By Tara V. Kohlenberg —

One evening last week, as I sat on the porch with a glass of sweet tea, pondering my day and hoping for rain, I heard the low metallic groan of the windmill as the head turned around to catch the wind. I saw the shadows of the windmill blades spinning on the ground before I heard the rhythmic, musical clanging of the rods going up and down in the pipes. It made me smile, to think about the thousands of windmills I have counted on long car rides through the South Plains in Texas.

It also made me sad to realize that windmills, the iconic symbols of pioneer survival across America, are fading away. A much-loved subject of artists and photographers alike is becoming a relic of the past.

My Gran, born to ranchers in the Texas Panhandle at the turn of the century, told me more than once, “Water is life. Without windmills, there would be no water in vast parts of Texas.” Windmills have allowed people to live and raise livestock in places where surface water was limited.

The first windmills, machines powered by the force of wind in sails, were used as early as 17th Century B.C. in Mesopotamia. Windmills were engineered to mill grain and pump water away from low-lying areas in Europe (think Dutch style) and around the world.

Windmills were used in North America to bring ground water to the surface. They were instrumental in settling the Great Plains (the middle third of the US from Arctic Circle to the Rio Grande), to have enough water for themselves, their crops and their livestock.

European windmills were big, expensive and very impractical. Daniel Halladay developed a new, smaller, less expensive wooden windmill and tower in 1854. By the 1870s and 1880s, there were hundreds of companies manufacturing windmills in various designs including solid wooden blades.

The first successful all-metal windmill (water pumping windmill) was designed in 1876, but metal windmills were not popular until the 1890s. Metal windmills were engineered with curved blades, allowing them to capture more wind than flat wooden blades resulting in more water with less effort.

Early water pumping windmills had open-gear boxes that required monthly oiling of the mechanical parts (can you imagine riding outposts on a ranch in summer or dead of winter?). Self-oiling mills came out in the 1920s, making life much easier. The enclosed gearbox only required cleaning and new oil about once a year. Windmill brands at that time were sold exclusively by designated dealers. Each brand came with various size blade diameter — 6 feet, 8 feet, 10 feet, 12 feet, etc. The depth of the well or the amount of water desired dictated what size fan blade was needed. Railroad windmills with giant cisterns for steam engines spanned 24 feet in diameter.

There were a number of different windmill brands in this area, like Aermotor, Fairbury, Flint & Walling, Dempster, Challenger, Baker and Sears & Roebuck beginning in 1915. Henne Hardware was a dealer for The Aermotor Company. Their fan tail carried the Aermotor name on both sides. The word “company” was abbreviated to Co. and stylized to look like a target, making it perfect for a little target practice. The great thing about Aermotor is that the same parts fit if it is 10 years old or 100 years old.

The Faust Company was a dealer for Samson windmills and the Flint & Walling brand (Star Model 12, etc.) which had a star on the tail. If you were to drive around Gruene and out old Hunter Road today, you would see several typical 8-foot and 10-foot Aermotor and Flint & Walling windmills, most of which are not working (pumping water). There are a couple of real treasures on private land. There is a Monitor in really bad shape, but still standing, and an open gear Flint and Walling over 100 years old. Then, at Conservation Plaza, there is an IDEAL windmill.

Kutscher Drilling, over the span of 100 years, have drilled, installed and maintained most of the windmills in a seven-county area. They used to service a lot of them. They estimated only about three dozen working water pumps left in Comal County and surrounding area. Compared to the technology available today, the windmill is antiquated and expensive. Electricity and solar power are much more economical. By the 1970s, only Baker, Aermotor and Dempster were building water-pump windmills.

Today, the use of windmills for more than just yard art is dwindling due to city sprawl, subdivisions (groundwater belongs to city), and the more efficient electric and solar power pumps. There are people who still restore them, but the windmills do not spin the same or sound the same if they are not pumping water.

I love our windmill. It is an Aermotor, pulled off a sulfur well nearby when we drilled our own well. The tower is 30 feet. The cypress cistern (with concrete liner) on a shorter tower was brought from the Kypfer farm in Geronimo. The windmill and both towers are stamped with the Henne Hardware name. I love how the mockingbirds perch on the highest fan blade to serenade us the morning. I love our windmill whether it is standing in a field blanketed in bluebonnets or snow. But I really love it when the windmill silhouette stands against a brilliant sunset. They may soon be relics. Enjoy them while you can.

Sources: The Sophienburg Museum and Archives; Baker, T. Lindsay. 1984. “A Field Guide to American Windmills”. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press.; Mike Blanik; Danny Kutscher; Bobby Kutscher.

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

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By Tara V. Kohlenberg —

The Guadalupe River is always there. It is life-sustaining water. It rages. It slows to a trickle. It calls us to fish, to play, or to watch sunlight dance off its surface as it rolls on toward the coast. The river beckons us to gather at its edge to make extraordinary memories while enjoying the ordinary.

River Road follows alongside the Guadalupe River for approximately 10 miles from just outside New Braunfels up to Sattler. Just getting to places on the Guadalupe River by way of River Road is half the fun. Sometimes driving River Road IS the fun.

The River Road area has a long history, much of which took place before humans inhabited it. This region once was covered by a vast sea, depositing layers of silt for millions of years. Then, sometime 5 to 66 million years ago, the earth’s layers shifted up, down and sideways, creating what we know here in Central Texas as the Balcones Escarpment.

If you look at a map, the escarpment is that funny ridge of hills in the middle of Texas dividing the Hill Country from flat Blackland Prairie. It curves up from Del Rio to San Antonio and north of Waco. You might also recognize that curve being the same as the cold front and storm warning lines on the local weather channels. Ever wonder why bad weather seems to hang over I-35? Perhaps, because I-35 is built on the Blackland Prairie along the Balcones Escarpment? But, I digress. All that was to point out that Comal County sits on the edge of the Balcones Escarpment. The Guadalupe River cuts crossways through the escarpment to create postcard-perfect scenery of steep bluffs and towering cypress trees lining its banks.

