By Tara V. Kohlenberg —

Shopping for a wedding gift used to be something that I looked forward to. My most recent “gift shopping” experience involved scanning a QR code where I was then directed to a website to choose the appropriate item and clicking to send. Wow! So very anticlimactic. Where is the fun in that?

My first memory of going shopping for a wedding gift was at Dedeke’s in downtown New Braunfels. It was a beautiful store full of beautiful things. Tables were dressed in the finest table linens and perfectly set with china, silver and crystal to tempt any bride. The walls were lined with china place settings of nearly every pattern and color. Another part of that memory is the stern warning from my mother not to touch anything. I watched as my mother carefully selected a crystal pitcher and handed it to the clerk. It was so gratifying to walk out with our specially chosen, professionally wrapped gift to deliver in person.

Dedeke’s Housewares was a small store on Seguin Avenue that specialized in gifts and bridal registries in the 1950s-70s, but their story began much earlier. Richard F. Dedeke was born in New Braunfels in 1878. His grandfather, a farmer, had emigrated from Hannover in 1846. Richard’s father was a farmer and saddle maker. Richard was ambitious and in 1903, he sought his own fortunes in a thriving rural community of 200 people on York Creek. He purchased three lots in Hunter, Texas, between Grand and Railroad (now JC Riley) Streets to establish a residence and general merchandise store. A downturn in the cotton economy caused many of the Hunter businesses to close, including Dedeke’s General Store.

In 1928, R.F. Dedeke opened a new store in New Braunfels. The store was part of the ‘M’ System grocery chain. It opened at 215 S. Seguin Ave. (in the same brick building as The Oyster Bar). ‘M’ System was marketed as a new, self-serve way of shopping with multiple brand choices (as opposed to having a clerk bring a single brand from the shelf behind the counter). It sounds like the beginning of our current supermarket system.

R.F. Dedeke retired from his grocery business in 1951, and then the fun began. Richard’s son, Leslie Dedeke, and his siblings, Dorothy and Edward Dedeke opened Dedeke’s Housewares in the same location. In 1966, nearly a century after it was built, property at 173 S. Seguin Ave. was completely restored and the Dedeke family reopened the gift shop there. That is the beautiful store from my childhood. Even the patterned floor tiles were beautiful, but it was not beautiful before remodeling.

The Heinrich Krause building, located at 173 S. Seguin, already had a long history. The original part was built in the 1860s by Friedrich Krause and his son, Frederick Krause, who brought their carpentry skills with them from Germany. The first 45-foot section of the 24-foot-wide building (nearest to the street) is the oldest, built with squared cedar timbers. The next 45-foot section is of German Fachwerk, built with squared lumber. It had a small basement with rock walls and exposed square cedar timbers.

During the previous one hundred years, the one-story Krause building saw a lot of tenants. It was used by Weber & Deutsch, as an early general store; as an opera house; as a drill hall for a Texas Militia unit; as a blouse factory; as a barber shop and a newspaper office for Town & Country News. The Dedeke’s attention to detail and dedication to correct historical preservation of Krause building helped garner a Texas Historical Marker for the building, as well as honors from the New Braunfels Conservation Society.

In 1976, Dick and Bonnie Denson purchased the Dedeke’s business and it became Denson-Dedeke’s. In 1977, they also bought the entire property extending all the way to Comal Avenue, including the historic Krause building, the adjacent two-story Hoffmann building (on the left side of Denson-Dedeke), the parking lot in back, and the Mergele House on Comal.

In 1979, Sami’s Jewelry opened a kiosk at the front of Denson’s, near the windows. The large storage space in the back of the store was opened to create the perfect home for Marian Benson’s The Collection.

In 1981, the interior of the adjacent Mergele Building, was completely gutted by fire that spread from Ludwig Leather Company (two doors down from Denson’s). Fortunately, the tin roof and separation between the buildings prevented fire from damaging Denson’s. To prevent the building from being torn down, the Denson’s bought the Mergele Building and rebuilt the interior, preserving our Seguin Avenue merchant district. They opened up the walls between the two buildings and expanded their footprint again.

Upstairs in the Mergele Building, above retail space, were the Denson-Dedeke offices, and the very first home of Celebrations Bridal by Connie Worley. By incorporating three historic buildings with a courtyard and promoting complimentary retail tenants, Dick and Bonnie Denson successfully created a boutique shopping experience in a historic setting which eventually became Landmark Square.

The Mergele Building was sold to new owners in 1996. The rest of the property, including the Krause building, the Hoffmann building and the Mergele House on Comal Avenue, was sold in 1997 when the Densons retired. The Krause and Hoffmann properties have sold again in 2008 and 2018.

During that time, there have been multiple tenants of the Krause building, including photographers, marketing firms, a lingerie store and most recently a French café bistro.

When we look at historic buildings, we are spoiled and tend to look for the bigger, fancier, more ornate ones, i.e. the Court House (1884) or the row of buildings on San Antonio Street (circa 1890–1924). By doing that, we may be missing out on the hidden jewels (Krause building ca.1860) that make up the foundation of who New Braunfels is. Not slick. Not fancy. Historic.

Enjoy and appreciate the view and the experience, before you can only click on a QR code to see it. Preserve our history!

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

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By Keva Hoffmann Boardman —

It’s a crumbling brown leather belt with an insert of linked silver-plated rectangular batteries. It might not look like much, but this curious artifact, an electric belt, represents a weird and wonderful era in the history of electricity.

