By Tara V. Kohlenberg —

Having lived in New Braunfels for most of my life, it feels oddly disturbing to see long-standing buildings damaged or torn down. It also piques my interest. Questions about what happened there or where the buildings went start spinning in my head. I wanted to know what happened to the collection of gray and orange buildings on South Seguin Avenue, recently vacated by Adele Kerr Antiques. As a child, I remember the buildings so differently. Definitely not gray with orange trim. So, let’s dig in.

First of all, the property of gray buildings really had multiple addresses. We will start with the oldest building. The building that looked like a house with a closed-in porch and an orange door was, indeed, a house. It was built in 1909. The property was once part of the estate of Conrad Friedrick Meyer, one of the city’s earliest citizens.

Conrad Meyer, 29, emigrated from Grossenmahner, Hildesheim, Hanover, with his wife Christine Kassel Meyer, 28, and son Christian, age 5, arrived on the ship Eberhardt in 1845. According to census records, Conrad Meyer was listed as a stonemason and later, a farmer. He and his wife had ten children, two of which died in childhood.

Conrad was an active community member. During the Civil War, at age 45, he was enlisted as a private with the Comal County Militia, Company A. He was listed in the 1878 Reunion of Surviving Settlers photograph taken in front of the original Adelsverein Sophienburg building. Conrad Meyer and wife made their home on acreage located between South Seguin and Castell Avenues. That property eventually became part of New City Block 1034.

Their fourth child, Marie (Mary) married Robert C. Sands, a Union solider from Indiana whom she met while his unit was stationed on Camp Street in Comaltown. They, in turn, had three daughters, Fenora Sands, Laura Sands, Clara Sands and one son, Oliver. From her father, Mary Sands was deeded Lot #25 on which to build their home. Having lost her husband at age 44, Mary continued to share the home with her three daughters — who never married. They lived all in the home until the last daughter died in 1950. Lot #25 is located at 636 S. Seguin where Cancun Mexican Restaurant recently burned down.

Mary also later received Lots #23, 24, 9 and 10 from her father’s estate. Just for perspective, lots 23, 24 and 25 face S. Seguin. Lots 9 and 10 back up to 23 and 24, but face Castell. Lot #23, located at 666 S. Seguin Avenue, was acquired at some point by local businessman Otto Bodeman and his wife Emma. Nothing was built on the property. They sold it in 1939 to Felix Garza.

Mary Sands deeded Lot #24 to her son Oliver, who built the beautiful house at 650 South Seguin in 1909. Oliver and his wife had two children. Their home was masterfully constructed with state-of-the-art materials on a pier and beam foundation. The front of the house was symmetrical, with large windows flanking the big wooden door. The door was framed by sidelight and transom windows. The porch ran the width of house, accentuating the simple architectural design. Originally, it had three fireplaces which were later covered by drywall when the gas floor furnace was installed in the living room. Oliver and Julie Sands continued to live out their lives in the home after their family was grown. Julie Sands died in March of 1948. The house was sold in 1950 to Felix Garza.

The story of Felix and Olivia Zamora Garza and the properties of South Seguin Avenue is a whole other story all its own. I will save that for next time. In the meantime, I will tell you that the once beautiful Sands house has been saved; moved to another location nearby to enjoy a rebirth with another owner in recent weeks. Stay tuned for the Garza story.

Sources: Sophienburg Museum & Archives; Alicia Garza Moreno; Sally Tamayo Stoneking.

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By Myra Lee Adams Goff —

New Braunfels has an historic and active downtown. In order for that to happen, three things are necessary. First, the buildings themselves must be of lasting quality. Secondly, an active preservation philosophy must be prevalent. The third is to have creative successful business owners. We are fortunate to have all of three.

As I drove around Main Plaza, on Seguin Avenue and down San Antonio Street, I was surprised and pleased to count 17 buildings built in the early 1920s by my grandfather, A.C. Moeller. This prompted me to do research on the Moeller brothers of Comaltown.