Seeking larger tracts of land outside of New Braunfels, some immigrants moved out to the Hill Country. In the 1870s, Wilhelm Bretzke began acquiring land in the area between what is now FM 306 and the Guadalupe River. The Bretzke Ranch reached more than 1,700 acres. As more immigrants came, they pushed further out along the river, establishing the communities of Wallhalla and Sattler. Getting there could be difficult since early roads consisted of mostly cattle trails and rough wagon roads.

In 1901, Comal County Commissioners established a real road. Guadalupe River Drive (now River Road), was one of the earliest roads built in Comal County. The “public road, third class, twenty-two feet wide with gates” was basically a rock trail cut from the hillside used by farmers and ranchers traveling (think horse and buggy) to New Braunfels. It stretched nearly 10 miles from New Braunfels up the river toward Sattler.

A 1905 account of a social event at Wallhalla described the “romantic and beautiful bluffs and water scenery” as 75 people traveled River Road to their destination. It also emphasized caution on the “dangerous canyon” road in the dark after experiencing a broken hack wheel and broken buggy shaft along the way. That is a seriously rough road.

The road may have been established by the county, but there was no budget for maintenance. By 1918, landowners and townspeople were asked for contributions to repair River Road, to which many graciously contributed. In the ‘20s, as the automobile increased in popularity, property owners and civic groups petitioned the county to upgrade the road from third-class to second-class road.

Road building and improvements were helped along by the Federal Aid Road Act in 1921 and state gasoline tax in 1923. Even then, occasional high water still required “mountain people” to ride a horse the back way to town, as their vehicles could not make it over the flooded crossings. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) of the 30s funded 49 men to rebuild River Road. Through the program, Comal County’s portion was $12,242.46 and the federal portion was $15, 363.

The 1950s saw an increase in outdoor recreation. River Road was built out and paved all the way to Sattler. People would drive River Road on a bright, sunny day and picnic in the areas along the rivers. The Wilhelm Bretzke property included a lot of river frontage between first and second crossings, and the Bretzke family made use of it. They opened the river front property to campers and named it KL Picnic & Campgrounds. Surely, they had no idea what they had done for the camping business on River Road at the time.

Comal County Commissioners let a contract to build new bridges in 1964 to replace the low-water crossings, which flooded easily. Later in 1965, as the work progressed, there was huge uproar about the destruction of trees. A line of 40 mature cypress trees adjoining the K&L Ranch property, many of which were over 3 feet in diameter, were bulldozed to raise the roadbed up by 8 feet and prevent flooding. The pleas of the local residents and civic organizations to save the majestic trees were denied. An additional 30 cypress trees were cut to widen the channel at third crossing.

Picnic and camping grounds popped up everywhere along the river in the ‘60s and ‘70s, mostly due to the completion of Canyon Dam. Travel along River Road became treacherous. Cars could park on both sides of the narrow rural road, making it tough for two cars to pass each other while watching out for happy drunks and people standing in the roadway. As of July 1976, parking on River Road was no longer allowed.

The Guadalupe River is still there and so is River Road. The Bretzke family is still there and so is KL. I am a native of New Braunfels with many decades under my belt. I know the Bretzke family and I have been to KL Picnic & Campgrounds multiple times. Until recently, I did not know why Bretzke Ranch included “KL” in their business names. So, here it goes.

Back in the 1870s, Wilhelm Bretzke leased out acreage to one Mr. Louis Klappenbach to graze cattle. Mr. Klappenbach eventually sold all of his cattle to Wilhelm, as well as his cattle brand, KL. The Bretzke Ranch became known as KL Ranch because of the brand.

Wilhelm Bretzke’s son, Robert, had a son, R. Lee Bretzke, who began KL Picnic and Campgrounds. He passed the business to his sons, Mike and Dave Bretzke, who then changed the name to KL Ranch Camp. Today, the KL name is carried on by the next generation, operating as KL Ranch Camp — On the River, run by Tara Bretzke Hildebrand (Jason), and KL Ranch Camp — Cliffside, run by Bobby Bretzke (Jennifer).

Just like the river, River Road has changed over time. It is still a great scenic drive, especially in a convertible on a bright spring afternoon when the water is calm and the Texas and American flags ripple against a canopy of green. Have a great summer.

Sources: Sophienburg Museum and Archives; Handbook of Texas Online; Julie Bretzke.

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

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By Keva Hoffmann Boardman —

The first ever 4th of July celebration was held in Philadelphia on July 4, 1777; it included an exhibition which began and ended with 13 rockets — one for each state of the new United States of America.

New Braunfels’ first July 4th celebration was in 1846, after Texas had officially become the 28th state of the Union. A large American flag was raised and flown at the Sophienburg. The two cannons were fired to announce the beginning of festivities.

The first mention of a local celebration with fireworks was in 1859 at the Schillerfest. This was a festival honoring the German poet, Friedrich Schiller’s 100th birthday. The festival included poetry readings, a performance of a Schiller play, songs by the singing society and also a dance — with a fireworks finale. The first recorded use of fireworks in New Braunfels on July 4th was in 1866, after the end of the Civil War.

Fireworks became increasingly incorporated into all kinds of local observances throughout the late 19th century. Many of the large gathering halls (Halle) in New Braunfels and Comal County advertised firework displays for all kinds of festivities. Some of them were Germania Halle, Breustedt’s Halle, Matzdorff’s Halle and Saengerhalle. Lots of the shows also featured cannonades.

So where did they get the fireworks? The local pharmacist was the man in town whose profession was rooted in the alchemy and compounding of chemical ingredients. Most of the elements needed for fireworks doubled as medicinal components as well. The pharmacist, or druggist as he was then known, had shelves full of the necessary ingredients and the knowledge to put them together in the right amounts.

Fireworks require saltpeter, sulphur and charcoal, which are the basic ingredients found in gunpowder. The addition of potassium chlorate to the mixture allowed chemical colors to be enhanced and brightened. Red was the first color made by adding strontium nitrate. Green came next with the addition of barium nitrate.