Electrotherapy — using electricity to stimulate nerves and muscles — goes way back to Egyptian times. Patients were treated for pain, gout and baldness with the shocks from electric fish. Scientists, physicians and inventors began experimenting with electricity in the 18th century. The first battery was developed in 1800. The mid-19th century led to technological advances such as the steam engine, the telegraph and the electric light bulb. Electricity was fueling radical changes in the world.

At the 1851 London World’s Fair, the “Hydro-electric Belt” was exhibited. The batteries and electrodes sent an electric current through the belt’s wearer. It was billed as a “miracle cure” for just about everything: arthritis, rheumatism, sciatica, gout, glaucoma, migraines, depression/anxiety, weakness, poor memory, liver disease, hernias, nervous disorders, indigestion and even impotency.

Uh huh. Too good to be true? People didn’t think so. Queen Victoria’s personal doctors bought into it as did Charles Dickens. Based on what we know about electrotherapy today, it might have helped with nerve and muscle pain and regeneration. But no matter, because the lovely vision painted by the inventors was more than enough to sell to a public enamored with the magic and power of electricity.

Companies were soon manufacturing batteries and designing their own electric belts for what became an insatiable market. Slick advertisements, with colorful images of lightning bolts and strong healthy people using the electric belt and other devices, made up 25 percent of all advertising in 1880. You see the miraculous electric belt in newspapers, medical journals and mail-order magazines like Sears & Roebuck.

Still, many in the medical profession preached caution and spoke out against the “quakery and suspicious backgrounds” of the inventors and companies selling electric health wares. They agreed that there were valid uses for electricity in cauterization, resuscitation and treatment of pain, paralysis and neurological disorders. But the public wanted it all to be true. Tens of thousands of electric belts were sold in the US alone between 1890 and 1920.

The Sophienburg Museum was gifted the pictured electric belt in 1979. There is the leather belt, the chain battery pack, several wool-covered circular zinc electrodes with wires, a current regulator and a “suspensory” accessory. It came with a booklet printed in German in 1900 containing instructions for use. This is important; to achieve optimal results, you had to place the electrodes in the proper place in the proper way. The belt is charged by dipping the battery in a solution of ¼ clear vinegar to ¾ water. (in some cases, the person’s sweat would work) and repeated use was suggested. The “suspensory” accessory in the museum’s belt is for male patients (read special pouch for electrode to use on the family jewels) and could be attached to the belt and used for … ahem … well, to stimulate blood flow. To quote the maker, the belt “has sufficient volume to saturate every nerve and vital organ of the body with electrical force; it pours this life into the body for hours at a time in a slow, continuous stream.” The regulator allowed the wearer to change the power of the current flowing through the belt. “One Belt is enough for a family for six or eight, as it is worn only from three to six hours a day.”

Notice the belt’s condition. The leather is not so much crumbling from age as it is burned. Burned! This was not a comfortable experience despite the happy faces of the men and women in the booklet. The addition of the “regulator” on the Museum’s belt and wool covers on the circular zinc electrodes were to “alleviate burning and blistering of the skin”. One article said that you were to “read a lovely story book” while taking the treatment, as if that would take your mind off things. Of course, for some people this just might have been a pleasant experience.

I like lots of things about this artifact, but one of the striking things about it is its decorative nature. Back in Victorian times, utilitarian things were also made to look beautiful. They were all about form and function; currently, we are all about function. The battery chain pack has silver-plated cases (better for conducting an electrical current) with a pierced decoration filled with ruby red enameling or glass and nice pretty clasps on the ends. On its own, it would make a lovely belt. The leather belt fastens with plated buckles embellished with a coin-like medallion featuring a Roman soldier. At the very least, one would feel stylish while doing the electric belt thing.

Our electric belt was manufactured by Dr. M.A. McLaughlin, who seems to have had offices in Australia, the US, Cuba, China, India, Canada and Europe. McLaughlin’s advertised it had patents in both the US and the UK. There was supposed to have been an office in Dallas, Texas.

We have the electric belt on display in the pharmacy exhibit. There are other unusual items in the exhibit: wire thumb cages to prevent thumb-sucking, cod liver oil, patent medicines, an assortment of mortar and pestles and huge prescription ledgers used by the pharmacist.

Sources: “Dr. McLaughlin’s Electrical Belt”, Sophienburg Museum; “When Self Electrocution Was Used to Cure What Ails You”, Krissy Howard; “Good Vibrations: The History of Electrotherapy”; “It’s Electric! Electrotherapy and Bioelectricity on Display the NMHM”, Emily Morris; “Electric Health”, Steve Fowler; “History of Electrostimulation”, Bluetens; “Memories and Miscellany”, June 5, 2021; https://atlasobscura.com/articles/the-victorian-tool-for-everything.

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

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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 away 10 months after the recording, at the age of 83.

The following excerpt beautifully describes the joy and wonder of his younger years and his amazing life-long work ethic.

I was born on a farm Dec 9, 1896, in a small rock house at Twin Sisters, Blanco Co, Texas. In those days all small boys wore dresses and being the baby of twelve, I had lots of hand-me-downs.

After this period was over, my brother Walter bought me a four-month-old German Shepherd black dog. When this dog was 1½ years old and grown, Walter made me a gig out of two wheels, an axle seat and two broom sticks. I trained this dog, and after several months, I would get on the seat and drive him anywhere just like a horse. After about a year, I decided that I needed a two-span team and tried to teach a hound for the second member. This worked out very well until one day I was driving my two dogs in the pasture when the hound spotted a jack rabbit and took out after him. I fell off and the rig and harnesses were completely demolished. All the consolation I got out of my brother was, “I told you so!”

