Albert C. Fischer, in his own words

By Keva Hoffmann Boardman — This autobiographical sketch was written prior to a Reflections: Oral History Program taping recorded on November 13, 1979. Mr. Fischer was born in December of 1896. He was the son of Fritz Fischer and Caroline nee Klinger Fischer and one of 12 children. He passed

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Photo Caption: H.W. Schmidt cigar box with circa 1845 cigar cutter and meerschaum cigar holder.

A good smoke was a hometown cigar

By Keva Hoffmann Boardman — So, I’m still in “cigar-mode.” Once begun, research on a subject takes me down many roads, each with their own questions to answer. For instance, I found out that early New Braunfels had cigar makers. These were not big outfits, but little factories which had

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For the love of antlers

By Keva Hoffmann Boardman — This is the story of a boy born in Erbach, Hessen, Germany. It is about a boy who was fascinated with antlers. It is about that boy growing up and emigrating to Texas and creating his own future. Ernst Dosch was born in 1822. He

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Trading stamps in New Braunfels

By Tara V. Kohlenberg — Did your mother ever give you the job of pasting trading stamps into books? Mine did. My childhood is full of rainy afternoons spent licking (or wetting with a sponge after I got smart) drawers full of S&H Green stamps. That entitled me to browse

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Moving along

By Tara V. Kohlenberg — We have become somewhat accustomed to seeing motor homes, mobile homes, and tiny homes as they move down the highway to their new resting place. However, seeing a stucco building moving through downtown is more of a spectacle. That is exactly what I saw one

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Snake tales

Keva Hoffmann Boardman — Texas is the perfect environment for many creatures. One of them is snakes, and here in central Texas we have poisonous ones: copperheads, coral snakes, cottonmouths (water moccasins) and rattlesnakes. Early Comal Countians were very familiar with our slithering neighbors. The NB Zeitung records many encounters

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Look and Learn! Part 1

By Keva Hoffmann Boardman — Don’t know your early NB history? No excuses, people. There are many outstanding works of art and memorials you probably see every day just driving through our beautiful downtown. Pack up the kids or load up your Omie and Opie and take a mini field trip

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New Braunfels calling

By Tara V. Kohlenberg — The multitude of seasonal well wishes received over the past month got me to thinking. Christmas cards and actual phone calls seem to be dwindling while texts, Instagram and Facebook posts (at least at my house) are on the rise. It’s amazing to consider just how

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Dr. Otto R. Grube practiced in New Braunfels

By Keva Hoffmann Boardman, Sophienburg Curator Occasionally, I need to look through the Sophienburg’s newspaper collection. The papers, on microfilm, date from 1852 to present day; it is an amazing resource. Often, an unrelated search sends me “down a bunny trail” (of course, I follow!). As I was researching pigeons

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Landa first fair president

By Myra Lee Adams Goff It did not surprise me to find out that Harry Landa was the first president of the Comal County Fair Association. In those early days before the turn of the century, his name appears over and over for new projects, new industry, innovative ideas, and

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