New Braunfels’ 25th Anniversary in 1870 had a midnight fireworks show at the old Saengerhalle; the fireworks committee was led by Mr. Loep, Mr. Rohde and Mr. Brandt. In 1877, Friedrich Heidemeyer was in charge of firing the cannons and the fireworks on the 4th of July celebration; July 4th always included firework displays. Harvest festivals and Maifest (May Day Festivals) were commemorated at local schools with fireworks and dances. In May 1886, Mr. H. Fischer of Churchill, “a well-known authority in pyrotechnics”, was in charge of the city’s Maifest fireworks. Schuetzenfests (shooting club competitions) included fireworks at the end of shooting competitions. New Year’s Eve and Easter celebrations were observed with night parades using lit torches, lanterns, cannon fire and fireworks. Early New Braunfels did everything in a big way.

For America250, the Sophienburg Museum & Archives will have several exhibits reflecting New Braunfels’ pride in being American. The Pharmacy exhibit will display Mr. Rudolph Richter’s pharmaceutical “Recipe Book.” Along with hundreds of medicinal recipes, he had directions for making gunpowder, blasting powder and flash powder, There are many recipes for each color of fireworks which allowed him to use whichever chemicals he had on hand.

Stories and newspaper accounts link many early local pharmacists to gunpowder and fireworks manufactured for local festivals and celebrations: A. Forcke, H.V. Schumann, Rudolph Richter, and H. Fischer. Making fireworks was an exciting, albeit dangerous, job. August Forcke was badly burned in an explosion on July 2, 1876, while making fireworks for the U.S. Centennial celebration. He was mixing chemicals for “Bengal lights.” Bengal lights were hand-held sparklers that emitted colored flames and sparks; these were named for the Bengal region of India which was a major source of saltpeter.

Like today, businesses sometimes sponsored the making of fireworks and the firework shows. S.V. Pfeuffer, Ernst Gruene Jr., J.D. Guinn, Paul Engelhardt, Richard Gerlich, M.C. Church, Emil Galle and Dr. Garwood are often mentioned as sponsors and committee members for many city displays.

This year, as you enjoy the fireworks shot off in Landa Park, remember that they have been a major part of our country and our city’s celebration of our place in the United States of America. Remember with pride all the freedoms that come with being an American.

Sources: Sophienburg Museum & Archives; Neu Braunfelser Zeitung; New Braunfels Herald; KERA News: The Explosive Science Behind Fireworks.

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

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2026 Myra Lee Adams Goff Scholarship Award Essay – by Jaelynn Davidson

The Texas Hill Country was a stunning and dangerous arena of cultural conflict in the mid-19th century. To the Texas nobility of the Adelsverein, it was a fantasy of a “New Germany”; to the German peasants who arrived on the shores of the Texas coast, it was a last hope of a new life; but to the Penateka Comanche, it was the Comanchería, their ancestral domain. Although Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels is said to have founded New Braunfels, it was his successor, John O. Meusebach, whose brilliance of diplomacy ensured that Comal County would not only survive, but flourish. The Meusebach-Comanche Treaty of 1847 was the single most important event in the early history of the county, an extraordinary occasion of mutual respect and unbroken peace in the American frontier.

Upon John O. Meusebach’s arrival in New Braunfels in 1845 to assume the position of Commissioner General, he found a colony on the brink of disaster. The colony’s finances were in shambles, and the people were dying from disease and starvation. More urgently, the land grants that the settlers received were located far within Comanche territory, well north of the Comal Springs. Although the zeitgeist of the time was one of military conquest and displacement of Native Americans, the intellectual pragmatism of a scholar and bureaucrat like Meusebach dictated that if New Braunfels was to survive, it could not be an island of Europeans at war with their neighbors.

Meusebach went on an expedition with only twenty men as an entourage to the very heart of the San Saba hills. This was viewed as a suicide mission by most. However, Meusebach knew something that his contemporaries did not: the importance of “The Word.” He was determined to meet the Comanche chiefs, namely Buffalo Hump, Santa Anna, and Old Owl, without the Texas Rangers and the U.S. Army. This was a level of respect for the Comanche that was unheard of at the time.

The treaty that came out of this was revolutionary. It was not a treaty of surrender, but of co-existence. The Germans agreed to share their land and their resources, and in return, the Comanche agreed to allow the settlers to farm and travel through the area. Perhaps most importantly, the treaty allowed the Comanche access into the town of New Braunfels to trade. This brought a unique cultural exchange to Comal County, where Comanche men were often seen in the town plaza trading skins for German goods. This would have been unthinkable in other parts of Texas.

The importance of this occurrence cannot be overstated with regards to Comal County. While other frontier settlements were marred by decades of “Indian Wars,” New Braunfels was spared the bloodshed that defined the Texas borderlands. This gave them the space needed to concentrate on the development of the infrastructure that defines the county today: the mills along the Comal River, the Sophienburg, and the educational system. The treaty gave the area the literal and figurative “breathing room” that was needed for the German culture to take hold and thrive without being strangled by the specter of violence.

Today, the legacy of Meusebach’s diplomacy is incorporated into the very fabric of the identity of Comal County. It is a reminder that the history of the county is not simply one of European settlement, but of American adaptation. As Myra Lee Adams Goff so often said in her historical writings, the history of Comal County is the history of “grit.” It took grit to cross the Atlantic, but it took a different kind of courage – the courage of diplomacy – to walk unarmed into the hills to shake hands with a supposed enemy.

In sum, while the physical features of the New Braunfels heritage site – The Gruene Water Tower, the Faust Bridge, and the Comal Springs – are integral to our heritage, it is the Meusebach-Comanche Treaty that is the unseen foundation upon which all of these rest. John O. Meusebach’s decision to reject the status quo of violence in the 19th– century frontier in favor of a more peaceful approach has made Comal County a shining example of industry and culture. It is a testament to the fact that peace is not merely the absence of war but a function of respectful and courageous negotiation.