On account of my mother’s health, I was not baptized until I was five years old. She was not able to go, but my dad, brother Otto and sister Alwina took me. We drove to church in a big hack pulled by two mules. When we arrived at the church, my brother lifted me out of the hack and as we walked to the building he said, “Now this is your last chance to pick your name. What do you want it to be, Robert, George or Albert?” I picked Albert. Up to this time I was called “Manny”.

At the age of six I started to school. Had to walk two miles. My dog walked half the way with me and at 4:30 he would meet me at the same spot daily for the return walk.

At nine years of age, we moved to New Braunfels. At the country school everything was in German. I could not speak any English until I was eight. The first English I learned was from neighboring colored children. At the beginning of the fourth school year, we started English. Six months of English saved my standing in the New Braunfels School. I was ahead in about half of the studies, so they placed me in the fifth grade but I had to go back to the second grade for history, geography and English. In two years I caught up with the others in these subjects. The first day in the New Braunfels School, the teacher cut up a stick and an apple and explained the fractions. I was way ahead in arithmetic as I could add, divide and multiply fractions. After the adjusting years were over, I sailed away smoothly, never failed, and graduated from High School in the class of ’13 (1913) at the age of 15.

When I was 12, I went to work at a cleaning and pressing shop after school and Saturdays at a starting salary of 90 cents per week. I kept this up until I graduated, at which time I was drawing $5 per week. A little later my boss, Mr. Alex Floege, sold the cleaning shop as he had inherited an interest in a horse collar factory and he talked me into going to work for him at $10 per week. The work was hard and I got to where I could not take it. After six weeks, I went to work for the Henne Family as office boy at the lumber yard at $20 per month. After three years at this job, I was transferred to the general office at the hardware store at $40 per month working under the office manager, Curt Linnartz.

When I left for the Navy in 1918, I was drawing $85 per month which was the fourth highest salary out of their 27 employees. Some of them had been there 20 and 25 years.

During 1918, most of my friends were drafted, as they were several years older than I was and I felt lost at home. There was only one bright spot for me during this period. In those days, most of the boys had bicycles. I worked up a racket. I bought their bikes for $5 and I did not have any hard time selling them for $10. When it came time for me to go to the service, I had two bikes left. I sold one and gave the other to my nephew, Dr. Ottmar Stratemann. That was 60 years ago.

About ten years ago a dentist told me that I needed dentures. A few weeks later I visited Dr. Stratemann and told him what my dentist had told me. He is well acquainted with this dentist, but he decided that it was not necessary for me to get dentures. While we were talking, someone cancelled an appointment and upon learning this, he decided that he could x-ray my teeth during this time and see whether or not the dentist was right. He found the same thing, that is, I had only one good tooth in my mouth. I offered to pay him, but he said, “You don’t owe me anything. Don’t you remember that you gave me a bicycle when I did not have any money to buy one?” I did not expect that, but he insisted so we were squared off.

After the war, Albert went back to his job at Henne’s and then worked for the IRS in Austin. He eventually moved to the Cuero area where he worked for Magnolia Oil Company (MOBIL) and then the Crescent Valley Creamery as office manager.

He was married — twice — and had one son.

In 1952, he made a full circle back to his first job and bought a drycleaning/laundry business. In 1964, he sold that business to his son and retired.

Almost. His son bought a second laundromat in 1978 and Albert took it on. He ended his 1979 autobiographical sketch with a lot of pride in how he lived his life and his accomplishments:

During my business career, I opened or kept from sinking, eight establishments, four for the Crescent Valley Creamery and four for myself. All of them turned out successful and all but one are still operating. At 83, I work eight hours a day, seven days a week, and I enjoy it.

As I said before, Albert C. Fischer passed on 10 months later.

Well done Mr. Fischer, well done.

Sources: Sophienburg Museum & Archives, Fischer family genealogy, Reflections: Oral History Program #155.

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

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By Tara V. Kohlenberg —

How do we pick topics for Around the Sophienburg? you might ask. Well, a myriad of mysteries and ideas come across our desks, but this one came simply from the question, “Whatever happened to that armadillo guy?”

First off, let me tell you how we got “armadillo guy”. In the 1970s Country music was spreading across the U.S. like wildfire when country musicians Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, Jerry Jeff Walker and others escaped the constraints of Nashville and became known for their Outlaw Country sound, which took root in Texas. Suddenly, it was cool to wear hats and boots, dance the two-step and essentially be anything that was Texan.

The promoters of Lone Star Beer, The National Beer of Texas, played off the whole Texan theme. Leon Burns, a New Braunfels restaurant manager, attended a Lone Star Beer event in San Antonio where they held armadillo races at Hemisfair Plaza. The event was such a hit, that the Lone Star marketing team began traveling all over the U.S., creating Armadillo Races in New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and more just to promote Lone Star Beer.

Leon Burns and Bill Daughtery and about five other individuals formed the New Braunfels Armadillo Association. They decided that there should be a championship style event for all of the big city winners to race in. They contacted this young marketing guy named Jim Schmidt, who was fresh out of University of Houston. Jim was also the force behind the very successful “Luv Ya, Blue!” promotion for the Houston Oilers. In August 1979, the first International Invitational Armadillo Races took place at the Comal County Fair Grounds. It was a one-day event boasting The Derrick Dolls cheerleaders, food booths, beer, and music all afternoon. The “armadillo athletes” were rounded up from local ranches. Barry Jaroszewski not only ran a booth called Barry’s Rent-a-dillo, he provided the beer license through his Under-Pass Saloon. It was relatively successful.

