By Tara V. Kohlenberg —

When I was 6 years old, I remember proudly being able to finally count to 100 without messing up. I counted 100 pennies. I counted 100 M&M’s (though I rarely made it through that without eating some). Those were tangible. It is still very hard for me to wrap my head around counting 100 of anything intangible … like 100 years. What was it even like 100 years ago in 1926?

Well, World War I ended in 1918. The U.S. economy was humming along, and automobiles became common place. Queen Elizabeth II was born, and the magician Houdini died. The famed U.S. Route 66 was established, connecting Chicago, Illinois to Santa Monica, California. Closer to home, the towering Comal Power Plant (LCRA, now The Landmark Apartments) was built, and, believe it or not, the Women’s Civic Improvement Club funded the installation of a women’s restroom under the bandstand on Main Plaza.

As New Braunfels grew, the number of churches grew to serve the needs of people moving into the community. In August of 1925, an announcement appeared in the New Braunfels Herald touting Rev. H. Schliesser, a field missionary of the Lutheran Texas Synod, was in New Braunfels to organize a Lutheran congregation. The first services, conducted in German, were upstairs at Mergele Hall.

The Mergeles of Harry Mergele’s Hall are founding families from France. They were merchants. Their home is the little green building that sits behind the store at 166 Comal Avenue (now the chiropractor office). Mergele Hall may not ring a bell with you because the building has had so many other occupants. The two-story building, now the home of Water 2 Wine at 185 S. Seguin, has housed many entities over the years, including a place for the militia to drill, a dance studio, piano studio, and an assembly hall, part of Denson-Dedeke Gifts (downstairs) in the ‘80s and the original retail space for Celebrations Bridal (upstairs). St. Paul Lutheran was one of many churches that got their start upstairs at Mergele Hall.

The new Evangelical Lutheran St. Paul Congregation was established and officially recognized March 21, 1926. The church continued to grow under the guidance of the Rev. H Schliesser. The services were conducted in German in the morning and English in the afternoon with Sunday School in between.

By October 1926, the Lutheran Mission Board of the Iowa Synod voted to contribute to the St. Paul congregation, helping them purchase a house and lot on San Antonio Street for a parsonage, along with two adjacent lots to build a church on Santa Clara. They operated out of those few buildings for a while as they continued to grow their services.

Within a year, they added a St Paul Lutheran Ladies Aid and St. Paul Luther League (for teens), and the St. Paul Lutheran Brotherhood. 1928 saw more opportunities to participate in worship with the creation of the sanctuary and junior choirs. Then, the Great Depression hit.

In 1939, Rev. H.A. Heineke formed a building committee to begin planning a new church building. The church, designed by noted architect, Jeremiah Schmidt, and built by C. R. Roessler, was built of native fieldstone with beautiful dark wood interior beams/trim and stained-glass windows. The $6,000 ($110,000 today) note covered the building and furniture. The church, now known as the Chapel, was dedicated on April 14, 1940. The Chapel is one of the only Jeremiah Schmidt buildings in New Braunfels without a Texas State Historical marker.

St. Paul’s congregation continued to grow, much like churches across the U.S. in the 1960s. This growth prompted the congregation to expand their footprint. In 1962, a new, larger sanctuary was built. The new church building wrapped around the original Jeremiah Schmidt chapel, with its modern design incorporating similar stone, wood beams and colorful stained-glass windows.

With New Braunfels being 180 years old, you might wonder why it took 80 years for a Lutheran church congregation to be established. Well, there is a whole backstory to that. The Lutheran denominations began in Europe and arrived in Texas with German, Swedish, Czech immigrants. In 1850, Pastor Kleiss of Baden, Germany, arrived in Texas to check out the possibilities for new Lutheran congregations. He established himself in the Hortontown and Neighborsville communities across the river from New Braunfels.

In 1851, the German-speaking congregation erected St. Martin Church, the oldest Lutheran church in Texas. A school building was built in 1870 (still standing across from New Braunfels Conservation Society gate). The congregation grew until the turn of the century. St. Martin’s was part of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Texas. It became difficult to supply churches with German-speaking pastors who were of Evangelical or Reformed faith. When services were discontinued, the congregants attended nearby German-speaking churches, First Protestant Church in New Braunfels or Friedens Church in Geronimo.

St. Martin’s Church was taken over and restored by the St. Paul Lutheran Congregation in 1963. St. Martin’s Church was moved to its present place in the Hortontown Cemetery when Loop 337 was built and is marked by a Texas Historical Marker. St. Paul Lutheran Church still holds special services in St. Martins.

One hundred years ago, St. Paul Lutheran began a journey in Christ and extended itself to not only take care of future congregants, but to honor the history of Lutheranism in Texas. Here’s to counting 100 more years!

Sources: Sophienburg Museum and Archives

“Around the Sophienburg” is published every other weekend in the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung.

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By Tara V. Kohlenberg —

We are fortunate to live in a community proud of its heritage, culture and architecture. Our historic districts and downtown are proof of that pride. It seems so very idyllic, people creating a community by the river, building homes and businesses. The town prospers and new brick buildings to replacing the first crude wooden structures so that they will last. Or do they?

Those that we still see close to Main Plaza seem to be surviving, but a number of lavish 19th- and early 20th-century homes were torn down to make way for business structures. Think Landa mansion or the Timmermann house. I think of them as “ghost homes,” because the memory of their haunting beauty is all that is left.

One such ghost home stood on the corner of W. San Antiono Street and Academy Avenue where it was first occupied by the Holz family. Nicholas Holz, at age 20, immigrated from Germany in 1852. He was a blacksmith and wheelwright by trade who did well over the years. His son, Adolph, joined him in N. Holz & Son Implement Co. and in 1908, they built a large two-story building at 474 W. San Antonio St. to sell farm implements, buggies, and wagons. In 1909, Nicholas retired from business and it was sold to Bartels, Sands & Co.

That same year, Adolph Holz engaged architect Carl von Seutter of San Antonio to design a magnificent home at 417 W. San Antonio St. Von Seutter was well known for designing the now-historic home for Otto Koehler, founder of the San Antonio Brewing Association which became Pearl Brewing Company.

The magnificent home was built by Christian Herry for $15,000 with a crew of about 15, including his sons. Louis Herry was the project superintendent. Son Otto was the masonry foreman and son Alfred was a plasterer. The house was a two-story brick with elements of both Greek Revival and Beaux Arts styles of architecture. The building’s symmetry was offset by gabled front and side-porch porticos. Large, ornate Corinthian columns supported double galleries with heavy balustrades, gracefully wrapping around the front and side of the house.