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

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By Keva Hoffmann Boardman —

Researching your family? Maybe you want to know about who lived in/owned your home? The Sophienburg Museum and Archives has resources to help you!

Research, of any subject, is basically detective work — analyzing the available records, searching through assembled stories and examining photographs and maps. The Sophienburg has been collecting these kinds of resources for more than 92 years and our staff can assist you in your quest.

So how do we begin the process? At the Sophienburg, we usually start with a surname or a location. If you are researching a property, we look for clues in the phonebooks and city directories. Our telephone book collection goes back to 1906. That’s pretty early in the telephone age. New Braunfels had 7,008 citizens in the 1900 U.S. Census; only 101 phone numbers appear in the 1906 telephone book and many of these are business numbers.

To use a phonebook, you look things up by name or subject. A city directory adds to our chances of finding facts because it also lists by street. For instance, you can look up your home by its address. The directory, depending on the year, can tell you who lives there, what they do, what race they are, if they are renting or own, and other information. The city directory is a little like the census and phone book combined only it is published more than once every 10 years.

City directories were first printed for large cities in Europe in the 16th century. Philadelphia was the first US city to have a directory (1785), followed by New York. The early directories were published by independent publishers who relied on advertisements to fund them. Consequently, most of the listings are from tradesmen and businesses instead of people.

The Sophienburg’s earliest New Braunfels City Directory is 1931 followed by 1940 and 1952-53. Directories from the 1960s-1990s are also available. With the directories, we can trace who lived at a specific address and when residency changed. Each resident change gives us new names to follow for more information. We also find out who their neighbors were, and can sometimes trace the demographic changes in the neighborhood. More property information from the Comal County Clerk’s office is available online.

Following names is how we find out the stories that are associated with your family or your property. As an example, we are currently researching some ranch property for a family who have a log-built structure on their place. By using the resources available to both them and the Sophienburg, we can take their property all the way back to Republic of Texas days (1836-1846). We can find this information by using the Texas General Land Office records, also online. Their property is located on land granted to men who fought in the Texas Revolution. I have a New Braunfels First Founder in my family and on the TxGLO website I found scans of the original German immigrant land granted to my family — if only we still had it!

The Sophienburg has over 500 genealogies of New Braunfels and Comal County names. These are bound volumes of family genealogy that were generated by museum personnel and family members before Ancestry, Family Search and other databases. These volumes contain wonderful anecdotal information which is really what makes your ancestors come alive.

Along with the family histories, the Sophienburg Archives has an almost complete collection of the German-language newspaper Neu-Braunfelser Zeitung (1852-1957), the New Braunfels Herald (1895-1957) and the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung (1957 to present day). These are all on microfilm and can be referenced at the Sophienburg by appointment.

The German Zeitung was painstakingly indexed by volunteers prior to 2000. It can be searched by name or by subject. Of course, the articles will be in German. But that’s okay, because some of us can still read German and, if necessary, you can Google translate it. Newspaper articles will include birth, marriage and death information, as well as everyday occurrences in local, state, national and world news. We are unique in having an overlap in two languages — news is reported with different perspectives. The New Braunfels Herald and the Herald- Zeitung can also be accessed online at the New Braunfels Public Library’s digital newspaper archive.

The Sophienburg Photograph Collection has over half a million images of New Braunfels and the surrounding area. These images (prints, negatives and slides) span the history of New Braunfels and Comal County from the early 1860s to present day. The Photograph Collection illustrates people, homes, city streets, businesses, and farms. It immortalizes city and cultural events and celebrations like parades, festivals and weddings. The collection includes most of the negatives of the Seidel/Braunfels Studio which photographed city and citizens from the 1920s thru the 1970s. The collection is widely used by people searching for old family members, authors needing illustrations, homeowners wanting views of their property and businesses looking for images of New Braunfels in the old days. Copies can be purchased for use and display.

The Sophienburg’s Archive Collection includes early hand-drawn maps and later printed maps of the city, certain neighborhoods, and the county. We have several Sanborn Fire Insurance maps which wonderfully show the evolution of buildings and homes as they rise, are renovated and then replaced. These are my favorite because they include details of building construction, materials and even where the outhouses and wells were located. Other maps in the collection show topographical information which, when it rains again, will show why your street tends to flood after an inch or two.

The Sophienburg welcomes you to come and research in our spacious reading room. There will always be a friendly staff member available to help you find what you are looking for. Well, you might not find ALL you want to know. Research, like detective work, seldom finds all the answers to all our questions. However, it is really fun to try!

To do research, please contact The Sophienburg at 830-629-1572 during office hours (Tuesday–Saturday, 9 a.m,–4 p.m.) to make an appointment. Daily fee for the Archives is $25 and includes our helpful personnel and admission to the Exhibit Floor. If you need more time, your fee can easily be rolled into an individual membership that allows you unlimited entry to the archives for just $50 per year.

See you in the stacks!

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

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By Tara V. Kohlenberg —

This year, the New Braunfels Hermann Sons Lodge #21 is celebrating 135 years. What sounded like a simple “Happy Birthday” article soon became a rabbit hole that I could not ignore. Hold on!

First of all, who is Hermann and why do his sons have a lodge? I learned that the answer is somewhat complex. The Order of the Sons of Hermann fraternal (men only) organization was founded in 1840 by German immigrants in New York. Originally established under the German name “Der Orden der Hermann Soehne”, sometimes shortened to ODHS, it was created to provide mutual aid to members while promoting and preserving the German language and traditions in their new homeland.

Hermann is a hero. The Hermann Sons organization was named after a first century Germanic hero, Hermann the Cherusker (Defender) who destroyed three Roman legions at the Battle of Teutoberg Wald (Teutonia Forest) in 9 A.D. Hermann was revered for helping prevent Roman rule over the Germanic tribes. The Sons of Hermann organization protects its members and their German traditions just like Hermann did centuries before.