The following year in 1980, Urban Cowboy with John Travolta was released. The Texas cowboy craze consumed everything and everybody. Could it be any cooler to be Texan? The Armadillo Races morphed into a three-day event called the Armadillo Olympics. Their flyer read “see highly trained armadillo athletes competing in a variety of breath-taking events.” Their logo had an armadillo sporting running shoes and cowboy hat in front of Olympic rings. The event was held at the end of August in an open field on the I-35 access road that sits between what is now Walmart Distribution Center and the back of Creekside Shopping Center. There was a chili cook off, five-acre carnival, hot air balloons, arts & crafts, sky divers, booths by non-profit organizations, food and beer. They held a dance every night featuring Ernest Tubb, Roy Head, the Geezinslaw Brothers and more. There were reports of 30,000 people in attendance, which is absolutely amazing.

In 1981, the NBAA learned to deal with their celebrity. Burns said they received a cease-and-desist letter from the International Olympic committee. The Association could not use the word Olympics or the rings in the logo. Great! They changed the ‘O’ to an ‘A’ and moved on to obtaining festival permits. Judge Max Wommack listened to over an hour’s worth of complaints about noise, trash, dust, and trespassing from area residents before granting the permit. Think about that. I-35 was so narrow (two lanes each way) that the people living on the other side of it complained about noise and trash from the festival. Those were the days. Burns said it was the biggest ever, estimating over 45, 000 people in attendance and cars backed up to Hiway 46 to get in, but not a lot of money was made.

After the collapse of the New Braunfels Armadillo Association, Jim Schmidt created the Texas Armadillo Association headquartered in New Braunfels for the preservation, protection and promotion of the Texas nine-banded armadillo. He and his Armadillo Rangers, including locals like Lee Rodriguez, continued to drive all over America with Arnie the Armadillo, making appearances on Regis & Kathy Lee, PM Magazine news shows in every market and of course, at schools, fairs and trade shows. He even rode the Texas float in the 1989 Inaugural Parade for President H.W. Bush.

It was during the first State of the Union Address of H.W. Bush that Jim Schmidt responded to something he heard the President say. He heard a plea to help him and Barbara continue Nancy Reagan’s platform of “Just Say No” to drugs. Jim Schmidt, taking his cue from Ephesians 6:11 “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes”, formed the Put On Your Armor Foundation, a non-profit to help armor children and protect them from drugs, crime and violence. He and his Armadillo Rangers have traveled internationally with USDA approved armadillos, educating and entertaining millions of kids. Who knew that a giant beer-fest with armadillos would turn into a non-profit educational career.

Oh, but, wait. There is more. Armadillo Jim left New Braunfels in 1995 for Oklahoma to attend Bible college. There he married and has three children. He has devoted his life to building a children’s ministry, helping to instill good character and Christian values in our youth; raising awareness for abused and missing children, and providing resources for grief recovery. During his career, he has appeared at well over 1000 schools, 750 conventions, special events, trade shows and meetings, 120 state and county fairs/festivals, and community outreaches and many church crusades and meetings. Armadillo Jim Schmidt and his side-kick Arnie Armadillo continue to live a blessed and full life, spreading the Word through what I have always considered to be a nuisance in my garden. The wonder of the smallest creatures never ceases to amaze me.

Sources: Sophienburg Museum & Archives; GuideStar.org; Alton Rahe; Jim Schmidt; Leon Burns; Barry Jaroszewski; Lee Rodriguez.

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By Tara V. Kohlenberg —

I always looked forward to our weekly trip to the grocery store. Although it was only a short twelve or so blocks from our house (and about the same from the Plaza), it felt like we were traveling to an exotic place with odd sights, sounds and smells. It was both scary and exciting to ride in the car as my mother drove over the bridge high above the Guadalupe. The grocery store was Pittman’s Red & White Store.

To me, the store was small and safe with only three aisles and a meat market in the back. If I behaved, I would get to select a treat from the cooler case at the end of the trip. But there was so much more to Pittman’s story than those three aisles of groceries.

The Comal and Guadalupe Rivers marked the boundaries of the land purchased by Prince Carl. The rivers defined the edge of New Braunfels for a long time. The Faust Street Bridge, one of New Braunfels’ most recognizable landmarks, was completed in 1887. The bridge was part of Highway 2, and served as a major crossing for all traffic between Austin to San Antonio until 1934, long before US 81 and Interstate 35 were built.

Highway 2, the Guadalupe River and the railroad brought industry. In 1921, Planters and Merchants Textiles began planning and building their modern water-powered textile mill. It began full production in July 1923. In 1922, just across the road on the edge of the highway in rural Comal County, Litt Atkin (L.A.) Pittman and his wife Eula set up a hamburger stand. According to family history, L.A. and Eula came to the New Braunfels area in 1919. When they wanted to build a business, it was said that the only properties available to them were outside of New Braunfels city limits. They purchased property from Louis Meyer on Highway 2 (now Porter Street).

What started out as a hamburger stand evolved into a grocery store. L.A. worked as a fireman in a factory job while Eula ran the store. They served not only the mill workers, but the families that built homes in the new Meyer Addition. The store was a little of everything to the community. Because it was on the highway, it served as a Greyhound bus station. It also served as a post office and polling place for Comal County. The community was dubbed Milltown by the people of New Braunfels. It was a derogatory name, but the people of Milltown embraced it. The funny thing was, the mill was the largest employer in the county, with a good number of the workers crossing that bridge from town every day to work there.

