Emmie Seele Faust Memorial Library

By Tara V. Kohlenberg — As a child, going to the library with my mother was an awe-inspiring event. We mostly went during the summer when school was out. I remember it being cool and quiet. I felt very grown up because they had children’s books in a gated area

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Karl Klinger: the first tour guide of NB

By Tara Kohlenberg, Sophienburg Executive Director — Tourism has been an important economic facet in New Braunfels for many years. All can agree that the beauty of natural springs bubbling out of a rocky hillside to form the crystal clear Comal River, Landa Park, historic homes and businesses, music venues in

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Faust Hotel has an interesting history

By Myra Lee Adams Goff Once upon a time there were two large Victorian houses sitting side by side on Seguin Ave. 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

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Collecting, restoring, repurposing, categorizing, and identifying at the Sophienburg

By Myra Lee Adams Goff What’s going on at the Hill? The Sophienburg Hill, that is. Busy, busy. There is constant change by collecting, restoring, repurposing, categorizing, identifying, and just about all of those “ing” words. Probably the biggest change in the museum itself is the closing of the year-long

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First Baptist Church dedicates Bill and Gwen Arnold Ministry Center

By Myra Lee Adams Goff Next Sunday the First Baptist Church will reach another milestone with the dedication of a Christian Life Center named the Bill and Gwen Arnold Ministry Center. The first attempt to establish a Baptist Church in New Braunfels was in 1905 when the San Marcos Baptist

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Tenacity leads to progress

By Myra Lee Adams Goff Recently in the “Smithsonian” magazine, consumer sensor expert, Kevin Ashton, talked about successful innovator skills. His observation was that they possessed tenacity. “The difference between successful innovators and everyone else is that innovators keep failing until they don’t.” He also said “For most of history,

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Weihnachtsmarkt opens this Friday at the Civic Center

By Myra Lee Adams Goff You have to admit that in South Texas it’s sometimes hard to get in the Christmas spirit. Where is the snow and the one-horse open sleigh, ho, ho, ho? The Sophienburg Museum and Archives tries its best to create the Christmas atmosphere in the Civic

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Phoenix Saloon applies for historical designation

By Myra Lee Adams Goff Another downtown building, the Phoenix Saloon owners Ross and Debbie Fortune, are applying for a Texas Historical Marker. The Phoenix Saloon history really does live up to the story of the Phoenix, a legendary bird that builds its own funeral pyre, throws itself into the

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“Sprechen Sie Sausage and history?”

By Myra Lee Adams Goff “Sprechen Sie sausage?” I love it! It’s this year’s Wurstfest advertising gimmick. I want to add another expression for those of you that are so inclined: “Sprechen Sie history?” Well, maybe not, but if you are interested, read on. A good way to find out

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Joe Sanders has impact on tourism

By Myra Lee Adams Goff On May 8, 1914, the New Braunfels Herald’s front page story announced that “a model federal highway was to be built from Austin to San Antonio”. This Federal Post Road was a forerunner to IH 35. The same year that the road was completed in

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