The opulence of the interior was testament to the owner’s wealth. The grand staircase and house trims were all dark wood. The entry hall floor was parquet laid out in 12-nch sheets. The living room walls had special designs created in plaster to look like large picture frames without the pictures. A mural in a tree pattern was painted on the dining room walls. At the back of the house was a solarium with black and white tiles with a view of a magnolia tree.

The tin roof was crafted to resemble Spanish tile. Beneath the house, a large basement held a washroom and a storage space for wood carried upstairs in a dumbwaiter. Behind the house was a carriage house/livery that eventually became a garage.

After the elder Holzs died in 1910 and 1915, Adolph turned his sales savvy to real estate development. He and his wife raised their four children while enjoying a healthy social life. He was neighbors with George Eiband and Wm. Clemens. Things seemed to go south, however, when multiple lawsuits over real estate compensation were filed against Adolph and wife, Hulda, in the early ‘20s. Multiple properties were sold on the courthouse steps to satisfy their debts, including the implement building at 474 and a storefront at 301 W. San Antonio (now Clay Casa) in 1921. The house was sold to Otto Timmermann Sr. for $19,500 (about $2.5 million today) in 1924 before she and Adolph moved to San Antonio. Hulda died in 1925 after a long illness. Adolph ended up working as a farm laborer in Atascosa County for a time before living out his life with daughter and son-in-law, Ella and Harry Kastener in Milltown.

The next resident of the house was Otto Timmermann Sr. He was the son of Heinrich “Henry” Timmermann, who immigrated in 1850. Mr. Timmermann and wife, Alma Stautzenberger, of Guadalupe County, were farmers. He was said to be the land baron of Geronimo Creek. Upon his retirement, they moved into the old Holz mansion.

Otto Sr. lived in the home about 14 years until his death in 1938. Mrs. Timmermann continued to live in the house on the first floor. After World War II, when returning soldiers took up most of the town’s apartments for rent, Mrs. Timmermann rented out the top floor as a separate apartment. The second floor had a small kitchen, a living room, bedrooms and one bathroom in the hall. One of the bedrooms had six windows. Boarders had to use the back stairs and door, never the main entrance.

Mrs. Timmermann died in 1960. In 1962, the estate sold her house to Rudy Seidel. He used it as a temporary warehouse for hi-fidelity consoles, radios, cameras and electronic flash equipment for Seidel Camera next door. The house was then sold to Howard Hoerster.

It was said that the house had fallen into disrepair, but as a little girl, I looked at that house every time we passed by on the way to my Oma’s house. The grand entryway out front was huge in my eyes. I really wanted to be able to go inside one day, but that was not to be. In January of 1964, the beautiful, old, stately mansion was torn down. I cried. At seven years old, even though I did not know anyone that lived there or how important the architect was, I knew it was a treasure lost and I cried.

Howard Hoerster owned Hoerster Tire & Supply, which was previously located at 270 W. San Antonio St. (now Gourmage). They tore down everything but the large magnolia tree that stood outside the solarium window. They filled in the basement, smoothed it over and built a brand new 6500 square foot brick tire store and service center. The building served thousands of automobiles over time as Hoerster, Goodyear Service Center and DeStefano Tire before being refitted as an office building a couple of years ago.

I have visited Europe and have seen for myself the way different communities hold on to their culture. They still live and work in places that are sometimes 1,000 years old. The structures are proudly maintained for the next generation. Even in areas where war has scarred the land, buildings show dedication to restoration. They are not torn down or drastically altered for the new and trendy. I hope that New Braunfels can embrace and support our historical organizations and commissions in trying to prevent our architectural treasures from becoming “ghosts” as New Braunfels continues to grow at breakneck speed.

Sources: Sophienburg Museum and Archives.

“Around the Sophienburg” is published every other weekend in the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung.

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By Tara V. Kohlenberg —

Some stories write themselves. Some, like this one, began as one idea before evolving into something completely different. The idea stemmed from a visit with Myra Lee Adams Goff, (you know, accomplished author and the one that started this column) when she handed me a copy of the The Golden Book of Favorite Songs. I had seen copies of this songbook in the Sophienburg Archives, but never researched it. I took it as a challenge.

The gold-colored 126-page booklet by Hall & McCreary Company, copyrighted in 1915 and 1923, was a favorite keepsake of hers, in part because she sang from the book when she was in school at the Lamar Ward School. A ward is like our attendance zone today. It was also the book used when she began teaching at Lamar Elementary School in 1954. Same school, updated name.

A man by the name of Curt E. Schmidt was named prin­ci­pal of Carl Schurz Ward School in 1931, a year be­fore Myra Lee Adams Goff was born. Schmidt had be­gun his teach­ing ca­reer in 1922 in a one-room school­house in Gille­spie County be­fore teach­ing Eng­lish at New Braun­fels High School. While at Carl Schurz, he earned his law de­gree from St. Mary’s Uni­ver­sity in 1942, leav­ing ed­u­ca­tion to prac­tice law. He re­turned to ed­u­ca­tion as prin­ci­pal of Lamar El­e­men­tary in 1950.

At that time, prin­ci­pals were not re­quired to teach classes, but he of­ten taught art and mu­sic. He was fond of The Golden Book of Fa­vorite Songs. The book was a teacher’s dream, teach­ing mu­sic, his­tory, pa­tri­o­tism, read­ing and re­li­gion all in one. It had songs of every genre: chil­dren’s songs, Christ­mas, Civil War, folk, pa­tri­otic, re­li­gious, Ne­gro “spir­i­tu­als”, with many of the songs’ his­to­ries be­ing given. There were also read­ings or recita­tions: Lin­col­n’s Get­tys­burg Ad­dress, Pledge of Al­le­giance and Twenty-third Psalm. Curt Schmidt led songs from the song­book fre­quently. He or­ches­trated chil­dren’s skits and mu­si­cal pro­grams every year.

Mrs. Goff graduated from Texas Christian University in 1953. Her first teaching job was at Lamar Elementary. Principal Curt E. Schmidt hired her because she could play the piano. She taught music and handwriting to fourth, fifth and sixth graders. She had a degree in secondary education, and there she was, hired to teach music to elementary kids. What’s more, she could not read a lick of music. She played by ear from the age of seven. If she heard it, she could play it.

As Mrs. Goff tells it, at one particular school assembly, while Schmidt was leading songs, he called out a Civil War song on page number sixteen, “Just Before the Battle, Mother.” Well, Mrs. Goff did not know it. She told me that she suffered through, plinking around, pretending, when he finally stopped to ask her what she was playing. She said, “I told you I couldn’t read music.”

I had a natural curiosity about Curt Schmidt. We lived next door to him on Magazine Street for a couple of years up until I was old enough to start school. I never attended school where he was principal. I would later see him orchestrating the Kindermasken Parade when school teachers helped put it on. I thought that the old German dance, Herr Schmidt, was about him. I remember him to be very energetic, almost intense about things. I wondered if my memories about his nature were correct.

