By Myra Lee Adams Goff Hermann Seele arrived in Galveston on Dec. 13, 1843. He had come alone to make his home in Texas. On Christmas Eve, he walked the streets of Galveston totally alone and his thoughts were of home in Germany. He remembered how the children stepped up

By Myra Lee Adams Goff Prince Carl, leader of the Adelsverein emigration group and Alamo hero Jim Bowie were vastly different from each other. And yet, the two had a round-about connection. They were both in Texas at about the same time, they both had a New Braunfels connection, and

By Myra Lee Adams Goff Emmie Seele Faust was the daughter of one of New Braunfels’ most outstanding citizens, Hermann Seele. He provided a good roll model for his daughter and for her 90 years, she contributed much to her beloved city. Mrs. Faust’s father, you recall, taught the first

By Myra Lee Adams Goff “Treue der Union”. These are words that memorialize a group of young Texas men who were loyal to the Union during the Civil War. It’s a sad story that has a New Braunfels connection through the three sons of Wilhelm and Caroline Brückisch. Wilhelm Brückisch

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

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,

By Myra Lee Adams Goff The year 1946 was a premium year for celebrations here in New Braunfels. From its beginning in 1845, the town had celebrated almost everything with parades, dances, festivals, (Spass muss sein, or fun must be) but 1946 was special. World War II had ended in

By Myra Lee Adams Goff It seems to me that New Braunfels is one of those towns that have it all; beautiful rivers, good people, and a very interesting historic background. And NB was one of those fortunate towns that was not bypassed by the railroad and had a train whose

By Myra Lee Adams Goff Would New Braunfels history be different if in 1840 there had been communication technology like Face book, Twitter, Google, e-mail, and texting? Would the Adelsverein and the immigrants have had a better picture of the whole situation here in Texas and more importantly for us,

By Myra Lee Adams Goff This week 164 years ago, on August 11, 1845, Hermann Seele called to order the first school in New Braunfels under elm trees at the bottom of Sophienburg Hill. Fifteen children were taught reading, writing, arithmetic, English and German. The picture shows Austin and Macy