As the mill prospered, so did Pittman’s. By the late ’20s, the store became Pittman’s Red & White Store. L.A. and his wife built a large home behind the store and raised their children, who also worked in the store. About 1940, the Pittmans built a new modern Red & White Store next door to the first wood frame store. L.A.’s son, Walter, raised his family in the remodeled old store building while working long hours in the new store. The new store had the traditional red and black tile front and plate glass windows. This is the store I remember from the ’50s and ’60s. It was a nice place to be. The air conditioner was cool in the summertime. There was a square table with chairs near the front doors. Hot coffee was available all day along with cold sodas in the cooler. They made sandwiches and burgers to go. They also had a butcher in the back of the store that custom cut and wrapped the meat for customers. Gary, L.A.’s oldest grandson was the butcher. For a while, Walter and Helen Pittman owned a myna bird, and believe it or not, they had it by the back door in the butcher shop. It would whistle and call out Helen’s name all the time. My child-self thought that was so very cool. My adult-self is like, oh my gosh, you had a bird in a butcher shop! So many things wrong with that. The Myna bird accounts for both odd sights and sounds. Across the street from the store, stood the mill, a huge glistening white building guarded by a row of tall palm trees and a green and white neon sign. The odd smells mentioned before? The dyes used contained formaldehyde. Occasionally, the dye vats were flushed into the river and released an acrid smell into the air. Yuck. Best thing ever at Pittman’s? Grapette from the cooler!

Pittman’s store was fundamentally tied to the textile mill, whether it was Planters and Merchants, Mission Valley Mills, or Westpoint Pepperell. Pittman’s opened before first shift so workers could fill up on breakfast tacos (yes!) and get sandwiches for their noon meal. They cashed checks and ran charge accounts for groceries. They even delivered. Before the war, Pittman’s would purchase flat fold yardage of ginghams from the mill to sell at the store. There would be people lined up before the store opened to purchase that fabric. L.A.’s daughter, Bernice, would cut gingham sample swatches stapled together with cardboard labeled Comal Cottons to mail out to people. Mr. McKenna purchase that name for his own retail operation. After the war, Comal Cottons retail store opened across the street. Pittman’s returned to grocery sales and Gary would later go on to a career with Comal Cottons and then fabric sales.

Pittman’s Store remained a staple in Milltown serving people of the area until the family closed the doors for the last time in late 1979.

Sources: https://historicbridgefoundation.com/txbridges/hillcountry/comal/faust.html; Sophienburg Museum & Archives; Around the Sophienburg, Myra Lee Adams Goff; Gary Pittman; Bonnye Manning.

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Andrew White, a New Braunfels High School senior, is the recipient of the Myra Lee Adams Goff Sophienburg History Scholarship. In order to be awarded the $1,000 scholarship, high school seniors from all over Comal County are invited to write an essay about an historical person or event in Comal County. Andrew wrote the history of Schlitterbahn. It follows at the end of this column. Part of his essay is about his life expectations. Andrew will enter the University of Texas at Austin next fall to study journalism. I think you will see that this young man has something important to say:

Personal life – Andrew White

I come from a long line of proud, courageous and honorable men and women. I think back only two generations to my great-grandfather, who flew every bomber under the sun during the dark days of WWII. He served our country’s Air Force for over 30 years during some of the most dangerous and harrowing times our great nation has ever faced. Step forward a generation and you find my two grandfathers. One was a pastor who once smuggled supplies to build a church across the Mexican border, while the other stood bravely alongside death himself on the Korean DMZ. And finally, my parents. My father was a winner of the Red Cross Hero of the Year Award, a Captain for Austin EMS, and a dedicated public servant for over two decades now. My mother is a Forensic Interviewer for sexually abused children, who saves the lives of hundreds of children each year, despite seeing humanity’s worst side day after day for nearly a decade straight. Each and every one of these people have partaken in a fight bigger than themselves, using their skills and talents to impact a countless number of lives. So, naturally, I’ve lived my entire life hoping to have but half of an impact as those who raised me did. However, I am not a soldier. I am decidedly not equipped to interview abused children like my mother, nor am I seemingly unaffected by even the goriest scenes like my father. Instead, my passion and talents stem from a different source entirely: words.

From the moment I learned to talk, I have been obsessed with words. Talking, writing, singing, I loved all of it. I devoured books in mere hours, and spent more time during recess with my nose in-between the pages of a novel than I would like to admit. But as I grew older, I was drawn specially to writing. There was something archaic and anciently beautiful about the act of putting a pen to paper and making even our wildest fantasies real and tangible. And after all, who is more impactful than the writer? From Shakespeare to Locke, Thomas Jefferson to Hemingway, writers are unique because they can impact millions of people from millions of places, all at the exact same time, by simply using their words. And that, I think, is my goal in life. To earn my degree, be it in Journalism or Creative Writing, and then use it to write. To put my thoughts into words, and allow others to put my words into action. To talk about social issues, and give a voice to those that need to be heard. To spread my values and ideas and beliefs, and impact the people who read them, just like my father and Shakespeare, my mother and Hemingway. To impact people, and to make a difference.

Sometimes, I think of myself as a paradox. Because, at this moment, I am the manifest of everyone that came before me. Everything the generations prior to me worked and fought for are represented in me and my freedoms. It’s my duty and my future to carry out the legacy of courage and honor and change that they implemented in me. And yet, though I am the manifest of the past, I am but a stepping stone for the future, and those who will come after me. I hope that one day my little brother, and maybe even my own kids one day, will look up to me and say that I was an agent of change. That I was someone who made a difference through his words and his action, and impacted the people he cared about most. In the end, how much money we make or what accomplishments we earned are irrelevant. What matters is the legacy we leave behind, the impressions we leave on the people we held most dear. And that legacy, that impression I want to leave, drives me. It is my end goal; my white whale, and I will fight for it until my final days.

