half a leg. A clever Herald writer quipped “A farewell to arms”.

When the statue was knocked off of its rather large base, an unexpected tombstone was revealed on which the statue stood. It had an inscription on it: “T. Stokely M. Holmes, born Aug 21, 1828, died July 28, 1905. A kind affectionate husband, a fond father and a friend to all”. How this tombstone became part of the Doughboy is not known. Looking up that name in Ancestry.com, one finds this person buried in the Tuttle Cemetery in Guadalupe County: “Stokely M. Holmes, b Aug 21, 1828 and d July 28, 1905”. Obviously the Doughboy tombstone was rejected because it had incorrect information. It has rested under Doughboy since 1937.

Who was the sculptor of Doughboy? E.M. Viquesney was the sculptor of the cast zinc statue. He was a “chip off the old block” because his grandfather, Charles Alfred Viquesney was a stone carver in France who came to the US in 1842. Then Charles Alfred’s son, also Alfred, followed in his father’s trade with a stone carving business, making monuments and carvings of angels, crosses and other figures. These figurines were very popular as early decorations of gravesites. Viquesney, the sculptor of Doughboy, learned the business from his father.

Viquesney designed monuments at Clark’s Monument Works. He went on to design and sculpt many other memorials during his lifetime, too many to name here. They ranged from a Confederate War Memorial to his last sculpture in 1946 titled “Last of the Comrades”. All of his sculptures honored war heroes. Sadly, following completion of “Last of the Comrades”, Visquesney took his own life.

In 1921, the Doughboy sculptor won a national American Legion award for design. With the success of the Doughboy statue he received orders all over the United States for replicas. In Texas alone this Doughboy can be seen in Canyon, Crowell, Ft. Worth, Grosebeck, Lufkin, Sinton, Wichita Falls, Vernon, Texarkana and New Braunfels.

With this success, he produced 12 inch replicas of this statue. This is a common practice for sculptors and he sold as many as 25,000 of these miniatures. One of the miniatures was given by Viquesney to President Warren Harding and one was given to Gen. George Pershing. He also made lamps, and candleholders and incense burners in the shape of the statue .The last Doughboy statue was produced in 1942. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if there was one of these miniatures in someone’s attic right here in New Braunfels.

Mr. and Mrs. E.A. Clousnitzer had originally presented money in 1937 to the local American Legion to purchase both the Doughboy statue and another statue placed on the south side of the Plaza called “To the Memory of our Fallen Soldiers of the Civil War 1861-65”, honoring all soldiers of that war. The statue actually honors both sides of the Civil War, the Confederacy and the Union, because both sides in this conflict in Comal County lost soldiers in that war.

Another move took place when New Braunfels was getting ready to celebrate its Sesquicentennial in 1996. After refurbishing both statue soldiers and replacing stolen guns, they were placed on the same side of Main Plaza and rededicated in 1997. Both statues are now on the north side of the Plaza. Does this placement seem a little confusing to you? This might help: Hermann Seele said that when Nicholas Zink was plotting out the streets of NB, he followed the wagon trails, more or less. If you go to Main Plaza with a compass, you will find that North and South Seguin actually go in a northwest and southeast direction and West and East San Antonio go in a southwest and northeast direction. I suggest that you just go down there and find the statues yourself.

When you go to downtown to see the Sophienburg’s July 4th Parade, make your acquaintance with these two statues and remember the ones they honor.

“Around the Sophienburg” is published every other weekend in the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung.

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By Keva Hoffmann Boardman —

New Braunfels citizens have never been shy in expressing their opinions in print or in demonstration. No other subject was more hotly contested than the issue of prohibition.

In December 1917, the 18th Amendment – the Prohibition Amendment – was passed. It banned the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquor. However, the political, moral and constitutional fight over prohibition in Texas began when The Republic of Texas passed the first local-option law in 1843. This allowed towns and counties, not the Republic, to decide the issue for themselves. The ensuing years saw the slow swing from anti-prohibition to prohibition.