Curt Schmidt was an innovator. He was proud of his German heritage and felt strongly about preserving the ways of the ancestors. German language had not been taught in New Braunfels schools since World War I. After thirteen years without German language instruction, Schmidt felt the children needed it. In 1931, he organized German Summer School, devoted entirely to teaching the German language, folkways, folk songs and German pioneer traditions. The number of German School students grew from the initial forty to over three hundred per summer over the years.

The summer program ran until it was crushed by World War II. Since the United States was at war with Germany, everything German became suspect again. Promoting the German language was considered subversive and the German program ended in 1940. You will frequently see the German language textbooks Deutsche Fibel (German Primer) and Erstes Lesebuch (First Reader) that he used in German Summer School in the Sophienburg collection, or estate sales. We have one of each at our house. Schmidt was very persistent. Later, in 1954, as principal of Carl Schurz, he was instrumental in finally getting German and Spanish language electives back into the elementary schools.

Curt Schmidt was ambitious. He first served as principal of Carl Schurz, then after returning from his law practice, he served as principal at Lamar for three years before returning to Carl Schurz. By the time Mrs. Goff returned to teaching after having a family (no pregnant women could teach!), Curt Schmidt was the superintendent of New Braunfels School District. Mrs. Goff’s teaching career led her to Carl Schurz, Lamar and New Braunfels Junior High before authoring her own articles and books to preserve the history of New Braunfels.

Schmidt served as superintendent from 1962 to 1966, during which time he established the first area vocational school in Texas, inaugurated the first Head Start program and established a vocational school of nursing. Overall, he spent forty years as an educator, mostly in New Braunfels. Some loved him, some did not, but he accomplished a lot in his time. He again practiced law from 1970 until his retirement in 1982.

Curt Schmidt loved his German heritage and his community. He was active in Scouting his whole life, earning the Silver Beaver and Scoutmaster Key awards. He was a charter member and past president of the New Braunfels Rotary Club, and active with the Sophienburg Memorial Association. Schmidt wrote and illustrated two books about German Texan pioneers and was the local correspondent to the San Antonio Light for ten years.

I may not have fulfilled my task of writing an article about The Golden Book of Favorite Songs, but in this final year of Lamar Elementary, I have managed to tie together a bunch of things that I did not know about before writing this article: the Songbook, the German primers, German School, Mrs. Goff and Herr Schmidt. It is almost like the Six Degrees of Curt Schmidt. Too much?

Sources: Myra Lee Adams Goff; Sophienburg Musuem and Archives.

“Around the Sophienburg” is published every other weekend in the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung.

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By Tara V. Kohlenberg —

Oscar Haas was well known as the historian and record-keeper of New Braunfels and Comal County. He documented a hundred years of our community’s progress through twenty years of newspaper articles and a published book. Now in its fourth printing, The History of New Braunfels and Comal County, Texas 1844-1946, a book by Oscar Haas, set the standard for historical documentation about German immigration. It has been the “go-to” for generations of researchers, but there is nothing like hearing his voice as he tells his own story.

“I was born on October 12, 1885, on land which is now at the bottom of Canyon Lake…. We moved to Twin Sisters. My parents decided to move to New Braunfels so that their children could have more education than they would have gotten (in Twin Sisters).” He attended the New Braunfels Academy but dropped out in sixth grade. “I could get a job selling groceries and delivering groceries at $12 a month. That was a lot of money. They taught me to ride a bicycle and go out once a week and ride around town and take up orders from the housewives, then come back and fill those orders and put ’em in baskets and then hitch up a horse and deliver the groceries around town.”

He clerked in another general merchandise store for several years. “We had to have conversations in English and Spanish, and of course, German. They wanted the clerk to speak their language or they wouldn’t buy from you.” Haas opened his own store in the 1920s. “We handled ready-to-wear, men’s and boy’s and children’s ready-to-wears and shoes and hats, millinery, and dress materials, by the yard and all kinds of trinkets. It was in the Richter Building. I had a partner, Walter Wiedner, so we called it Oscar Haas and Company. When the Depression hit, then we lost. It was loss, loss, loss, and finally you lost everything, ja.”

That loss prompted him to run for Comal County Treasurer in the 1934 election. He served as Treasurer for 28 years, unopposed. That is when the history bug bit him. “Yes, I just got stung in 1934, and fortunately, men like Herman Seele, the first schoolteacher” were still around. “He was a tall, pleasant faced, full-bearded man and always interested in greeting the people as he came walking down the street, particularly children. He always stooped down to shake hands with the children.”

“One day, I was in Otto Rohde’s — who was then County Clerk of Comal County’s Office — I saw on the shelf where the first book of the minutes of the Comal County Commissioners Court. I asked Otto, could I look at it? As I opened it up, I saw the recording of the very first session of the Comal County Commissioners Court in 1846. I found it so interesting that I took it down to the editors of the New Braunfels Zeitung, the German-language newspaper, and to the New Braunfels Herald, the English-language newspaper.” They both told him that if he wrote weekly installments from the minutes, they would print it. It took about three years. “After that was finished, I went through the minutes of the first church in New Braunfels, which also took about three years. And then after that, went through the City Council minutes.” All of them were in German and required translation to English to be published in the New Braunfels Herald. In 1961, he and his wife wrote a history series in 144 weekly installments, “Comal County in the Civil War”, translated from Ferdinand Lindheimer’s German-language newspaper articles of the 1860s.

Haas retired from his job of county treasurer in 1962 to devote time to compiling his vast collection of historic materials into the definitive History of New Braunfels and Comal County, 1845-1946 first published in 1968. The knowledge and information gained from all the years of going through official city, county and church minutes was a tremendous foundation for his book. He did further research into translated writings of Carl, Prince of Solms-Braunfels, Dr. Ferdinand Roemer, and others to fill in the earliest parts of New Braunfels’ history.

Other published works include Chronological History of the Singers of German Songs in Texas (1948); The First Protestant Church, Its History and Its People:1845-1855 (1955); and a translation of the Civil War diary of Capt. Julius Giesecke of New Braunfels. He contributed multiple articles to the Handbook of Texas History and received numerous honors for his devotion to history. Not bad for a sixth-grade dropout.

While going about my research for this story, I looked for something different than what others had written about him. I looked for his voice. Among the treasures that are held by the Sophienburg Museum and Archives is a stash of oral histories, the “Reflections” program, professionally recorded since 1976. Oscar Haas was number three. He was 90 at the time of the recording. I pulled the recording from the studio and played it for Don Cooper, the volunteer that has faithfully been cataloging the Oscar Haas Collection for at least two years. It was entrancing. Don’s face lit up as he actually heard the voice of the man that created boxes and boxes of notes written on scraps of paper and backs of old ballots. I could hear the impish demeanor and twinkle in the eye of a man I only saw in photos. His voice took me back to childhood, when my grandparents and many of the store clerks spoke with a little German accent and a “ja” on the end.