History of Schlitterbahn by Andrew White

Nearly 40 years ago, an event occurred that would shape the future of our great city, as well as shift the entire landscape of the Texas Hill Country. An innovative, daring and renowned destination opened its gates for the first time on August 2^nd, 1979 when Bobby and Billye Henry opened a local resort and turned it into the greatest waterpark monopoly known to man: Schlitterbahn.

Our growing town has long predicated itself on one of the most driving factors of economy: Tourism. Year after year, thousands upon thousands of people from all over the world visit New Braunfels, Texas. Whether it be to see the massive waterpark, visit the historic Comal River, or just to get a taste of what German Culture is like, tourists are what make our little town the second fastest growing county in the entire country. And what bigger draw than Schlitterbahn itself? Widely known as the greatest waterpark in the world (as their advertisements demonstrably declare), the allure of a fresh cold dip into the water is a welcome reprieve from the crushing Texas heat. And while it is impossible to truly gauge, I would wager that an incredibly large percentage of people who have moved here did so in part because of the proximity to the park. In fact, my very own parents moved here from Lubbock because my father wanted to work as the head first aid officer at Schlitterbahn in 2002. And I know my family’s story is anything but unique in that regard.

In my opinion, aside from Prince Solms himself setting foot here so many years ago, the opening of Schlitterbahn is the most pivotal moment in New Braunfels history. Without all the exposure and visitors the waterpark has brought, I doubt our town would have reached the lofty heights it has. The economy alone would be vastly different, as we would lose a primary source of income for the city. All the local restaurants and shops and attractions have, without a doubt, benefited from the tourism our city is known for, and much of that tourism can be solely attributed to the park. Overall, Schlitterbahn is responsible for over two million visitors across five states each year, and it all started in the humble town of New Braunfels.

But the effect Schlitterbahn has had on our town goes even deeper. As I mentioned earlier, we are now the second fastest growing county in the nation, a statistic which can be no doubt attributed in part to the waterpark. With the massive influx of residents, real estate has gone through the roof, and with each passing day, the city expands farther and farther, and every plot of land becomes more and more valuable. Some predictions say that within the next 20 years Austin, New Braunfels and San Antonio will merge along the I-35 corridor into a massive metropolis, a meteoric rise from a town that was a mere 50,000 strong just ten years ago. And it is all due in part to the attraction, tourism and exposure Schlitterbahn brings.

While this city of ours has an impressive and rich history, I would argue that no date is more important than August 2nd, 1979, when the gates of tourism were opened and the trajectory of New Braunfels was changed forever. The energy, revenue and exposure Schlitterbahn brings to the town makes it an invaluable and crucial part of our culture, and its impact cannot be overstated.

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How many times have you said or thought, “I wish I could remember what my grandmother told me about that.” If you have letters or a diary from your family, you are one of the fortunate ones. Our history of New Braunfels is almost totally based on the writings of Prince Carl, Hermann Seele, Ferdinand Roemer, Ferdinand Lindheimer and all those who told us our history because they were here. From them we learned what the town looked like, what people were doing, what they ate, how they felt, and what they thought. Even from the Spanish period in Texas we are told about routes along the Camino Real through the Comal Springs and about the missions established along the routes and how the explorers lived.

We live in what is called the communication age but you have to wonder how much of our “communication” today will be left for future generations to discover where we were and who we were. Remember that when you hit “delete” on your computer or cell text. Wonder if there is some kind of “cyber diary” out there that will be tapped in the future or will it all just be transported into outer space?

In 2013, I wrote an article about the life of Ferdinand Lindheimer, however, recently I read again A Life Among the Texas Flora by Minetta Altgelt Goyne, and decided to write more about this exceptional man. The book is a compilation of letters from Lindheimer to botanist George Engelmann.

Dr. Goyne, a descendant from some old New Braunfels families (Altgelt and Coreth), was teaching at the University of Texas at Arlington and could translate the old German script. She also knew a lot about New Braunfels history, Lindheimer and the history of Germany, all contributing to her insightful analysis published alongside the letters. The original letters are housed at the Missouri Botanical Garden at St. Louis. In 1979, the president of the New Braunfels Conservation Society approached Dr. Goyne to translate the letters. Copies of the letters had been acquired from Carlos Lindheimer, great-grandnephew of Lindheimer and native of Argentina.

Lindheimer came to New Braunfels in 1845 with Prince Carl at the age of 43. He did not travel to Texas on the ships with the first contingency of immigrants. He was already here in Texas. He was born and raised near Frankfurt, came to the United States in 1834, entering at New York. He traveled to Belleville, Illinois to the Hilgard Farm where he joined friends that had already emigrated from Germany. One of the friends was George Engelmann. Engelmann had studied medicine in Germany and had a practice in St. Louis but continued his plant studies. Engelmann and Lindheimer had studied botany together in Germany.

In the fall of 1834, Lindheimer set out from Illinois to travel south. His destination was Texas but it was considered dangerous to travel south directly into Texas from the northern route. He decided to travel to Mexico and then enter Texas from the south. He took a steamboat from Illinois down the Mississippi and arrived in New Orleans. then took a schooner to Veracruz, Mexico. He traveled to a German colony not far from Veracruz that he considered one of the most beautiful areas on earth. The German colony grew and exported sugarcane, coffee and tobacco. Lindheimer stayed there for a period of time working and observing the plantation. At that point, he thought he wanted to be a farmer.