It took more than twenty years for The Order of the Sons of Hermann to make it down to Texas. There, several German-speaking San Antonio residents gathered and voted to organize a lodge, mainly to be of assistance to one another. The Harmonia Lodge #1 of San Antonio was created in 1861. Upon the death of one of their members three months later, several in the brotherhood paid for his coffin and grave, as well as provided financial assistance to the widow for several months afterwards.

Strong feelings about assisting and supporting their members in times of need became the driving force behind Harmonia Lodge’s request to National Grand Lodge for an obligatory life insurance program for members. In 1876, The National Grand Lodge adopted the recommendation, mandating a life insurance purchase with each membership so that each brother would receive $300 life insurance and $60 if his wife preceded him.

By March 1890, Texas Germans had organized ODHS Lodges in seven other cities for a total of eight, granting Texas the right to establish a State Grand Lodge of the Order of the Sons of Hermann. Ninety-two more lodges were established that same year, including Teutonia Lodge #21 of Hortontown in Comal County. Teutonia was in deference to the Teutonia Forest region of Germany.

Hortontown, is also sometimes written as Horton Town in documents. It was named for the owner of land where it was located, across the Guadalupe River from New Braunfels/Comaltown, A.C. Horton. Albert Clinton Horton, originally from Alabama, fought in the Texas Revolution and served as the first Lt. Governor of the State of Texas. He was extremely wealthy before the Civil War. According to records, he owned at least three tracts of land in Comal County, including a league (4428.2 acres) that stretched from the Guadalupe River to FM 306, then Nacogdoches-Austin Road (Broadway and Post Roads) to Gruene. Hortontown, by my best calculations, is thought to have been situated at the old Goodwin school grounds and then along Broadway Street (Loop 337 cuts through it) toward the backside of the old textile mill. In Comal County property records, older properties (not subdivisions) located on the Horton league will bear the name Foster, since he surveyed the land.

The Teutonia Lodge was the first one in Comal County. At one time, there were actually 24 separate Brother lodges located in Comal County. Comal Lodge #45 was established in 1892, followed by York Creek #63 and Steuben #73 in 1893. Casper Real #104 was chartered in 1894. Johann Sahm #116, Marbach #125 and Prinz Carl #127 were all chartered in 1895 and then Prinz Solms #136, Hunter #145, Ullrich von Hutten #146 and Thornhill #149 (Gruene) chartered in 1896. There were only four more lodges organized over the next thirteen years: Lone Star #91, Schuchard #181 (Comaltown), Fischer Store #219 and Marienthal #248.

The ladies were not to be left out. In 1896, the National Grand Lodge allowed for Sister (all women) lodges, but it was not until 1900 that the first Sister lodge was organized in Comal County, Prinzessen Heinrich #12. The other seven lodges organized between 1907 and 1911, included Freiheit Sister #45, Fruhling #48, Marie #91, Gludaus #101, Gloeckenbluemen (Bluebell) #104, Gartenlaube (Gazebo) #105, and finally, Heimat #99.

By 1920, the Order of the Sons of Hermann in Texas had more members and greater financial stability than all of the lodges in the rest of the United States combined. The Texas Grand Lodge broke away from the National Order of the Sons of Hermann and became independent and autonomous. They eventually transitioned from the German language to the English language by the late 1930s, although Teutonia meeting minutes were still recorded in German through 1942. Since Hermann Sons was organized for German immigrants, all of the members were of German descent, but by 1965 only about half were. By 1994 membership was open to all ethnic groups.

At the height of its popularity, there were more than 250 Hermann Sons lodges in Texas, with at least 100,000 members. Now the lodges number approximately 125 with less than 65,000 members. Comal County lodges have dwindled to three. Many of them dissolved after trying to survive by merging with others: Casper Real consolidated with Gludaus Sister Lodge, but dissolved in 1943. Johann Sahm, Marbach, Fruhling all merged together and then consolidated with Carl Rompel #268 before dissolving. Fischer Store and Marienthal merged before dissolving in 1954.

The three remaining are Prinz Solms #136, Spring Branch #127 and New Braunfels #21. Prinz Solms (who merged with Heimat Sister Lodge #99) is the only one to retain its original name. Spring Branch (originally Prinz Carl #127) joined with Gloeckenbluemen #104 and took on the name of Spring Branch #127. All of the other lodges, through various moves and mergers finally consolidated with Teutonia #21, which changed its name to New Braunfels #21 in 1962.

Since 1957, the New Braunfels Hermann Sons Hall has been located on Union Street, where the local lodge holds meetings and operates a dance school. Hundreds of girls have taken dancing in that hall, including all three of mine. They have also attended Hermann Sons summer camp along with their friends in Comfort, Texas, which has operated since 1954. True to their mission of lifelong support, the local lodge also offers scholarships to the youth, insurance for every level of life and has a retirement home in Comfort.

In 2017, The Order of Hermann Sons in Texas changed its name and rebranded their organization. Originally founded in 1890 as a fraternal benefit society for German immigrants in Texas, the name became Hermann Sons Life to better reflect its broader mission and inclusivity.

Alles Gut zum Geburtstag, Der Orden der Hermann Soehne, Neu Braunfels #21!

Sources: Sophienburg Museum & Archives, New Braunfels Hermann Sons Lodge #21.

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

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By Keva Hoffmann Boardman —

What if New Braunfels was not named New Braunfels? I had never considered this, but of course the wonderful historian Oscar Haas did and recorded his findings in his book, History of New Braunfels and Comal County 1844-1946.

There are two occasions on record wherein New Braunfels nearly lost its place-name. — Oscar Haas

Many of you readers know that New Braunfels was named and founded on March 21, 1845, by Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels. He chose to name this town after his hometown of Braunfels on the Lahn River in Germany. The first time the name “New Braunfels” was in jeopardy was just prior to the creation of Comal County by the First Texas Legislature.