“Reflections” is still recorded and airs 9 a.m. Sundays on KGNB. Copies are available for purchase. Is your parent or grandparent recorded as they talk about New Braunfels? Wouldn’t it be great if you could hear their voice again? We also want to record your stories about growing up and living in New Braunfels. Call us at the Sophienburg, 830-629-1572.

Sources: Sophienburg Museum & Archives; Handbook of Texas Online.

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By Tara V. Kohlenberg —

In recent days, we have all watched heart-breaking images flash across our screens as Russia exerts its power over Ukraine. News of such events has stirred up childhood memories of my classmates and I scrambling under our metal school desks during bomb drills of the Cold War Era in the ‘50s and ‘60s.

What?! So, in case you have blocked it from memory or are not old enough to know what a Cold War is, let me catch you up. The Cold War was a period of time that began just after World War II and lasted nearly fifty years. Tension rose between the United States and Soviet Union as both countries tried to spread their ideological influence over the world. The threat of nuclear warfare was very present and left its mark on America.

Let’s back up here. So, during WWII, the Russians were on our side helping to defeat Germany, Hitler, and his National Socialist Party. But two years later, Russians become the enemy? Yes, flexing their muscles in politics, in James Bond movies and even in the cartoons. Remember the Russian-like villains Boris and Natasha of Rocky & Bullwinkle who forever attempted to “catch Moose and Squirrel”? — even children were told that the Russians should not be trusted.

In 1949, the Soviet Union detonated its first nuclear device, signaling a new and terrifying phase in the Cold War; umm, that they had what we had and that they could use it on us. By the early 1950s, schools across the United States were training students to dive under their desks and cover their heads. Fears over the escalating arms race prompted President Harry S. Truman’s Federal Civil Defense Administration program to develop the “Duck-and-Cover” school drills and to educate the public about what ordinary people could do to protect themselves. I remember the drills, not so much the name of it.

Every club and organization in New Braunfels had a Civil Defense chairman: the American Legion, PTA groups, Rotary, Lions. etc., to distribute safety preparedness literature and get the word out. Workshops and meetings were held to help educate each family as to how to protect and sustain themselves in the event of an enemy attack. Schools sent home safety plan flyers as to how children would get home to their parents and where to meet them in emergency situations.

In the early 1960s, the U.S.-Soviet arms race really heated up. The disastrous 1961 U.S.-sponsored Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba failed miserably. Instead of overthrowing Castro, it resulted in stronger ties between Cuba and the USSR putting Russian nuclear missiles in Cuba and the nuclear threat directly in our back yard. The Cuban Missile Crisis was thirteen days of confrontation in the fall of 1962 between the US and Russia that was a true near miss. New Braunfels School District dismissed school early and published the evacuation plans on the front page of the Herald during the ’62 Cuban Missile Crisis.

After that, the country, and New Braunfels, ramped up to protect not just against a bomb, but “The Bomb”. There were bomb shelters in public buildings, like the old City Hall on Seguin Avenue, and a fallout shelter under the police chief’s house. My dad worked for New Braunfels Lumber on the west corner of Castell and Coll (now HMT Engineering). The lumber yard had a personal bomb shelter for sale sitting out in their yard for anyone who could dig a hole deep enough to put it in.

In 1962, New Braunfels received one of 90 packaged hospitals in Texas for use following enemy action or major natural disaster. It was supplied by the office of Civil and Defense Mobilization. The packaged hospitals were outgrowths of the mobile army hospitals used during the Korean War (like on “M*A*S*H”). Most of them were located at least 15 miles from assumed strategic target areas like San Antonio. They were expected to provide at least half of the hospital beds following a major emergency. Let that sink in. Assumed Strategic Target Areas. That means that San Antonio military installations (Kelly Air Force Base, Randolph AFB, Lackland AFB, Fort Sam Houston Army Post, Camp Bullis) and Austin’s Bergstrom AFB, which was actually part of the Strategic Air Command, were strategic targets!! … and New Braunfels would either be the help on the periphery OR collateral damage. Yikes!!

Not only were people worried about protecting people, people were also worried about protecting their stuff. With the world condition being what it was, a group of San Antonio businessmen recognized the need to provide secure vital records storage in case of a nuclear attack. In 1962, they formed Emergency Records Storage, Inc. and built a nuclear-age underground storage facility located in the hill country outside of New Braunfels. It was said to be the only bomb-proof underground vault in a 10-state area which met rigid government specifications. For a fee, the company stored duplicate records in the form of microfilm, magnetic tape, regular hard copies and eventually floppy discs for banks and governmental entities in the event of an attack or disaster. For more than three decades, the records company did a brisk business serving people from Texas and surrounding states. As with most anything, technology grew past the need in the 90s when banks and companies began backing up records on their own computers. Less and less was stored in the vault as the years passed, and the corporation finally dissolved in 2015.

Growing up in New Braunfels during the ‘50s and ‘60s was wonderful even if the world was a scary place. Outside of the “bomb drills” and cartoon references, I was blissfully unaware of most of these things. Growing up now, in a very technologically savvy time, our children may not be. I hope they are as lucky.

Sources: Sophienburg Museum & Archives; New Braunfels Public Library; New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung.

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By Tara V. Kohlenberg —

Some of my favorite memories include Mayfest, a fundraising event that was put on by the New Braunfels Volunteer Fire Department beginning in early 20th century. The early versions of the day-long event included parades, picnics in Landa Park, foot races, sack races and pumper races. The celebrations that I remember featured barbeque dinners, pumper races and dances in the evening. The pumper races were my favorite. I loved the tight knit crews, the excitement of the race and the rush to push water, all skills they used in fighting a fire. Never seen a pumper race?

Let me explain.

In 1886, the growing city of New Braunfels took steps to acquire their first fire-fighting equipment — a hose reel cart and hook and ladder cart. About that time the New Braunfels Volunteer Fire Department was formed. Forty interested men showed up for the first meeting. They were divided into three companies, two hose reel companies and one hook & ladder company. These equipment carts were big-wheeled carts that required the stamina and strength of several men to pull it from one end of town to the other to get to a fire — not pulled by horses, but by people. There was a lot of running: to the fire cart station, to the fire pulling the hose cart, back to the station to return the equipment for next use. To say the least, it was very physically challenging. Think Camp Gladiator, but in real life.