We know that he left Mexico and enlisted in the Army of Texas, arriving with his company at San Jacinto one day too late. He received an honorable discharge at Houston on December 5, 1837. Apparently his commanding officers allowed him to collect botanical specimens while his fellow soldiers were performing drills. In 1939, he purchased a ten-acre farm near Houston not far from White Oak Bayou.

The letters to Engelmann beginning in 1841, indicate that he was accumulating equipment for his first botanizing in Texas. In 1835, while in Mexico, Lindheimer wrote to Engelmann about his interest in plants. Now in Texas, he was going to be paid to collect plant specimens and ship them to Engelmann in St. Louis.

Engelmann later organized the St. Louis Academy of Science in 1856 and what is now called the Missouri Botanical Garden. The archives house Engelmann’s plant collections and papers which include the Lindheimer letters. Many of the plant specimens collected by Lindheimer were also be sent to the famous botanist Asa Gray and actually all over the world. The Texas plants had never been collected and catalogued so completely before this time.

In the early 1840s, Lindheimer collected plants in the Houston and Galveston area, making little use of his home and living in a tent. His equipment consisted of paper, plant pressing equipment, magnifying glasses and botany textbooks. Specimens were shipped to St. Louis in wooden crates. Engelmann and Gray paid Lindheimer eight dollars per 100 specimens.

In 1842, Lindheimer wrote to Engelmann from Houston concerning the “Texas Star” flower (Lindheimeria texensis), “Did you write my name among the stars with this little Asteroid? Did I serve botany in that way? Not by knowledge of it but rather by love of this sleeping, dreaming daughter of Flora.” He continues, “So, if I die childless, then I shall nevertheless leave a little immortal daughter, the Lindheimer texensis!”

In 1843 and 1844, we find Lindheimer collecting specimens in (Wild)Cat Springs, San Felipe, Brazoria, Liverpool, the Brazos basin, Industry and the Chocolate Bayou. Wildcat or Cat Springs was established in 1834 by Robert Justus and Rosalie Roeder Kleberg. The 1831 settlement of Industry where Lindheimer visited is considered the cradle of German settlements in Texas. There was a small influx of German emigrants during most of the Republic of Texas period until the last year, when the major immigration to Texas occurred with Prince Carl.

In January 1845, Lindheimer wrote to Engelmann from the Adelsverein’s camp at Aqua Dulce. Many of the German Texans that had settled in Texas prior to the arrival of Prince Carl, joined with the prince at the coast. Then on April 18, 1845, we find that Lindheimer is writing his letter from the new German settlement on the Comal Springs. Lindheimer writes of New Braunfels, “Flower upon flower, richer than the richest Persian carpet. Fragrances that sometimes remind one of violets, often of vanilla, flow around the wanderer.”

In New Braunfels, Lindheimer reserved a piece of land for his botanical garden of Texas plants, arboretum and agricultural experiments. Under the employ of the Adelsverein, he received this farm and a house. By Christmas, he was living in a cold, poor, open hut and spending so much time on survival that he is having difficulty collecting plants. This situation was remedied when he met Eleanor Reinarz. Lindheimer described her as upright, understanding, diligent, solid, refreshing, generous and chaste. She shared in his interests and helped with his plant collecting. He wrote that in a couple of weeks, his weatherproof house will be ready alleviating the problem of moldy specimens.

From this home-base, Lindheimer traveled to the surrounding areas of San Antonio, Seguin, Austin, San Saba and the Pedernales to collect plant specimens.

Gray and Engelmann issued Plantae Lindheimerianae, Part I in 1845 and Part II in 1850, with many publications to follow. In the early 1850s, Lindheimer’s interests became more local and he spent more time raising his family with wife, Eleanor. New Braunfels was in need of a newspaper and on November 12, 1852, the first issue of the Neu-Braunfelser Zeitung was published with Lindheimer as editor. He continued botanizing to the end of his days. He died in 1879, and is buried in the Comal Cemetery. The first log home he built on Comal Avenue is no longer standing but his winterized home stands and is maintained amidst gardens by the New Braunfels Conservation Society.

Without a doubt, the letters establish why Lindheimer is considered the Father of Texas Botany.

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Ron Snider has been awarded the Dr. Frederick Frueholz Comal County Historical Commission Award for his work in the restoration and preservation of downtown New Braunfels buildings. In the 1960s a trend of tearing down old buildings, remodeling them into modern buildings or using the property for parking lots caused the loss of many beautiful homes and business buildings downtown. This trend seemed to be growing but when civic minded people became aware of the trend, conservation groups began to pop up to save what was still left of the irreplaceable buildings.

Often it takes people from the outside to really see the value of what you have. Ron Snider was one of those people. Snider and his family moved to New Braunfels in1982 when he began a business called GYM-N-I, building wooden playground equipment. It was a good, safe and welcome business in New Braunfels. For years parents had been aware of the danger of certain metal playground equipment, especially on the school playground. One by one, these iron swings, slides and merry-go-rounds had been removed.

Snider grew up inner city but both his grandfathers lived on farms so he liked small towns. He had German roots and he chose New Braunfels to live in. With a background of ten years as a salesman for Lane Furniture, traveling to small towns made him aware of what was happening to downtowns especially the business districts. Beginning with the first purchase in 1996 by Snider and Darrell Sollberger under the name of S&S Properties and then with Dr. Frank Hampel as S&H Properties, he renovated eight buildings in the downtown area, built from early 1900s to the latest in the 1940s.