The Moeller family has been involved in building since their immigration to Texas and the formation of Comaltown. The story began, as so many do, in a German town called Michaelsrombach. Several years ago, I was able to visit this beautiful tiny village where the emigrant, Johann Georg Moeller, was born. It was a charming place. The house where the Moeller family lived dates back to the 1600s. The stone house stands almost in the center of the village and is still occupied by Moeller descendants. Originally, cows lived on one side of the house to protect them from the winter elements but over the years, additions were made to the home and the cows are gone. A beautiful Catholic church sits on a small hill overlooking the village. The Moellers attended this church and went to school there. The adjoining cemetery contains many Moeller graves. It is a very strange feeling to realize that all those buried there are my ancestors. Michaelsrombach seemed like a fairy tale place to grow up in.

Johann was 25 years old when he left the harbor of Bremen and sailed on the ship Weser. His Reisepass (passport) stated that he was 5 foot 2 inches tall, had blond curly hair and blue eyes.

There were seven men and one woman aboard the Weser from Michaelsrombach. I wondered why they left such a beautiful town. Then I found a statement made by historian, Rudolph Biesele, from his research on emigration. He writes: “Generations ago when German tribes were still living in their primitive social development, they frequently undertook adventurous enterprises under leaders especially chosen for that purpose. These expeditions developed among the early Germans an adventurous spirit for which in a much later period they used the term ‘Wanderlust.’ This Wanderlust or desire to wander, has remained with them through all the ages as one of their national characteristics.” Sound familiar?

Most of the Michaelsrombach emigrants were young men in their 20s. One couple, Peter and Maria Reus, were each 50 years old. Others were Johann Georg Moeller, Johann Arnold, Valentin Fey, Johann Schneider, Johann Schwab and Thomas Schwab. Why so many Johanns? Looking over so many family trees, I noticed that the oldest boy was named Johann. In America, most of these Johanns were referred to by their middle name. So, from this point on, Johann Georg Moeller will be referred to as Georg Moeller. His first son, who was named after him, became the Americanized name of John.

These immigrants, and 84 others, had been asked to settle Texas by Henry Fisher who had arranged for them to sail on the ship Weser. They arrived in Galveston in July 1844, five months before the Adelsverein immigrants. Prince Carl was to meet the Henry Fisher group in Galveston, but he left to secure another port for the Adelsverein immigrants to disembark. He established a port at Indianola and by December 1844, 292 immigrants had landed and awaited their trek inland. On March 21, 1845, the immigrants crossed the Guadalupe River into New Braunfels. Many of those from Michaelsrombach came with this early group. Georg Moeller did not make the trek with the immigrants but arrived soon after and settled in Comaltown. We do not know why he didn’t wait with the other immigrants, but could he have given in to Wanderlust? Nevertheless, we know that he arrived in Comaltown soon after the March 21st group. In I846, Georg married the widow Katherine Hoffmann; her husband had died shortly after the family arrived leaving her with two children. Eventually, Georg and Katherine had one daughter that died and then three sons. They were twins John and Franz and then Louis (Ludwig).

Georg bought a large piece of property in Comaltown and it was on this property that he built a magnificent two-story rock house that still stands at 212 West Austin Street. Supposedly, the rock was hauled from a nearby quarry on Rock Street. All the walls are constructed of smooth hand-hewn limestone. Heavy cedar beam staircases lead to a basement. No nails were used. After Georg died in 1857, the house was occupied by family members and eventually sold by the three sons. The most recent acquisition was by Schlitterbahn. In 1970 the house received the Recorded Texas Historic Landmark designation.

It is in this second generation that fellow researcher David Hartmann and I branch off. We share Johann Georg and Katherine Moeller as our first ancestors in New Braunfels. My great grandfather was John Moeller and David’s g-g grandfather was Louis Moeller. John Moeller continued in the building trade, constructing homes in the area. He also built a Victorian home in 1894, on the corner of Union Avenue and Camp Street, which still stands. On the back of this property, John had a small lumber mill. It was here that John and wife, Anna Rauch Moeller, raised their four boys and exposed them to the building business. Adolph was the oldest, then Ed, then Herman and last Alwin Carl Moeller.

Adolph Moeller carried on the building tradition and was known as a commercial builder. Several well-known downtown buildings were built by him: Fire Station #1, the old New Braunfels High School on Mill Street and many houses including his beautiful home on Garza Street. Ed Moeller is listed for a short time as a builder but spent most of his time as the owner of the bus station where the Celebrations Store is on Seguin Avenue. He was also involved in politics and became sheriff for a time. Hermann was listed as a carpenter.