For more than 25 years, firemen actually ran, pulling the equipment carts to fight any fire. It was not until 1913 that a fire truck was purchased, but the entire city was still protected by an all-volunteer department. By 1918, the city finally had a real fire station and the first paid firemen. Training was required to develop skill and accuracy. Out of this training came the natural competition between companies to be the best and a race was born. The races are a type of recreational competition among the firefighter teams involving timed completion of tasks related to or simulating common firefighting activities. Races test for speed, strength, dexterity, and teamwork. New Braunfels teams and individuals competed in both hose reel races and pumper races. The hose reel race had eight to eleven men pulling the cart down a track, drilling a wooden water pipe, getting water and returning the cart to the original position.

The pumper race is more detailed. There are a lot of moving parts. First of all, a “pumper” is a fire apparatus (truck) with a large tank and the capability to pump water at high pressure on to a fire. A pumper race is a timed 6-man race. Before the start, with all hands in the air, there are two men seated in the cab, one man standing on the truck rail on each side of the truck, and two on the back bumper of the truck. The starter pistol fires. The men on back grab the hose and nozzle, running to the 100-foot line, where they attach the nozzle. The two on the passenger side wait for the end of the fully extended hose to come off of the truck, break the coupling and attach it to the side of the truck. The two men on the driver’s side grab the big black suction hose off of the side of the truck, attaching one end to the truck and one end to the hydrant. Once attached, they immediately begin turning the wrench to open the hydrant full blast. All of that happens in anywhere from 16 to 20 seconds, without busting a connection. There was also an individual version of the race. What prizes did the winners take home? Pride! The races were friendly rivalries between hose companies. Their goal was to be the best team with the fastest time without a busted connection. They got to hold that title until the next big event.

New Braunfels Volunteer Fire Department was a member of the Texas State Firefighters’ and Fire Marshals’ Association organized in 1876. It held annual statewide and district conventions to keep volunteer departments up to date. They also made the convention more interesting by inviting volunteer departments to bring their race teams for competitions at the district and state levels. State level competitions offered cash prizes to the top three winners. New Braunfels hosted the 41st convention in 1916. The first known photograph of a competitive race team from New Braunfels was in 1920. The 1934 race team won the State Championship.

In 1962, the Ladies Auxiliary was formed. Chief Zipp’s wife was actively involved in the Fire Marshal’s Association and promoted the Auxiliary locally. It was sometime in the ’70s that the Ladies began practicing as a six-person race team. I practiced with them, but never competed. In the ’80s, the Ladies’ team seemed to get some traction with members like Betty Doeppenschmidt, Earlene Klabunde, Teresa Haag and Geraldine Wesch. They were very competitive. They even created their own competition uniforms and custom patch. Again, they competed for pride.

The New Braunfels Volunteer Fire Department grew to 60 members, never more than that. There were four companies of 15 men. They were selective and members had to be voted in. In 1925, there were three paid city firemen. By 1958, the number grew to thirteen paid men. The Volunteers were instrumental in keeping the community safe and rescuing many during the flood of 1972. The Volunteer Fire Department finally was disbanded in 1996. The Texas State Firefighters’ and Fire Marshals’ Association is still one of the oldest and largest fire associations serving fire and emergency responders of Texas. Pumper races were not held at convention in 2020 nor will they be held in 2021, but are scheduled to return again in 2022. If you know a fire or emergency responder, thank them for what they do every single day.

Sources: Sophienburg Museum & Archives; Reflections; Roger Brinkkoeter; Darren Brinkkoeter; Earlene Klabunde; Teresa Haag; New Braunfels Fire Museum.

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By Tara V. Kohlenberg —

There’s been a lot of chatter on a local Facebook group recently about Queen of Hearts. In an effort to satisfy inquiring minds, I did a little research. The Queen of Hearts is an age-old tradition of a bygone era (which is really hard to say and harder to see in print since I was around for some of it). Queen of Hearts was a week-long New Braunfels High School fundraiser that took place each February. It was THE social event of the year, featuring competition between the classes to finance the Unicorn yearbook. The week of competition culminated in a formal dance and crowning the winner, Queen of Hearts.

The very first Queen of Hearts was held in 1937. The Unicorn Band came up with the idea to hold a concert and dance to raise funds for the band. Along with it, they sponsored a contest to elect the Queen of Hearts. It was open to any girl in the area. Votes could be purchased for a penny a piece with votes being cast at Peerless Pharmacy, Richter Pharmacy, Plaza Drugs or in the Principal’s office. The winner that year was Mary Louise Hobson. The total amount raised was $17. That may not seem like a huge amount, but it was a lot in the post-Depression era.

In 1938, Queen of Hearts was promoted as a Valentine Carnival featuring a dazzling floor show, Games of Luck, Games of Skill and a supper which was sponsored by the Future Homemakers and the Senior Class. Instead of buying votes for the Queen, classes competed to raise funds to help finance the yearbook. One girl representative was selected from each class. The class earning the most money through their projects had their representative crowned queen. New Braunfels High School was located on Mill Street at that time and housed six classes of students 7th through 12th grades.

Queen of Hearts continued to be held annually, but the class competition projects changed and grew with the times. In 1940, participants from all six classes took part in the floor show entertainment for the coronation. The identity of the Queen was secret until coronation. At that time money was raised through service type activities. LaVerne Schwab Pearce remembers that during WWII, the classes collected/sold scrap newspapers, aluminum and iron and turned it in for money. She also remembers that cake bakes, which have always been a staple of Queen of Hearts class projects, did not take place during the War Years because sugar was rationed. Although the fundraising competition was held, there were actually no annuals produced for class years 1943 and 1944 due to shortages and rationing of supplies.

For many years the upper classmen would easily win the competitions, but in 1944, the 8th grade class stunned everyone by getting their candidate, Rachelle Mendlovitz, crowned Queen . In 1948, the designation of monies for yearbook changed slightly to include campus beautification.

By 1950, the funds raised were strictly to help offset the cost of printing the yearbook. Myra Lee Adams Goff remembers that one of the reasons that she was crowned Queen of Hearts was because her mother made “thousands of pralines” to sell. They were more popular than cakes or pies.

The Class of 1951 was the last class to graduate from the high school on Mill Street. The following year only the top three grades moved to the new Guenther Street high school. Mill Street became the junior high with grades seven through nine. In addition to having fewer classes competing, the 1952 Queen of Hearts decided to include the election of a King of Hearts in same manner as queen. Apparently, it had a surprise ending as Senior Esther Kanz was voted Queen and Sophomore Malcom Bartels was voted King. That did not set well with the classes. The following year, Class representatives were chosen as a pair. The first King and Queen of Hearts chosen as a pair were Juniors Mary Lou Obercampf and Charles Hower. Queen of Hearts celebrated their Silver Anniversary in 1962, also the year the current NBHS opened on the hill. They raised $2484.04 that year. By 1972, the classes easily raised $5260.09.

