Dollhouse collection displayed at Sophienburg

By Myra Lee Adams Goff Don’t we all love the feeling of an old-fashioned Christmas? Once again, the Sophienburg has decorated for the Christmas season, but this year wins the prize. The collection and exhibit ladies have put together a dollhouse display of 14 different dollhouses plus small doll collections. Entering the foyer is a […]

So, what exactly is under Canyon Lake?

By Myra Lee Goff What is under about 100 feet of water in Canyon Lake? Or better still, what would still be there if the lake had not been constructed? I started looking and found out: ranch land, farm land, trees, cemeteries, Guadalupe River and the site of two very small communities, Hancock and Cranes […]

What’s the connection between von Coll and Clemens Dam?

By Myra Lee Adams Goff Did you know that there was a connection between Jean Jacques von Coll, the Adelsverein’s bookkeeper, and the tube chute at Clemens Dam? It’s not inner tubes. Give up? In my last column, I wrote about why von Coll came to Texas. (See Sophienburg.com, July 12, 2011) This one’s worth […]

New Braunfels’ first doctor’s life filled with contradictions

By Myra Lee Adams Goff In the Sophienburg Museum, there is a display of several prominent early civic leaders in New Braunfels. You will see Zink, von Coll, Lindheimer, Seele, Ervendberg, Meusebach and Dr. Theodore Koester. It seems that Koester was the most controversial of all these early leaders. Dr. Koester was born in Frankfurt, […]

New Braunfels newspaper has changed with the times

By Myra Lee Adams Goff When our town was only 7 years old, citizens saw a need for a newspaper. These citizens organized themselves into a company and through public subscription financed what became the second oldest continuous newspaper in Texas. It was in German because that was the mother language, but time changed that. […]

Sophienburg to copy early church records

By Myra Lee Adams Goff A very important agreement has been reached between the Sophienburg Museum and Archives and First Protestant Church, one of extreme historic significance. The church will allow the Sophienburg to copy all early church records, including minutes, birth records, death records, and many more papers of significance. The First Protestant Church […]

Adelsverein promise of schools came through

By Myra Lee Adams Goff Education for all was one of the promises by the Adelsverein to the German immigrants who came to Texas 165 years ago. Just five months after the first immigrants arrived, this promise began. Rev. Louis Ervendberg who was engaged by Prince Carl to tend to the religious needs of the […]

Genealogy

Genealogy A-Z Names FH # SURNAME Title Ref No A-08 AHRENS Descendents of Heinrich Conrad Ahrens GS0134 A-01 ALTGELT Reminiscence of Altgelt Family R0021.003 A-02 ALTWEIN Desc of Johann Gotthult Altwein & Wilhelmine Quant R0773.001 A-03 ALVES Friedrich Alves Family History R0338.001 A-07 ANDREWS Charles H. Andrews Descendants R0624.001 A-04 ARMKE Friedrich Armke Family Journal […]

Lindheimer’s Texas

Lindheimer’s Texas Lindheimer’s Texas highlights the contributions of Ferdinand J. Lindheimer, the Father of Texas Botany. This immigrant from Frankfurt, Germany, lived and collected in Central Texas and pioneered the sciences throughout Texas along with some lesser-known 19th C naturalists. In his book, Naturalists of the Frontier, Samuel Wood Geiser, chair of the Biology Department […]

Weather reports from New Braunfels

By Keva Hoffmann Boardman — I wake up in the morning and the first thing I do is pull up the weather app on my phone. I want to know temperature and precipitation possibilities in order to get dressed appropriately. Humans have always watched the weather. Where to settle, when to plant and harvest, what […]