And now we have the story of the prime builder of the Moeller clan: Alwin Carl “Kid” Moeller. He was my grandfather. To this day, his name is imprinted as “A.C. Moeller, Contractor” all over sidewalks and cornerstones in town, especially downtown. At an early age, he learned the contracting business from his oldest brother Adolph. A.C. went into business for himself and from the early 1920s until he died in 1936, he constructed many buildings. About 17 buildings downtown have cornerstones which carry his name. Some notable buildings that you are probably familiar with are the Seele Parish House, the Richter Building, Johnson Furniture, the Phoenix Saloon addition, the complete remodeling of the Doeppenschmidt Funeral Home, Plaza Drug Building, Comal Flower Building, the Black Whale, the Bus Station and many others. He built the first annex to the Courthouse (for $73,000) in 1930, the Garden Street Bridge and the textile mill dam across the Guadalupe River. Aside from commercial buildings, he was an expert on homes in the bungalow, craftsman and Prairie style. Some of these homes have been converted into offices contributing to the conservation of downtown. The law office of Jack Borchers on Seguin Avenue is a good example of a converted home to an office. Another example is the red brick Prairie style home on East San Antonio Street, owned by descendants of the Wagenfuehr family. Hundreds of A.C. Moeller homes still stand in New Braunfels and benefit from his skill at building. In 1924, he was awarded a big contract with New Braunfels schools to build Lamar School, Carl Schurz Elementary, Steven F. Austin School and the Home Economics Cottage for the high school on Academy Avenue. One of his last projects was the remodeling of the bandstand on Main Plaza.

Alwin Carl Moeller died in 1936 and it can definitely be said that he was one of those who “left footprints on the sands of time.” Also, I’m right about what I said about what makes a viable downtown. The Moeller brothers built buildings that last and are worth saving and we have people in NB who recognize the importance of preservation.

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I was born in New Braunfels in 1932 on Camp Street in a home built by my grandfather. My parents were Marcus and Cola Moeller Adams. I am a fifth-generation New Braunfels, Comal County, Texas, and American citizen and proud of it.

It is 2006 and I have just been asked to write a column for the Herald-Zeitung newspaper and I am on my way to a meeting about the column.

I left my home on Camp Street where I was born, turned left on Union Avenue towards East San Antonio Street, reflecting on the changes since I grew up in New Braunfels. At this time of year (early spring), there are no river floaters and I recalled that my swimming was done almost entirely in the spring-fed pool at Landa Park and the rapids at Camp Warnecke. I don’t even remember swimming in the Comal and never in the Guadalupe. Hinman Island was a wilderness area.

Many of the homes on Union Avenue have been beautifully preserved and many are now businesses. This practice of conservation has become a satisfactory practice for homes that are now on commercial streets.

Turning right onto San Antonio Street, I drove over the old bridge towards the Plaza. I decided to drive around the Plaza, just to prove that I could do it. There used to be two-way traffic around the Plaza. All the locals knew the rules, but it sure was confusing for newcomers and visitors.

Driving through town on San Antonio Street, all the old buildings are there. I know those buildings because A.C. Moeller, my grandfather, built lots of them. His name is on the cornerstones as well as on the sidewalks. Of course, the beautiful Landa House on the Plaza is gone and on the corner of West San Antonio Street and Academy, one of the loveliest homes in town, the Holz home, gave way to changes that took place here in the late 1960s. That same era eliminated the Garwood home on Seguin Avenue and the bathhouse and other buildings in Landa Park. Those in town who see the value in historic buildings are fighting hard to save existing artifacts. Many people have witnessed the conversion to the “concrete and asphalt” jungle in other parts of the state.

Now I’m on Academy Avenue, one street within the first named historic district in New Braunfels, the Sophienburg Hill. The Sophienburg Museum and Archives is in this district and it’s where I research my facts for their column, “Around the Museum and Archives.”

Writing this column is as close as I can get to living the life of Brenda Starr, Reporter, of the comic strip of my younger days. Her character was the inspiration that began my long-time journalistic career.