The 1970s and 1980s saw little change in the format or the money making projects, some of which included singing valentines, car washes, bake sales, Rent-a-Kid, and Queen of Hearts supper. The coronation ceremony had all the pomp and circumstance of any coronation in Europe. The trumpeters still heralded the entry of the court into the gym. The queens, each in ball gowns of white, performed a Texas Dip (deep extended curtsy) to her escort at center court before taking their place on the stage. In 1995, that all changed. The students still raised money through projects and competed for points in a “fun night” of games, but the annual dance was done away with. The coronation took place right after Fun Night and the girls wore casual street length dresses. As time progressed, Queen of Hearts popularity waned. There were multiple factors contributing to the decline, one of the most important being the inability to serve or sell homemade goods after a city hepatitis outbreak. Another was the district’s contract with an outside food service company that prevented any outside food sales on campus or use of the cafeteria for the spaghetti supper. The culture of the high school also changed, with overtaxed teachers and administrators no longer willing to support a tradition that did not directly benefit them. Queen of Hearts disappeared for a couple of years. In 2000, it made a return in a very pared down version that consisted mostly of Fun Night and the casual coronation. It lasted only a few more years before sputtering to a stop. The final Queen and King of Hearts were crowned in 2003 with monies going to Habitat for Humanity. According to what I can find, Queen CandiZeitungce Box and King Jody Walker will forever hold that notable distinction. The list is too long to print in the Herald-, but there is a complete listing of all of the Queens and Kings of Hearts from 1937 to 2003 below.

Request: The Sophienburg Museum and Archives is missing some NBHS annuals from our collection. If you have annuals from 1977, 1978, 1994-99, or anything after 2003 that you would like to donate to the Archives, we would gratefully take them.

New Braunfels High School Queens and Kings of Hearts

• 1937 — Marry Louise Hopson
• 1938 — Freddie Robertson
• 1939 — Martha Dietz
• 1940 — Elvira Kinser
• 1941 — Trilby Schnautz
• 1942 — Mary Ann Stollewerk
• 1943 — Mary Lynn Williams
• 1944 — Rachelle Mendlovitz
• 1945 — Jeanelda Denmark
• 1946 — Carolyn Karbach
• 1947 — Peggy Ludwig
• 1948 — Kathleen Karbach
• 1949 — Jane Warwick
• 1950 — Myra Lee Adams
• 1951 — Bonnie Ann Knox
• 1952 — Ester May Kanz, , Malcolm Bartels
• 1953 — Mary Lou Oberkampf, Charles Hower
• 1954 — Linda Larkin, Franklin Demuth
• 1955 — Mabry Otto, Fred Kappel
• 1956 — Carol Jean Hanz, Bop Reeh
• 1957 — Marjorie Hansmann, , Lawrence Stephens
• 1958 — Virginia Weisser, Maurice Fischer
• 1959 — Sandra Kneupper, James Norwood
• 1960 — Mary Ann Voigts , Kenneth Fiedler
• 1961 — Joan Wilkinson, Randy Heinen
• 1962 — Nancy Becker, Bill Oberkampf
• 1963 — Betty Jean Moellering, Kermit Forshage
• 1964 — Barbara Bean, Ronald Zipp
• 1965 — Barbara Eikel, Leroy Schleicher
• 1966 — Georgia Lynn Moore, Patrick Cobb
• 1967 — Connie Jo Hill, Marvin Klein
• 1968 — Renee Reinarz, Sam Kneuper
• 1969 — Vicki Alves, Jon Eikel
• 1970 — Debbie Kohlenberg, Donald Klein
• 1971 — Cheryl Sweet, Barry Buske
• 1972 — Lynda Kohlenberg, Kent Lohman
• 1973 — Suzanne Sacco, Jay Schriewer
• 1974 — Patty Goff, Rudy Gutierrez
• 1975 — Toni Castilleja, Clay Aguirre
• 1976 — Mary Burrus, David Shelton
• 1977 — Cheryl McCampbell, Randy Caddell
• 1978 — Donna Cook, Bob Simpson
• 1979 — Kim Pinson, Bryan Richardson
• 1980 — Pam Dunks, Alan Fischbeck
• 1981 — Gwen Thomas, Rory Duelm
• 1982 — Suzanne Nolte, Tony McKee
• 1983 — Susan Scheffel, Chris Lacy
• 1984 — Inez Villanueva, Paul B, rotze
• 1985 — Yvette Haegelin, Alan Matney
• 1986 — Jan Zimmerman, Derek Seidel
• 1987 — Melissa Garza, Tim Zipp
• 1988 — Misty Brink, Lonny Aleman
• 1989 — Kim Bing, Jimmy Simmonds
• 1990 — Kimber Streety, Cody Moos
• 1991 — Lynn Ann Carley, Wade Lindeman
• 1992 — Joleen Evans, Kevin Painter
• 1993 — Analicia Morales , Omar Hernandez
• 1994 — Alison Bruemmer, Brook Cavert
• 1995 — Diana Torres, Richard Perez
• 1996 — Stacey Kuhn, Scott Campos
• 1997 — Bryndy Zaeske, Chris Millett
• 1998 — N/A, N/A
• 1999 — N/A, N/A
• 2000 — Amy Eichmann, Bryan Vargas
• 2001 — Tasha Granzin, Chance Herblin
• 2002 — Stephanie Ramirez, Burton Speckman
• 2003 — Candice Box, Jody Walker

Sources: The Sophienburg Museum and Archives; Myra Lee Adams Goff; Fritzi Richter; LaVerne Pearce; Stephani Ferguson; Amy Kohlenberg Schorn.

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Every child passing through the Texas Public Education System receives an introduction to history. I say an introduction, because they may not remember all of it, but they are definitely shown it. Elementary students begin learning about their own community history in third grade, eventually adding two years of Texas history and two years of U.S. history, followed by World history and government in high school.

I first really dove into history when my sixth-grade teacher, Mrs. Christianson, told us that “history” is just that, “his story,” the story of man. (She also taught me how to write outlines, but that’s a story for another time.) She made history come alive for me and I was hooked. There are rewards for those hooked on history. Each year, The Sophienburg Memorial Association awards the Myra Lee Adams Goff Sophienburg History Scholarship to a local graduating senior with an interest in history. The 2019 scholarship recipient is Canyon High School Senior Ross Bedgood. Ross is the son of Steven and Amie Bedgood and will be attending Southwestern University. We are extremely proud to publish his essay in our column today, lightly edited for length and clarity. Enjoy!

The Comal County Fair:

The Resilient Historically Significant Event That Keeps on Giving

When determining an event to be a historically significant one, some consider only those caused by natural disasters or war. However, an established event and its impact on a community throughout time, meets the criteria. The Comal County Fair is one such event.