There was much talk of creating a new county with our town as the county seat. There was some dispute as to whether the county seat should be called New Braunfels or Comaltown. — Oscar Haas

The Republic of Texas began creating counties in 1836. Rusk County was the 36th and the last to be formed during the Republic. In March 1846, Comal County became the 44th county and was formed from the eighth precinct of Bexar County. Bexar County was the third county created by the Republic of Texas and it was beyond enormous. Between 1845 and 1876, the Texas Legislature formed over 120 new counties from what was originally Bexar County. Just FYI: there are 254 Texas counties.

New Braunfels kept its name. It is interesting to note that a lot of county seat cities are located near the center of the county so it is reasonably accessible to the whole county. New Braunfels sits on the southeast boundary of the county as it was, and still is, the largest city in Comal County.

The second time New Braunfels found its name in danger was in 1918. The October 31, 1918, edition of the Neu-Braunfelser Zeitung published an article first published in the October 29, 1918, edition of the Galveston News.

The war with Germany has set a movement on foot aimed at changing the name of the City of New Braunfels. It could be that the loyal descendants of the German colonists of the year 1845, who settled there … [would] under present circumstances consider it a disgrace. It may be true that Prince Solms-Braunfels was not possessed of great aptitude. It is said that he left the colony in the lurch at a critical moment and that his successor had to pay some of the Prince’s debts in Texas and that he never returned.However, New Braunfels is an established name that has grown estimable to the highest degree through the citizenship of that community among whom are many direct descendants of the colonists who landed at Galveston and via Indianola came overland to the Comal in search of freedom and opportunity. The name signifies a great deal with regards to history and cannot possibly have any bearing on the present international state of affairs.

With the place-name New Braunfels, which stems from an ancient place-name of the old country, with its street names, Texas possesses an aesthetic treasure. In New Braunfels one finds Spanish, Mexican, Indian, German, and unalloyed Texan street names, in a manner that reveals beauty and meaning. The picturesque historical names of Texas cities, which came into existence since the Republic, are Texan. Names should never be changed just because of a foreign country origin whose behavior we do not sanction.

To the above article, the editor of the Neu-Braunfelser Zeitung added:

The Galveston News has eminently reasonable views in such matters. Besides, here, no one thinks of changing the name of our city, which, moreover, is not named for a prince, but an especially pretty little city which has furnished our country with admirable citizens. Loyalty is not proven by name-changing or through vandalistic destruction of historical characteristics, but through disposition and performance, and on these standards New Braunfels can confidently be surveyed.

New Braunfels has kept her name. People get it wrong, but locals will always proudly correct them to its true pronunciation.

Just for grins, Oscar Haas listed a few of the before-mentioned multi-cultural street names in early New Braunfels:

• Hispanic — Guadalupe, Nacogdoches, San Antonio, Seguin, Veramendi
• Native American — Waco (Caddo), Comal (Nahuatl), Comanche (Ute)
• German — Baden, Basel, Becker, Castell, Clemens, Coll, Dittlinger, Eickel, Faust, Giesecke, Gruene, Guenther, Hampe, Jahn, Karbach, Klingemann, Kuehler, Lindheimer, Meusebach, Seele, Tolle, Zink
• Scottish — Ferguson, Murchison
• Irish — McGaugh, McKenna
• English — Torrey, Lincoln, Water, Mill, Bridge

What multi-cultural street names can you add to the list?

And, if you are interested in more fun, unusual and “make-you-look-clever” historical facts, Oscar Haas’s book can be purchased at Sophie’s Shop in the Sophienburg Museum for $40 plus tax.

Sources: History of New Braunfels and Comal County 1844-1946, Oscar Haas; Handbook of Texas.

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

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By Tara V. Kohlenberg —

For more than 90 years, the Sophienburg Museum and Archives has maintained artifacts and archival documents to keep the history of New Braunfels alive. Part of our mission is to not only preserve the history of New Braunfels, but to share the stories with the generations that follow. It is both exciting and necessary for the next generation to come back and share with us.

In an effort to promote the love of history, the Sophienburg Memorial Association established the Sophienburg History Award honoring Myra Lee Adams Goff for her dedication to the community and her steadfast love of history. The award, established in 2013, recognizes a student who demonstrates a love and passion for New Braunfels history. The 2025 recipient chosen by the Sophienburg Memorial Association is Rebecca Zuniga. She is a senior at New Braunfels High School and will be attending Endicott College in Massachusetts in the fall. The following is an essay about a historically significant event or person in Comal County submitted as a requirement of the scholarship application.

By Rebecca Zuniga

On the heels of Women’s History Month, I want to recognize someone who has worked together with our community to pave a pathway to honor and dignify those who have come before us and perhaps easily forgotten through the rigors of life. New Braunfels has had many great people who have worked to mold and shape its community to be what it is today and left a profound impact on our identity as a community and on us as individuals. One person near and dear to my life and a living historian, has been at the forefront of a grand partnership with the Sophienburg Museum to expand the documentation of the rich history and cultural heritage of New Braunfels, and carry out its mission of telling the stories about real people in our community.

Estella Delgado Farias is my grandmother. She is a humble woman who has always had a giving heart, especially when it comes to family. Growing up, she would ensure I understood that family had existed before me who shaped who I was, even if I didn’t know who they were directly. She ensured that I knew where our ancestors had come from, and how far my family and I have been able to get today because of them, and the many partnerships they developed in our community along the way. Her passion for ancestry and heritage, has been a driving force for her work in establishing a genealogy database for people in New Braunfels that are of Mexican descent. She had a vision, and through the work of equally visionary community members, she brought it to life. Because of her leadership, she gave our community time to pause and reflect upon the many Mexican American New Braunfelsers, whose families transcend generations, and lived to lay the foundation to the New Braunfels we know today.

As a young child in elementary school, my own experience through her efforts seemed minimal at the time, but as I have researched, interviewed and learned more about her work, I have been in awe of all she has accomplished. One weekend, my grandmother asked my sister and me if we would like to help her with a project she was working on. Not thinking much of it, we said yes, and so she took us along with our cousins to Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cemetery. At the time, none of us truly understood why we had to tell her the names on gravestones as well as that person’s birthdate and death date, however, I now understand what she was doing. She was completing records for the cemetery and securing the resting place for the many people who were lost because of incomplete records. There were some graves that hadn’t been formally documented, but she knew that leaving the records as they were was not an option. She wanted to ensure that everyone was accounted for and had their special resting place known. She validated the many lives of people she did not personally know. My grandmother believes that no one should ever be forgotten and their work has shown exactly that.

