By Keva Hoffmann Boardman —

“And so,” Michael Freiherr von der Tann continued, “we are so pleased to have these documents returned to our family. They will join the rest of the Tann Archive in the Hesse State Archives in Marburg.” With a hand-off of an acid-free box containing four vellum documents, this chapter of Susanna von der Tann nee Waiblingen’s story ends.

But wait! Isn’t there anything more? Indeed there is. Every chance I got I asked questions and listened to Michael’s stories about his family, which are now a part of the Sophienburg’s story and family, too.

For example, Michael spoke of Susanna’s father-in-law, Eberhard the Elder. He played a role in the Protestant Reformation. He was Catholic like everyone else until he met Martin Luther. He even hid Luther when the Church was looking for him. Eberhard the Elder then built the first Protestant church in Tann (remember Susanna’s wedding?) and the village converted from Catholic to Protestant. “Not so today,” says Michael, “we now have Catholic, Jew, Muslim and other churches.”

Eberhard the Elder controlled land all over Bavaria (some of which became Hesse) and the Rhine provinces. The village of Tann grew up around the ancestral home. The forests surrounding it belonged to the Church in Fulda, but were on a kind of “medieval loan” to the von der Tanns for care and use. It wasn’t until after the Napoleonic wars, that “The Tann”, the village and 2000+ acres, became the property of the von der Tann family. The governance of the city was by the von der Tanns until the 20th century when it became a city government with elected officials.

Michael von der Tann is an unassuming thoughtful man, with a deep sense of duty and responsibility to his family and the area of Tann. That sense of duty and responsibility was a character trait he inherited from another of his ancestors. He spoke a bit about Ludwig Freiherr von und zu der Tann-Rathsamhausen. Ludwig was born in 1815 and received that name from his sponsor, King Ludwig I, the second king of Bavaria; Ludwig’s second name “Arthur” came from Arthur Wellesly, the 1st Duke of Wellington. Talk about connections…Ludwig was destined for greatness.

Ludwig became a soldier and a highly decorated war hero during the various wars and campaigns of the 19th century. He was a close personal friend of King Maximillian II of Bavaria. He served in King Max’s army during the Austro-Prussian and Franco-Prussian Wars leading troops to numerous victories and attaining the post of Commander-in-Chief of the 1st Bavarian Corps. In 1849, a gunboat was christened Von der Tann. A WWI German battle cruiser, the first large German warship to use steam turbines, was named SMS Von der Tann. Kaiser Wilhelm I renamed Fort No. 8 “Fort Tann” in 1871, and streets in the cities of Munich, Erlangen, Dortmund, Wuppertal, Hamburg, Nuremberg, Neustadt and Regensburg bear the name Von der Tann and show the esteem Germany had for this man.

I told you this was an important family.

As a few of us sat enjoying Shiner beer at the Gristmill in Gruene, Freiherr von der Tann said that after World War II, ”which we started,” that the Iron Curtain then became the eastern border of the Tann. There was no war damage to the town. “Thankfully, the Americans got there first.” The town spread westward from that border. The Russian threat of the Ukraine truly resonates with his family and village. Like most Europeans, Michael is keenly interested in world news and asked many questions about American feelings on global subjects.

Since he took over the reins of running the family estate, Michael has been active in promoting the sustainability of Germany’s forests. He is president of the Hessian Forest Owners’ Association which advocates policies to protect them from government control and laws. This volunteer position has taken him to many places around the world. He attends countless gatherings in small villages and listens to forest farmers’ concerns. He advises mayors of city-owned forests on upcoming laws, issues and solutions. He regularly lobbies members of the Hessian state parliament and government to make them aware of the association’s concerns. Michael speaks with a quiet but very real passion about forests. And he loved our cedar and oak trees…his forests are fir and beech.

The von der Tanns still serve in city council positions and are involved in Tann politics. After all, the town of Tann sits at the feet of their ancestral home. With a bit of dry humor, Michael described this home — which is roughly rectangular with a central courtyard. “It is actually three castles. There is the Blue Castle which is really white with blue around the windows and there is the Red Castle which is also really white with red around the windows. My family, the von der Tann-Rathsamhausens, live in the Yellow Castle which is actually all yellow.” The three conjoined castles have housed the different lines or branches of the original Tann family. Michael has spent many years constantly updating and restoring the over 500-year-old structures.

The “official hand-off” of Susanna’s documents occurred this past Tuesday, April 19th. In attendance were Mayor Brockman, members of both Rotary Clubs (Michael is a long-time member of his local club), Chamber representatives and Sophienburg board members and staff. The donor of the documents to the Sophienburg was also there. Ken Brandt and his wife were thrilled to join the festivities and truly happy that the vellum documents were going home; after all, Ken’s father had been the one to save Susanna’s history!

I need to mention that Michael Freiherr von der Tann was intrigued by the country music emanating from Gruene Hall so we took him inside to listen and watch the dancing. A couple of young girls in cutoff jeans and cowboy boots were two-stepping along adding a few swing turns in for good measure.