It is opening night of the 2018 Comal County Fair and I am waiting for my friends. I take in the sights, sounds, smells and excitement the fair offers. I begin to wish I could go back in time and visit the fairs. Then I feel someone tap my shoulder. Thinking it was one of the guys, I turned and…

It was 1894 and I was on a train from San Antonio headed to the first Comal County Fair in New Braunfels, Texas. A man sitting next to me said, “I am Frederick, your fair guide for the next 124 years. He explained how he felt the fair was going to be a success because of the trains bringing people and the community had supported a fundraising fair for the Krankenhaus, the hospital, last year.

When the train stopped, we were on Harry Landa’s property, the sight of the first fair. There were displays of plants, food, livestock, sewing, artwork and so on. It was all I had imagined it would be and more.

Quickly, Frederick motioned for me to follow him. “We’re now on the 11 acres of the Guadalupe River purchased by the Comal County Fair Association in 1898. Just like 1894, it did not disappoint. However, due to financial difficulties, the property was sold to the City of New Braunfels in 1905 with the stipulation that the fair would use the property for the next 50 years.

With the fair of 1908, the stores closed at noon and it was declared New Braunfels ISD Fair Day. The exhibits increased and awards were given for flowers, fruit, handmade men’s suits and so forth. The livestock was in abundance.

For the years 1910-1922, Frederick said he could not find any information about the fair. He thought it might be because of WWI, but did know the land became a dumping ground for the city. I felt sadness and wondered how the fair recovered.

When we entered the year 1923, Frederick’s sparkle returned. He began to explain to me how Comal County Fair Association regrouped into a corporation and was ready for the start of the fair. As we slept, the grandstand burned to the ground, but the fair opened for business and we visited the small house filled with tiny furniture, clothing and other essentials and listened to the Edison playing records. The following two days were rained out.

The next few years were good times, but then I saw Frederick’s demeanor change. “Frederick, you’re not looking so happy. What now?” I asked.

He replied, “Son, we are all in hard times. It is the Great Depression. You see how the fair is not bustling? It had to do away with the queen’s contest, give no cash prizes, lower admittance prices and exhibitors are let in free. It is relying on local cowboys for the rodeo and local musicians for entertainment.” It was a somber time.

I enjoyed the 1933 fair. It was celebrating ’Real Beer’….no more ’Busto’ or ’near beer.’ This fair was filled with dances, the Heidelberg Orchestra playing German music, a football game between New Braunfels and Yoakum horse racing, rodeo and carnival.

Frederick zipped us past the WWII years of scaled back fairs to the 1946 Centennial Celebration, which had been postponed a year due to war. Its highlight was the automobiles that people were becoming interested in. And there was the Greater United Shows Carnival. Frederick was not much of a carnival rides person, I rode the Merry Go-Round, Tilt-A-Whirl and Ferris Wheel and then we watched the horse races. What an adventure I was experiencing!

Frederick said that 1952-1954 were some tough times for the fair. After not being able to have livestock in the parade or at the fair due to Anthrax in 1948, floods and polio spread fear in 1952 to the point the grounds were sprayed with disinfectant. In 1954, the Comal and Guadalupe Rivers almost dried up causing dust issues and few agriculture entries. “But never fear,” said Frederick, “the fair kept on going.”

The 60s were amazing. First it was the rodeo spotlighting Leon Adams riding a Brahma bull through a hoop on fire followed by tied-down calf roping, barrel racing and more. I realized one had to be really tough to participate in these rodeo events. Next, in 1962, came Night in Old New Braunfels and concerts by Canyon, Smithson Valley and New Braunfels High Schools. A quick stop in 1965 allowed us to meet Bobbie Specht, the first rodeo queen. In 1967, we met the first Fair Queen since 1931, Jacque Sahm.

Becoming tired, Frederick informed me that there were only two more stops, one in 1974 and 2001. In 1974, we listened to a country singer by the name of George Strait, who was a rising country star. For 2001, I found Frederick and I at the Comal County Fair Parade. It was just a couple of weeks after the terrorist attack and the parade overflowed with patriotic themes and patriotism swelled from the crowds. It was a time of hope, determination and pride.

Finally, we reached 2018! I thanked him for being a knowledgeable history guide. I now understood that the Comal County Fair was a historically significant event because it had withstood droughts, fire, floods, wars and tough economic times. It continues to give to the community of New Braunfels and Comal County. Thank you to the citizens for organizing the Comal County Fair Association on January 4, 1893. My friends have arrived and we are going to enjoy a night at the fair.

(Information used in the paper came from a report by Myra Lee Adams Goff, author of It’s Fair Time, History of the Comal County Fair.)

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New Braunfels. Fast-growing Central Texas city. Most likely the only American city founded by a Prince. Settled by Germans. If you live in or near New Braunfels, you probably know this. Here at the Sophienburg Museum and Archives, we tell the story of New Braunfels every day, but did you know our beloved “Beauty Spot of Texas” was a Plan B?

During the 1840’s, Europe was in turmoil both economically and politically. Noblemen from several German states decided to “help relieve” overcrowding by colonizing the new Republic of Texas (as England had done in America). They created the Verein zum Schutz deutscher Einwandrer in Texas (Society for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas) or simply, Adelsverein (Society of Noblemen). Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels was selected to go ahead to secure the needed lands and provisions. The Adelsverein was able to recruit many countrymen who desired a new life in Texas. The first three ships sailed in October 1844, with one trunk per family (and you thought our airline bag fees were tough!). Many emigrants had sold all they had to pay for the trip which was to include passage, transportation from coast to settlement, 320 acres of land, housing, warehouse of provisions, implements, seeds, farm animals, education and churches in the Fischer-Miller Grant. Prince Carl, arriving in Texas ahead of the group, learned that the Fischer-Miller Grant was out in the middle of Commanche hunting territory and too far from the coast. He seriously needed a Plan B. On March 16, 1845, he purchased a 1265 acre tract nestled on the edge of the Balcones Escarpment between two rivers for the bargain price of $1111. With the ink barely dry on the land deal, the Prince and his entourage met the first immigrants at the Guadalupe River on Good Friday, March 21, 1845. Each immigrant was offered a half-acre town lot and 10 acre farm lot, quite a let down from the promised 320 acres. The Adelsverein’s rating went down from there.

The next wave of German immigrants arrived between the fall of 1845 and April 1846. More than 5200 people landed in Galveston and Indianola and were left to fend for themselves. There were no wagons because they were hired out to haul for the Mexican War. There was no housing, forcing some to camp for more than six months under tents, exposing them to harsh winter weather conditions on the coast. An epidemic broke out, with more than two-thirds of the immigrants falling ill. Of those who decided to travel onward to New Braunfels, proportionately few made it. They brought the epidemic with them, losing family members along the road and infecting their new town. Instead of being greeted by a Prince, the sick and starving immigrants arrived to see the river swollen from floods, unable to cross. They were promised provisions of food, finding instead nothing on hand but cheap “unwholesome beef”.