Through the years, she has been able to give a voice to a section of the New Braunfels community that has always felt forgotten. Estella Farias’ work isn’t only of historical preservation, but of also giving hope to the Mexican-Americans of New Braunfels that their history is important enough to be documented and recognized along with all others.

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

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By Keva Hoffmann Boardman —

Who invented the cotton gin?

Many of you learned the answer to this question in elementary school. If you said “Eli Whitney” you are correct, but like me, back then you really didn’t understand that the invention of the cotton gin revolutionized the American economy and made cotton a major industry.

Thanks to Whitney’s invention in 1793, cotton no longer had to be “ginned” by hand although cotton was still picked by hand well into the 1940s. There are 15–20 bolls on each cotton plant and 27–45 seeds in each boll. That’s a lot of seeds that need to be separated from the cotton fiber. The cotton gin mechanically separated the seeds and fiber by rolling the cotton through wooden rollers covered with metal hooks that caught at the fiber and pulled it through a mesh. Cotton seeds were too big to go through the mesh and fell into a hopper below. A person could hand-gin one pound of cotton in one day; Whitney’s technology processed 50 pounds of cotton in a day.

Cotton was first grown in Comal County by German immigrants in 1852. The non-slave-holding Mittendorf brothers planted and harvested cotton enough for nine bales. William H. Meriwhether had built a water-powered grist and sawmill using the Comal Springs in 1847. He later added a flour mill and cotton gin. Meriwhether ginned the Mittendorf boys’ cotton for 1½ cents per pound. Francis Moreau shipped the nine bales through Indianola to New Orleans for an additional 1½ cents per pound. The bales were graded “middling fair” and sold for 10½ cents per pound. Cotton proved a profitable undertaking for the Mittendorfs who got 7½ cents per pound for their efforts.

In 1857, F. B. Hoffmann set up the first horse-powered cotton gin in the county out at Four Mile Creek/Solms. Later in 1870, Hoffmann was also the first to convert his gin to steam power; he advertised that he could “gin 6 bales a day” with the new technology.

In 1863, Erhard Mittendorf built a gin near the Austin Hill Community, and in 1875, George Webber operated his cotton gin and oil mill in downtown New Braunfels just one block off Main Plaza on North Seguin Street. And you thought the silos of the Co-op looked rural.

By the 1880s and 1890s, cotton gins were features in many of the small communities and settlements that peppered Comal County. They were usually known by the owner’s name:

• H. D. Gruene – Goodwin
• Gus Reinarz (formerly Hoffmann’s) – Solms
• John Marbach – Bracken
• August G. Startz – Smithson Valley
• Reinarz & Marbach – Danville
• Charles Knibbe – Spring Branch
• Hunter Gin Co. – Hunter
• Fischer’s – Fischer’s Store
• Hermann Guenther – Sattler
• Frank Guenther – Hancock
• Ludwig Haag and Gustav Schmidt gins – Bulverde
• Farmers Union – Hortontown
• Oberkampf’s and Flugrath’s gins – Cranes Mill
• Reinarz & Knoke, Landa Milling and Faust & Co. gins – New Braunfels

This is a partial list, but it shows the importance of having area gins for the many farmers who grew cotton across the county.

Sadly, only a few of the cotton gin structures or ruins still exist today. However, a notable example is still visible at Eight Mile Creek/Comal Settlement off Old Nacogdoches Road. From the road you can see the beautiful brick Friesenhahn Cotton Gin and Corn Sheller building with its stately, very tall smoke stack which signified it was steam-powered. The gin was constructed by Andreas Friesenhahn in the early 1890s, but it was not the first gin constructed by Friesenhahns. An earlier gin was built by Andreas and his two brothers, Jacob and Nicholas, in the 1880s. This building included the first commercial corn sheller in the area as well. The gin was located on a site near the sharp corner of Old Nacogdoches Road just north of the old Kneupper Store. It burned down in 1899 causing Jacob and Nicholas to get out of the ginning business. FYI: Cotton is very flammable and can spontaneously combust. Trailers full of rain-wet cotton and stored piles of unginned cotton can ignite in the center and burn inside-out setting fire to other trailers and the cotton gin itself.

Andreas Friesenhahn continued on and built a new gin and corn sheller soon after the fire. This is the structure we can see today. He ran the business through the early 1900s and then deeded the gin, corn sheller, seed house and cotton yard to his three sons Gregor, Jacob and Ferdinand. They operated the place under the “Friesenhahn Brothers Gin” name. Gregor left the company in 1923. The cotton market nose-dived in the 1940s, and the gin closed. After the death of Jacob in 1946, Ferdinand’s wife Mathilda and son Roman bought the structure and continued to run the corn shelling operation until 1959.

In a 1986 oral history recording in the Sopheinburg Museum collections, Vivian Zipp, a native of the Solms/Comal Settlement area, reflected on the Friesenhahn Brothers Gin:

The Friesenhahn Brothers Cotton Gin and Corn Sheller was owned by Jacob, Gregor and Ferdinand Friesenhahn. It was located close to the Katy railroad. A spur line was laid from the main tracks to the cotton gin and corn sheller…you could see box cars loaded with shelled corn, ginned cotton bales and bales of corn shucks. The farmers would use the shucks to feed their cattle. They had a warehouse close to the spur where bales of corn shucks were stored when boxcars were filled or not available for shipping…. At the peak of the season [August through December] the wagons of cotton and wagons of corn were lined up from each direction — from the west on the San Antonio–Austin highway, from the east on the San Antonio-Austin highway and to the south on Friesenhahn Lane — with waiting wagons taking cotton to be ginned and corn to be shelled [There was no IH-35 back then, so the San Antonio–Austin Road went straight through the middle of Solms]. There were many nights that you could hear the cotton gin and corn sheller running into the wee hours of the morning until every farmer had unloaded. Sometimes as many as 50 wagons from each direction were waiting in line.