In New Braunfels High School in Hallie Martin’s journalism class, my dream of being Brenda Starr was inspired when the San Antonio Light contacted her to recommend a student to report New Braunfels news to be printed in that newspaper. My friend, Phyllis Reininger and I took on the challenge. My next journalistic experience came when I was a senior and had an invitation from Helen and Joe Baldus who wanted me to write a weekly column for their newly established Town and Country News. It was embarrassingly called “Myra-Go-Round” but it could have been the launching of a history column 50 years later.

I began my study of journalism at Texas Christian University, but after a year, found out that journalism was more than Brenda Starr had portrayed. I switched my major to education to be able to teach history, German and English. I met Glyn Goff at TCU and we got married in 1952. I wanted badly to move back to New Braunfels and so we did.

I began my teaching career of 31 years in 1953. I had three children, Karen in 1956, Patty in 1959 and Marc in 1962. After staying home for eight years, I returned to teaching.

After retiring in 1991, Rosemarie Leissner Gregory and I formed a writing partnership that resulted in the publication of three books about New Braunfels history, Kindermaskenball, Past and Present; New Braunfels, Comal County, A Pictorial History; and A Journey in Faith, the History of First Protestant Church. The last book that I wrote independently was about the Comal County Fair, It’s Fair Time.

All of the research for writing these books led me to become well acquainted with the Sophienburg Museum and Archives. In 2006, Linda Dietert, Executive Director of the Sophienburg, asked me if I would be interested in writing a column about New Braunfels and Comal County history for the Herald-Zeitung. Of course, I said yes. Linda, Doug Toney and I worked out the details for a column twice a month and I have been doing that ever since for 11 years.

My creed is what my mother told me, “Always write the truth,” and “Never write down what you wouldn’t want everyone in the world to read.”

After eleven years, people are still asking me how I come up with my subjects and the answer is simply “There is no end to history and those who make it are so interesting.” I hope you have enjoyed reading this column as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

Can you just imagine how future generations will view us? Change will happen and the “good old days” are now. I love living in New Braunfels. “In Neu Braunfels ist das leben schön.”

On Tuesday, May 23^rd from 2-4 pm, a special event will occur at the Sophienburg. This event is the release of the book, Around the Sophienburg and it contains all of the articles that I have written over the past 11 years. It also contains the photographs that appeared in the newspaper. My daughter, Patty, painted the artwork for the cover and illustrated 26 pictures that will be on display on the 23^rd. Due to the generosity of some special Sophienburg donors, the cost of the publishing of the book was underwritten so all proceeds go to benefit the Sophienburg Museum and Archives. Many people over the years have cut the articles out of the newspaper and saved them in very large notebooks. The published book contains over 250 articles and photos and is almost 500 pages.

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What do three houses on Mill Street have in common? The homes located at 502, 528 and 554 West Mill Street are part of New Braunfels’ Mill Street Historic District and they are homes built on the property owned at one time by George Ullrich in the 1850s through the 1860s.

George Ullrich bought the partitioned lots in 1850 from Jean Jacque von Coll. They were part of the larger acre lot #168, acquired by von Coll in 1847 from the German Emigration Company. Von Coll served as business manager for the Adelsverein. Ullrich was the Adelsverein wagon master.

George Ullrich was one of those First Founders who, along with his wife, Margarethe, were in Texas before the Adelsverein immigrants. Prince Carl met Ullrich in Frelsburg in the early 1840s. The prince asked him to lead the immigrants inland from the coast as head wagoner. He lead the 31 wagons across the Guadalupe River on Marcy 21, 1845.

Mill Street runs parallel to San Antonio Street all the way to the Comal River at Clemens Dam where the Torrey Mill was located, therefore Mill Street. It is one of the earliest named streets in New Braunfels. Many of the homes on Mill Street are the oldest surviving homes from the time of the city’s settlement. Several of the homes are log homes and many are fachwerk. A home’s core building materials were typically covered over with layers of plaster or wood for insulation and protection from the environmental elements and when restoration occurs, the construction is revealed. The log home and fachwerk home were the earliest building techniques used, with the use of cut limestone blocks to follow. The log home is made using walls of horizontally placed logs with chinking in the spaces between the logs and the fachwerk home is constructed using timber framing with some type of infill, usually brick, rubble or rock.