In 1887, prior to a statewide prohibition referendum, the local newspaper ran many articles and editorials against prohibition. The referendum failed spectacularly across the state: 220,627 votes against, 129,270 in favor. After the referendum’s defeat, Bulverde made it known that there was not one vote cast in favor of the referendum in their precinct. Clear Springs held a huge victory dance. One local establishment even refused to sell a beer to a local prohibitionist telling him to “go drink water”. In the following month, the “Victory Banner of 1858” was delivered to New Braunfels from the States Executive Committee of the Anti-prohibitionists. The banner, featuring Sam Houston and his motto “Texas and Freedom”, was given as an award for the staunch anti-prohibition feelings displayed at the polls. The banner also commended Comal for being the leading democratic county of the State.

Prohibition gained ground after the turn of the century. Texas “drys” tried to pass prohibition legislation again in 1908 and 1911.

The most colorful and “heartfelt” demonstrations Comal Countians have ever undertaken were anti-prohibition events. In October 1908, several rallies were held in the county with the largest taking place on Main Plaza. Symbolically empty beer kegs and planks performed the job of bench seating. Participants needed to be comfortable while listening to the several important and influential men speaking in German about the loss of personal liberties from prohibition laws. German speaking events were very popular and drew people from all the neighboring counties.

Then in 1909, New Braunfels made headlines across the state. Prohibitionist Texas Governor Thomas Mitchell Campbell declared war on the counties not enforcing the 1907 Baskin-McGregor Act. The act mandated that saloons in Texas be closed on Sundays and prohibited women (waitresses, bartenders or prostitutes), musical entertainment and gambling from barrooms. “Sunday closing” or “Blue laws” meant that establishments in urban areas selling alcohol had to close at midnight on Saturday and stay closed until Monday morning. For New Braunfels, the part of Baskin-McGregor that applied was the enforcement of the Sunday closing law. It was a true infringement and violation of their personal liberty; never in 63 years had local businesses been forced to “put the lid on” Sundays.

The governor issued ultimatums to towns with large German populations like Galveston, San Antonio and New Braunfels. These were followed by threats to enforce the Baskin-McGregor Act by sending in the Texas Rangers. Governor Campbell put on more pressure and considered holding back money from the County Commissioners until they agreed to comply and enforce the law. Men from Austin came to talk to the locals and local leaders went to Austin to talk. December 29th was set as the day of reckoning. With Rangers enroute, New Braunfelsers locked the doors of their drinking places at noon and participated in a very formal, very somber “Funeral for Lady Liberty and Lady Freedom”.

Hundreds of local men, donned in their best black suits and top hats, met on West San Antonio Street. Following the famed “Victory Banner of 1858”and the “Banner of 1887” carried by Ferdinand Paulus and Julius Wills (both famed for their acting abilities), the men walked slowly and purposefully in mourning behind a decorated caisson carrying life-size coffins fashioned from heavy paper. Inside were paper “corpses” of Liberty and Freedom. Local leaders were pallbearers. On either side of the funeral wagon were large signs flaunting the words, “We close of our own accord and not by force” and “Farewell to our local self-government”.

A 25-piece brass band followed the hearse playing a specially composed, “Baskin-McGregor Waltz”. The waltz was “pronounced by music critics to be a gem in its own way.” Straight rows of male mourners walked in stately manner behind the band. Black draped bicycles, wagons and carriages of more mourners made up the rest of the parade. Another draped wagon filled with an orchestra brought up the rear.

The funeral march made its dignified way three quarters around the Plaza. The male mourners then joined women and children already gathered around the Bandstand. The newspapers estimated that a crowd of more than a thousand attended the demonstration.

Incredible photos of the event show that a long paper banner was unrolled which was covered with a tongue-in-cheek German poem and illustrations. After the obligatory speeches and obituary, the townspeople cremated the effigies of Lady Liberty and Lady Freedom. Yes, they were burned right there on the Plaza.

You have to wonder if the Texas Rangers were standing there watching this truly remarkable example of First Amendment freedoms along with the reporters. I am certain many out-of-towners agreed with the New Braunfels citizens.

You will be able to learn more about this event in a special exhibit at the Sophienburg Museum & Archives opening this summer.

“Around the Sophienburg” is published every other weekend in the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung.

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