The Friesenhahn gin and corn sheller stands empty and quiet now. I love the big old yellowish brick building whose smoke stack still towers over the landscape. What stories can it tell of those first farming families who lived there for generations, working the land, gathering with friends, going to church and pitching in when disaster hit one of their friends or family? What can it tell us about the character of the people and times it shadowed in its heyday? Drive by, take a moment —and listen.

Sources: Sophienburg Museum: Neu Braunfelser Zeitung collection; Oscar Haas collection; Reflections Oral History collection; and “Comal Texas”, a research project of the Comal Settlement Association and Schertz Historical Preservation Committee.

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By Tara V. Kohlenberg —

Have you ever heard of the song “Someone To Watch Over Me”? It was written by George and Ira Gershwin in 1926. I am, in fact, a fan of jazz and big band music, so my favorite version is the one recorded in 1959 by the deep, velvety-throated, Ella Fitzgerald. In truth, it is a love song, but really, who would not want someone to watch over them?

We each have family, friends, neighbors, doctors, nurses and many others that watch over us. Then there are those that watch over our animals, our community and our future. Meet E.A. Grist, DVM. You may have known him. He was a man of many talents, most of which involved caring — for animals, for family, for people, for New Braunfels.

Born Edgar Alfred Grist in Austin, Texas, in 1915, he grew up being outdoors. He was a Sea Scout and attained the rank of Eagle Scout. Having expressed an interest in caring for animals at a very young age, Grist set off for Texas Agricultural and Mechanical College after high school to be a veterinarian.

He arrived in New Braunfels in June 1937, just two days after he and the other 21 members of the Class of ‘37 graduated from Texas A&M. He promptly opened his veterinary practice at 637 W. San Antonio St. on June 25, 1937, becoming the first veterinarian in New Braunfels and Comal County.

In what could only be described as the “perfect meet-cute”, Dr. Grist met Elizabeth Ann (Betty) Wille, daughter of a prominent New Braunfels dentist and granddaughter of one of the first physicians to practice in the city, when she brought her sister’s sick dog into the vet clinic. That meeting was the beginning of a lifelong love affair. They married a couple of months later and eventually added four wonderful children to the family: John, Eddye-Beth, Mike and Joe.

Early in his practice, Dr. Grist was awarded a scholarship to Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., for sanitary engineering, adding a whole new dimension to this veterinarian’s life. In 1940, he began working for the Texas State Health Department, Food & Drug Division. The job required that he travel across the state for five to six weeks at a time by bus, and yet he still managed to practice veterinary medicine in Comal County. His wife Betty would meet him for weekends in various parts of the state when he was traveling.

He then worked as Assistant State Veterinarian for a year, before he was elected as Texas State Veterinarian in 1943. It was his job to investigate meat processing sites around the state to prevent illness from parasites and diseased meat. He would many times be sent out to find rural illegal slaughter sites set up in a canvas tent with poor sanitation in the heat of the Texas summers. Imagine cattle carcasses lying in pools of blood leaching into the ground water. The health and safety of his fellow Texans was very important to Dr. Grist.

In 1949, he and Betty bought 20 plus acres on 727 N. Live Oak along the Comal Creek, where they set up New Braunfels Veterinary Hospital to treat small animals — dogs, cats, birds. The barn for large animals was added later where they treated sheep, goats, pigs, horses and cattle. Their impressive patient list even included a python from the Snake Farm and Russian bears from a traveling circus. The whole family was involved in his clinic. Betty wore many hats. She became his receptionist, vet tech and bookkeeper. The children’s chores included cleaning cages and stalls, and sometimes assisting on ranch calls. In 1952, the Grists built their home on the property. Their youngest son, Joe, still lives on the family property with his wife, Susi.

Grist took his commitment to veterinary medicine seriously. Throughout his career, he held multiple offices at the state and federal levels. He served as Executive Secretary of the Texas Medical Association, Vice President of the American Veterinary Medical Association, Extension Veterinarian for Texas A&M and the first federal poultry inspector. In New Braunfels, Grist established the Comal Cooperative Creamery, which later became Ol’ Bossy Dairy.

Veterinary medicine presented multiple challenges to Dr. Grist. In 1955, he was appointed as the city’s Chief Meat Inspector. It was in this capacity that he worked to educate ranchers, deer hunters and pet owners about disease, proper sanitation and vaccination of animals, especially during several outbreaks of rabies, anthrax, psitticosis (parrot fever threat to humans from parakeets) and brucellosis (threat to humans from dairy products).

It was also in his capacity as meat inspector that he may have accomplished his most recognizable achievement, known by people far and wide. Grist and wife, Betty, hit upon an idea for a festival based on similar festivals in Germany. Grist presented his idea for a sausage festival to generate tourism, create commerce and pay tribute to the city’s heritage to New Braunfels City Council in 1961. I think he hit it out of the park! What began as a one-day sausage festival has grown to the 10-day Wurstfest we know today drawing over 230,000 visitors and generating over $2 million for local civic organizations, not to mention the commerce enjoyed by local businesses.

Dr. Grist retired in 1970 after 33 years in veterinary practice, and 15 years of meat inspection, but he did not slow down. He became the City Sanitarian, protecting our water, rivers, and aquifer from contamination by humans. Dr. Grist passed away in 1994.

Dr. E.A. Grist, veterinarian, family man, proponent of public safety and water conservation, and community minded leader. This is the kind of guy I want to watch over me and my family and my community. I can just hear the velvety tones of Ella’s words, “Someone to watch over me”.

The Texas Historical Commission will honor the achievements of E.A. Grist with a historical marker. The marker dedication will take place at 1 p.m. on June 2 at Wursthalle on the Wurstfest grounds.  The marker will be installed at the Grist property at a later date.

Sources: The Grist Family Collection; Texas Historical Commission.

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