1881 bird’s-eye view of New Braunfels
By Keva Hoffmann Boardman — Created by Augustus Koch in 1881, the “Birds Eye View of New Braunfels” is so much more than just an etching of early New Braunfels. An aerial view of the city lying nestled between the rise of the Balcones Escarpment and the black dirt
New Year’s traditions around the world
By Myra Lee Adams Goff — Have you heard of Sylvester’s Abend? Have you heard of New Year’s Eve? Two names for the same event. To arrive at the Gregorian calendar that we and most European countries use was not an easy process. Many changes took place before the final
Beauty at one hundred and twelve
By Tara V. Kohlenberg — As I sit gazing out the back door of the Sophienburg museum on this gloomy December afternoon, it makes me smile as I watch the yearlings romp and play. The does graze nearby in an old pecan orchard adjacent to the Dittlinger home. The jewel
Early German immigrants faced tough times at Christmas
By Myra Lee Adams Goff — The year is 1849, just five years after the first emigrants arrived on the Texas coast. Hermann Seele has been invited to spend December 26th with Pastor L.C. Ervendberg, his wife Luise, their five children, and the 19 orphans left parentless by the devastating immigration
Let there be Christmas light
By Keva Hoffmann Boardman — Decorations for Christmas are up at the Sophienburg Museum and Archives. This year we are highlighting 20th century Christmas décor of the 1920s–1960s. You will be wonderfully transported back to your childhood. We also discovered several large boxes with Christmas lights which led me to
Christmas from Germany to New Braunfels
By Tara V. Kohlenberg — You might think it too early to speak of Christmas, but Halloween is over, Main Plaza is decked out in lights and we are now enjoying Wurstfest, the Ten-Day Salute to Sausage! Can Christmas be far behind? I think not. So, in keeping with the
The Pablo Diaz story
By Keva Hoffmann Boardman – Sometimes a little tidbit of information sets me off on a bunny trail. I took one of those trails recently after finding and reading a 1975 letter from Oscar Haas to Mrs. Gregorio Coronado here in New Braunfels. Haas was drawing her attention to the
What’s a vara?
By Keva Hoffmann Boardman — “What’s a vara?” was asked by one of the Sophienburg’s volunteers. “It’s a length of measure used by the Spanish for measuring land,” I glibly answered. “We have a vara chain on display in the museum.” Sometimes I impress myself. I got to thinking that
Horse racing at the county fair
By Tara V. Kohlenberg — By now you know that “it’s fair time!” This fabulous, fun-filled week of the Comal County Fair brings the entire community together and hopefully slides in on the first norther of the year. Yeah, that weather thing is not happening this year, but still very
Jardin de las almas
By Keva Hoffmann Boardman — How we honor our dead says a lot about who we are. It embodies what we believe and how we live and die. For Hispanic Heritage Month, the Sophienburg Museum and West Side Community Center and Library have partnered to focus on where local Hispanic