Seekatz Opera House

The first building to be renovated at 265 W. San Antonio St. was the Seekatz Opera House built in 1901. It was a big success as an events center, badly needed by the town. This building was severely damaged by a fire in 1941. By that time it had become the Cole Movie Theater. After that it became a clothing store but it never became what it was in its prime. After seven years of renovation, the Seekatz Opera House has once again become an important events center in downtown.

The Seekatz Opera House had a long history in downtown. In the late 1800s Louis and Otto Seekatz saw a need for a building with a stage and auditorium style seating, mostly for the traveling shows that came through town and local events such as New Year’s Eve Dances, July 4 Celebrations, Firemen’s Dances and Kindermaskenball.

Richter Buildings 1910 and 1920

In 1998 S&S purchased the two R.B. Richter buildings. These buildings had some renovations done by Ernie Lambert and Luke Speckman and the upstairs apartment had already been renovated when the purchase was made. The complicated history of these two buildings was given to me by researcher David Hartmann who knows more about the Richters than they do. Richter set up his first pharmacy at 143 W. San Antonio St. (next to the Phoenix) in 1901 and then ten years later in 1910 moved across the street to 142 W. San Antonio St. where there had been a one-story saloon. A. Moeller began construction of the building housing the pharmacy and a second floor that became the residence of R.B. and Emilie Weilbacher Richter.

Now the second Richter 1920 building. Next door at 168 W. San Antonio St. was a fachwerk house and in 1915 Richter bought the property and tore the house down. On this lot an L shaped brick wall was constructed with a large wooden floor. The back wall was plastered white and chairs were set up for an open-air theater showing silent movies. During the day, the floor was used as a roller skating rink. In 1920 the building was enclosed and a second story was added and rented out to doctors and attorneys. Downstairs was Oscar Haas Mercantile, Richters Grocery, B.F. Goodrich and Tom Oliver’s clothing store.

Palace Theater

The next purchase in partnership with Dr. Frank Hampel was a series of three connected buildings that few here can still remember. Located in the 100 block of N. Castell Ave., one of the three buildings was originally the Palace Theater, a movie theater whose grand opening was Dec. 23, 1924. Records show that it was built by A.C. Moeller (my grandfather) and Herman Moeller, his brother. The theater didn’t last long and closed in 1932, possibly because of the Depression. At that time it became the home of Ma’s Café. This café was a favorite of locals run by Ma Bloedorn and her son, Schimmel. It finally closed in 1982 after 50 years. Now these buildings are the upscale Myrons Prime Steakhouse and the Blue Artichoke.

Bingo Café

The next purchase in 2004 by S&S was the former Hinman’s Bingo Café at 277 W. San Antonio St. Homer Hinman owned many cafés on San Antonio St. He actually began his business at the age of 14 when he drove a wagon to Landa Park and sold 5cent hamburgers from a grill that he had on a wagon. His first indoor café was next to Peerless Drug Store, a very small deli called “Hole in the Wall” from 1912-1915. From 1918 to 1923 he owned the Bingo Café where his wife and two children lived on the second floor. Then from 1923-1926 he purchased the “A” Café, so named so that it could be first in the telephone book. It was across the railroad track on San Antonio St. in front of the Huisache Restaurant. Then in 1926 he ran Homer’s Lunch Bar next to the Bingo Café and then finally from 1932 to 1936 he owned the Longhorn Café across from the Civic Center.

Herald-Zeitung, KGNB/KNBT

The former Herald-Zeitung and KGNB/KNBT building at 188 Castell Ave. was purchased in 2009. This renovation took four years, as there was the relocation of the Salvation Army office involved. Today it houses the restaurant called 188 South, the Blue Moose Pizza, the office of S&H Properties and the Farmer’s Market office.

Historically the Art Deco Style building was built for Claude Scruggs in 1945.This building style was covered up in an imitation German fachwerk style. The New Braunfels Herald newspaper was first published around 1892 and merged with the Zeitung-Chronicle in 1966.The paper was renamed the Herald-Zeitung in 1979.

The Farmer’s Market

The purchase of the Herald building and the ownership of the back of the Seekatz Opera House used for parking led to the very popular Farmer’s Market. Snider built stalls and the market has grown to 60 vendors, usually 30 in winter. Ron Snider through an early influence of both grandfathers who were farmers became interested in this type of business and a recent demand for fresh produce has made this market very popular.

Odyssey of the Mind

Here’s something about Snider that you may not know: He also knows how to build robots. Here’s the story:

In the late 1980s an educational program was entered into for 6^th and 7^th graders called the “Odyssey of the Mind”. OM is an international competition. Student teams are given a problem to solve by using divergent skills, and creativity for the purpose of promoting team efforts. Not only teachers are involved, but parents are a must. A group of seven boys from New Braunfels Middle School chose a problem having to construct an actual robot. Guess who volunteered to help this team. Yes, you have it – Ron Snider. For six months this team met with Snider and they constructed a life-sized robot. When the competition came along, the team won first place locally, then at the regional level and finally the state winner. The next step was the world competition. Teachers, parents, and seven boys flew to the University of Tennessee and won 13th place. This was the first and last time that any New Braunfels team competed in a world competition.

And now, as you could guess, Snider has a “work in progress’. He is renovating the very popular Krause’s Café. Congratulations, Ron, anyone who can put together a robot with 7^th grade boys is destined to continue great things here in New Braunfels.

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