“Can you do this thing?” I nodded yes and said, “Since I was a toddler!” Michael just grinned.

I am fairly certain Michael Freiherr von der Tann will be coming back to visit us, this time with his wife. You can take her documents out of Texas, but Susanna will remain a Texas woman.

The post The Susanna saga continued appeared first on Sophies Shop.

Tourism has been an important economic facet in New Braunfels for many years. All can agree that the beauty of natural springs bubbling out of a rocky hillside to form the crystal clear Comal River, Landa Park, historic homes and businesses, music venues in century old dance halls, and the beer, sausage and Gemütlichkeit of Wurstfest are not really a difficult sell. But who started it all? Who was the very first tour guide of New Braunfels?

After a quick search through the Archives, I found that it might be a man by the name of Karl Klinger. Okay, so this might need a little background. In 1845, New Braunfels was settled by German immigrants led by Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels, Commissioner General of “The Society for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas” or Adelsverein. When the townsite was surveyed and laid out, the Prince chose a large section of land for the Adelsverein. According to the earliest town maps, the land was bordered by what is today Hill Street, Guenther Street, Cross Street and Butcher Street. A three-room log cabin with large doors was built on the crest of the small hill overlooking the settlement to serve as both the Adelsverein headquarters and guest quarters for visiting dignitaries. The building was also to be the beginning of a fortress to protect the colonists. Now, Prince Carl was already betrothed to Princess Sophia of Salm-Salm, so he did not stick around long in New Braunfels (actually only about 6 weeks). Before he left for his homeland, he dedicated the property and named the log structure “Sophienburg” (Sophia’s Fortress) in honor of his fiancée. A couple of other structures were erected on the site including a supply warehouse (or magazine) for foodstuffs and farm implements (thus the street named Magazine Avenue). After the Adelsverein went bankrupt in 1847, the whole Sophienburg Hill property was sold & divided to satisfy debts. The original headquarters building fell into disrepair, standing as a decaying memory of the Verein for over forty years until it was destroyed in a storm (that’s another story for another time).

For a good part of those forty years, the original Sophienburg building was occupied by Christian (aka Karl) Klinger as a sort of caretaker. Klinger had immigrated to Texas in 1845 as a servant of Prince Carl from the Province of Bavaria. He is listed in census records as a “joiner”, which is an antiquated term for someone who joins wooden building components like stairs, doors, and window frames. He also served during the Civil War in Captain F. Heidemeyer’s Company of Infantry, Texas State Troops, 31^st Brigade with the rank of Private. According to an 1888 New Braunfels Zeitung article, Karl Klinger lived in the “only rainproof corner” of the dilapidated old Sophienburg headquarters building until it collapsed (now that’s dedication!). So, what do you do when your historical hilltop home is blown away? What Klinger would do — build a small cabin to operate out of, keep on showing people around the site, keep telling the history of the Prince, Sophienburg Hill and stories about his time as a bugler in the Prussian Regiment of the Guards. To support himself, he sold such items as candy, soda drinks, homemade cider and postcards… the first tour guide and father of tourism in New Braunfels! Klinger was so well known that he was even included in an anonymous poem lovingly penned in German and submitted to the Zeitung in 1877:

The Sophienburg in New Braunfels

At New Braunfels on the hill
An old ruin perched;
There once dwelt the knight
Where now the Klinger lives.
He planes there all day
He tends to play the flute,
His beer is good, the cider clear
For Little money, one gets a lot.
And if you step out in front of the door,
One sees a friendly picture’
There lies the town in green adornment
Shrouded with gardens.
Prince Solms, a good knight,
Had this house built
Thirty-two years ago
To see something different.
After his much loved Lady
Did the Prince name it.
Sophienburg was its name,
So it is still known today.
There in the valley below swayed
The grasses back and forth,
Where you see the manicured farms
Was in those days, bare and desolate.
Wherever the eye turns
One sees today the fruits of Labor
What the parent’s diligence provided,
Was a blessing for their young.

Fast forward to 1928 and when S.V. Pfeuffer, along with a handful of very civic minded people, raised money during The Great Depression to acquire part of the Hill property and build a museum and library. The Museum, built on the original Hill Property, was dedicated on October 8, 1933. New Braunfels Herald accounts of the dedication reported “this was the first instance in the Southwest, at least, where a memorial has risen on the exact site where a city or town had its birth.”

Almost 84 years to the day, the Sophienburg Hill will be recognized by The Texas Historical Commission as a significant part of Texas history by awarding it an Official Texas Historical Marker. The designation honors Sophienburg Hill as an important and educational part of local history. As an added bonus, The Lindheimer Chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas will also recognize the Sophienburg Hill as an Historic Site of the Republic of Texas.

A ceremony to commemorate these two events will be held on Tuesday, October 10, 2017 at 401 W. Coll at 5:15 pm. The Comal County Historical Commission invites the public to share in and witness this exciting dedication of the historical Sophienburg Hill.

Sources:

• Neu Braunfelser Zeitung
• New Braunfels Herald
• The First Founders, by Everett A. Fey
• THC application for site status

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