How do we know these things? Whatever did we do before Ancestry.com? Much like people document their lives in photographs or on social media, people wrote accounts of their travels in diaries, journals and letters back home. And just like today, important actions were recorded in the minutes of meetings of government and social organizations, providing us all a wonderful treasure trove of what early New Braunfels was like. Except, it is all in old German. Enter Oscar Haas and his curiosity.

Oscar Haas was born in October of 1885, at Cranes Mill, a third- generation descendant of German colonists in Texas. His ancestors were among the 5000 immigrants landing in Indianola in the fall of 1845. He moved with his family to Blanco County and then in 1897 to New Braunfels at age 12. He attended the old New Braunfels Academy for third through sixth grade before going to work in a grocery store. He worked his way to a dry goods business partnership. In 1934, at age 49, Haas was elected Comal County treasurer. For twenty-eight years he served the county. It was during his time in the courthouse that he discovered the original Commissioners Court minutes book of 1846. His discovery immediately sparked a lifelong interest in our history and sharing it with others. He began writing articles about the details of the court minutes for the Neu Braunfelser Zeitung (German) and the New Braunfels Herald. Now remember, the minutes were in old German script. He actually copied and hand wrote the full translations of the documents on whatever scraps of paper he had – the backs of calendars, old election ballots, etc. before writing the articles. In 1944-45, he wrote the columns “99 years ago” and “100 years ago” before the city celebrated its Centennial. He continued to write articles until his retirement in 1962, when he focused his energies on writing a book, History of New Braunfels and Comal County, Texas 1844-1946. Published in 1968, it was the most comprehensive book written about the founding of New Braunfels, becoming the bible of local historians and genealogists. 2018 marks the 50th anniversary of the book. It is still in print (fourth printing) and can be found at Sophie’s Shop inside the Sophienburg Museum and Archives. Here’s to Oscar Haas, successful businessman and public servant, and most notably a “history geek” extraordenaire.

Sources:

• History of New Braunfels and Comal County, Texas, 1844-1946 by Oscar Haas
• Sophienburg Archives

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According to stories of the Old West, suspected criminals were shot or hung. No jail was necessary. Then as people became more civilized, there arose a doubt as to whether the person accused was actually guilty. Could we possibly say that “those were the good old days?” I think not. Should we have a trial before the punishment takes place? Holding a suspect in jail was certainly a better solution. A trial determining guilt or innocence would follow, but what to do with the so-called criminal until the trial?

From this need, the idea of a jail was born and in New Braunfels, this jail idea was necessary early on. For that matter, the first suspected criminal, a woman, was arrested and kept in the home of Sheriff Henry Gerwin. There were no buildings when New Braunfels was settled but eventually log huts were constructed. Gerwin’s prisoner’s infraction was not noted in the Comal County Commissioners Court minutes but the Comal County Commissioners agreed to pay Gerwin for keeping his prisoner for 45 days in his home. Must have been mighty cozy. The county had to rely on others who had empty rooms or empty structures sufficient to serve as a jail. New Braunfels Mayor Heuckel, in 1848, helped out by renting the commissioners a room in his home for ten months for $25 to serve as a jail.

In 1848, the County Commissioners asked the newly elected sheriff, Adam Maurer, to look for a place to be used as a jail. It would be subject to their approval. Now, this is interesting: About the same tine in 1848, the county asked the city if they would grant land to build both a courthouse and a jail. When the city offered no land, the commissioners advised the county clerk to tell the city that they intended to build a courthouse and a jail on the Main Plaza even though the property was owned by the city.

The city was asked to respond to the request and after not hearing from them, Commissioner Dr. Koester was asked to obtain a resolution from the city. This eventually happened, but not resulting in what the county expected. The city then offered two lots near the Comal Springs and suggested that if necessary, the county could sell the property in order to purchase property somewhere else, but NOT on Main Plaza.

Buying a lot and building a courthouse and jail was an expensive proposition and the county had only $400 and taxes were still forthcoming.

In July 1849, Theodore Sterzing offered his lot to the county for $600 which included two log buildings. This lot was town lot #85 fronting on Seguin Avenue. The lot is in the location of the parking lot for the Elk’s Lodge. The county records show that the offer was accepted, and the county moved in the larger of the two log buildings. The future plan was to build a log jail on the site 12 feet square using logs 9 inches thick. This building was eventually built and can claim its fame as the first jail in Comal County.

Eventually, the log jail became unsuitable and in 1854, a new jail was built at what is now 509 W. Mill Street. This jail served the county for 24 years.

Do you know the story of the Moesgen murder? Moesgen was a first founder of New Braunfels and he was murdered by his wife, daughter and son-in-law. If you own the book “Around the Sophienburg,” you can find the story on pages 236 and 237. The book is a “must read” to learn about the history of New Braunfels and Comal County. The family killed Moesgen in 1855. The story tells us that the three family members were hauled off to the sheriff’s home. The year shows that they were placed in the Mill Street jail. The court found the three guilty and imprisoned. One died in prison and two were paroled.

The Mill Street jail began to deteriorate, and plans were being made for a new jail to be built behind the 1860 courthouse (where the Chase Bank is located). The new jail was finished in 1879. The plans included iron cages to hold 20 or 30 prisoners. The two-story building was built of limestone rock with an iron roof. Fredrick Ernst Ruffini of Austin was chosen as the architect. The cost was $10,000 with a bid of $1000 for iron work. This building served as the jail from 1879 to 1931.

In 1898, the present courthouse was constructed and in 1931, the jail was added to the north side of the structure. The old jail that was in the Chase Bank parking lot, was torn down in 1958.

What happened to the old stones from the jail? It’s an interesting story. When Sts. Peter and Paul Church had an enlargement project in 1962, some of the stones were used from the old jail in their project. Both sides of the exterior of the church have some of the stones. When researcher John Coers was taking photos of the stones, he found carved initials. He thinks these were done by prisoners.

Another use of the stones from the old jail can be found at the outdoor patio and steps leading to the basement of the Prince Solms Inn on San Antonio Street. There are three notable stones at the top of the steps that have the words COMAL COUNTY PRIS.

The New Braunfels Conservation Society is in the possession of the cornerstone of the old jail with the architect, F.E. Ruffini inscribed on it and they also have a metal device that was thought to be used to pass food through to prisoners.

All of this information was researched by John Coers at the Sophienburg Museum and Archives. John is a member of the Comal County Historical Commission. He used maps, city minutes, county minutes and newspapers to aid his research. There is a wealth of information to aid researchers at the Sophienburg. Check it out.

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