West San Antonio Street — Now and then
By Tara V. Kohlenberg — While scouring an old Herald-Zeitung for some trivial unrelated detail, I came across a photo of an early 20th century view of downtown New Braunfels. It was taken from a postcard of West San Antonio Street. The corresponding article described the names and locations of
Turning back time on First National Bank
By Tara V. Kohlenberg — If I had a magic wand, I would restore buildings that were torn down or significantly altered in downtown New Braunfels before the Downtown Historic District was established in 2012. The very first one on the list would be the old JP Morgan Chase Bank
Historic market of New Braunfels
By Tara V. Kohlenberg — In this day and age, most everyone has heard of “planned communities.” They are essentially little towns (or subdivisions) that are perfectly engineered to have just the right ratio of houses to businesses to green space, carefully packaged to attract more people to a region.
The story of Ma’s Cafe
By Tara V. Kohlenberg — I often think about living in New Braunfels and how fortunate we are to have wonderful century-old buildings everywhere. I don’t necessarily think about that when I am trying to dodge tourists crossing the streets of downtown or hurrying to be on time to some
Snapshots of History: Blumberg House
By Tara V. Kohlenberg and Mark Rahe — I love the buildings in New Braunfels. I especially like the ones in downtown New Braunfels and Comaltown. Built over a period of 150 years, each building tells a story in every little detail of each window, porch, and roofline. They are
Sophienburg History Award 2023
By Tara V. Kohlenberg — Now in our 90th year of existence, 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, but to share the stories with the generations
Historic treasures hiding in plain sight
By Tara V. Kohlenberg — Historic Downtown New Braunfels. It calls to my heart. The fascination for me is held by the details of the buildings and architecture, the part many people do not notice. Growing up, any business that needed to be conducted could pretty much be done within
Remembering when Wurstfest was at a hole in the ground
Encore of November 1, 2006 By Myra Lee Adams Goff Get ready to celebrate New Braunfels’ heritage. Long before the Chicken Dance entered the city limits, the Wurstfest was held in a hole in the ground next to Main Plaza. Of course, this wasn’t the first location. The brainchild of
Moving along
By Tara V. Kohlenberg — We have become somewhat accustomed to seeing motor homes, mobile homes, and tiny homes as they move down the highway to their new resting place. However, seeing a stucco building moving through downtown is more of a spectacle. That is exactly what I saw one
The Moeller family of Comaltown
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