554 West Mill

The home at 554 W. Mill has a historical marker titled the Pioneer Home. The marker reads: “Sand brick home built 1855, by Geo. Ullrich, who had driven first wagon of German Emigration Co. settlers in 1845 across the Guadalupe River.” On July 7, 1962, this home belonging to Mr. and Mrs. Chester W. Geue, was awarded the Texas Historical Building Medallion, the first awarded in New Braunfels and Comal County. The Geues had purchased and restored the home because the Ullrichs were his ancestors. The home was originally built as two front rooms and kitchen. By 1865, a daughter of George and Margarethe Ullrich, Sophie, married William Froelich and they lived in the home adding rooms to accommodate a growing family. The Geues bought the home from Blanca Froelich Bading. In 1965, the home was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark. The Comal County Historical Survey Committee is now known as the Comal County Historical Commission.

528 West Mill

The home at 528 W. Mill is owned by Marvin and Ann Giambernardi. This home was recently on the New Braunfels Conservation Society tour of homes and it was this tour that piqued my interest in the homes on Mill Street and about the people who so lovingly restore them, the Giambernardi’s being two of them.

Marvin and Ann met when he was helping her with electrical work involving the restoration of her home at 581 E. Camp Street. Ann had been an antique dealer here in New Braunfels for several years, having shops in downtown New Braunfels. She grew up in San Antonio but decided in 1990, to purchase the home on Camp St. so she would not have to drive back and forth from San Antonio to New Braunfels for her business. Her description of the home when she moved in is priceless. It had been in the same family from the time it was built and Ann bought it from the family. Ann lived in the home while restoring it. It had only cold running water. The previous owner heated her water outside in a tub. The electricity consisted of a bulb hanging on an electrical wire from the ceiling and there were no outlets. This did not deter Ann from living in the home while restoring it. Ann’s abilities in home restoration, expertise in the antique business, eye for color coordination along with her abilities as a seamstress, combined with her endless energy, contributed to success in the restoration arena. All she needed was an electrician, plumber and wood craftsman. This was when Marvin entered the scene.

Although Marvin was retired from the military as an aircraft inspector, he was also an electrician, plumber and wood craftsman. Marvin was living at Lake Dunlap at the time in a home he had restored that had belonged to his father. Marvin did some work for Ann on the Camp St. house and the rest is history. They married, eventually sold the Camp St. home, bought the 528 W. Mill home, restored it and now are working on another restoration. Home restoration is the perfect outlets for their creative talents and energy. They love the local history.

Back to 528 W. Mill Street. The home was thought to have been built in 1865 by George and Margarethe Ullrich. Around the same time, the 554 W. Mill Street home was given to their daughter and husband. The home is a beautifully crafted fachwerk home with handmade brick infill. The Giambernardis have exposed the fachwerk in several areas to show the construction. It was originally three large rooms with very high ceilings (about 14 feet), divided with one large room on the right and two smaller rooms on the left. One of the rooms on the left was the kitchen. There are two fire places, one on each side of the home. Additions were made throughout the years and provide ample room for Ann’s extensive collections of antiques. She began collecting as a teenager.

502 West Mill

Marvin and Ann recently purchased the small home next door at 502 W. Mill. The home had belonged to Elsie Roeper. Elsie was born in 1916 and lived in the home her whole life, caring for her grandparents who also lived there. Elsie’s mother was Alma, and Alma’s parents Julius and Julia Krueger Buske (Elsie’s grandparents) bought the home in 1890. The home was built on property owned by George Ullrich and was possibly built by him in the 1850s but may be much older. The home is a combination of log cabin and fachwerk with homemade brick infill construction.

The home originally was a small, single room log cabin with front and back porch. This single room is constructed of hand-hewn horizontally placed logs on all four sides that was revealed when Marvin and Ann removed the plaster. At some point, the back porch was closed in using fachwerk with handmade brick infill. A kitchen was built behind the home and at some time, the front home and kitchen were connected and also a bathroom added to the south side of the front structure. Marvin noted that termites where only present in the bathroom addition and nowhere else in the older parts of the home. Marvin and Ann are continuing their restoration and are in the process of researching more to find the exact construction date of the home. It is surely one of the oldest in New Braunfels and worthy of preservation.

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