By Tara V. Kohlenberg —

When I was 6 years old, I remember proudly being able to finally count to 100 without messing up. I counted 100 pennies. I counted 100 M&M’s (though I rarely made it through that without eating some). Those were tangible. It is still very hard for me to wrap my head around counting 100 of anything intangible … like 100 years. What was it even like 100 years ago in 1926?

Well, World War I ended in 1918. The U.S. economy was humming along, and automobiles became common place. Queen Elizabeth II was born, and the magician Houdini died. The famed U.S. Route 66 was established, connecting Chicago, Illinois to Santa Monica, California. Closer to home, the towering Comal Power Plant (LCRA, now The Landmark Apartments) was built, and, believe it or not, the Women’s Civic Improvement Club funded the installation of a women’s restroom under the bandstand on Main Plaza.

As New Braunfels grew, the number of churches grew to serve the needs of people moving into the community. In August of 1925, an announcement appeared in the New Braunfels Herald touting Rev. H. Schliesser, a field missionary of the Lutheran Texas Synod, was in New Braunfels to organize a Lutheran congregation. The first services, conducted in German, were upstairs at Mergele Hall.

The Mergeles of Harry Mergele’s Hall are founding families from France. They were merchants. Their home is the little green building that sits behind the store at 166 Comal Avenue (now the chiropractor office). Mergele Hall may not ring a bell with you because the building has had so many other occupants. The two-story building, now the home of Water 2 Wine at 185 S. Seguin, has housed many entities over the years, including a place for the militia to drill, a dance studio, piano studio, and an assembly hall, part of Denson-Dedeke Gifts (downstairs) in the ‘80s and the original retail space for Celebrations Bridal (upstairs). St. Paul Lutheran was one of many churches that got their start upstairs at Mergele Hall.

The new Evangelical Lutheran St. Paul Congregation was established and officially recognized March 21, 1926. The church continued to grow under the guidance of the Rev. H Schliesser. The services were conducted in German in the morning and English in the afternoon with Sunday School in between.

By October 1926, the Lutheran Mission Board of the Iowa Synod voted to contribute to the St. Paul congregation, helping them purchase a house and lot on San Antonio Street for a parsonage, along with two adjacent lots to build a church on Santa Clara. They operated out of those few buildings for a while as they continued to grow their services.

Within a year, they added a St Paul Lutheran Ladies Aid and St. Paul Luther League (for teens), and the St. Paul Lutheran Brotherhood. 1928 saw more opportunities to participate in worship with the creation of the sanctuary and junior choirs. Then, the Great Depression hit.

In 1939, Rev. H.A. Heineke formed a building committee to begin planning a new church building. The church, designed by noted architect, Jeremiah Schmidt, and built by C. R. Roessler, was built of native fieldstone with beautiful dark wood interior beams/trim and stained-glass windows. The $6,000 ($110,000 today) note covered the building and furniture. The church, now known as the Chapel, was dedicated on April 14, 1940. The Chapel is one of the only Jeremiah Schmidt buildings in New Braunfels without a Texas State Historical marker.

St. Paul’s congregation continued to grow, much like churches across the U.S. in the 1960s. This growth prompted the congregation to expand their footprint. In 1962, a new, larger sanctuary was built. The new church building wrapped around the original Jeremiah Schmidt chapel, with its modern design incorporating similar stone, wood beams and colorful stained-glass windows.

With New Braunfels being 180 years old, you might wonder why it took 80 years for a Lutheran church congregation to be established. Well, there is a whole backstory to that. The Lutheran denominations began in Europe and arrived in Texas with German, Swedish, Czech immigrants. In 1850, Pastor Kleiss of Baden, Germany, arrived in Texas to check out the possibilities for new Lutheran congregations. He established himself in the Hortontown and Neighborsville communities across the river from New Braunfels.

In 1851, the German-speaking congregation erected St. Martin Church, the oldest Lutheran church in Texas. A school building was built in 1870 (still standing across from New Braunfels Conservation Society gate). The congregation grew until the turn of the century. St. Martin’s was part of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Texas. It became difficult to supply churches with German-speaking pastors who were of Evangelical or Reformed faith. When services were discontinued, the congregants attended nearby German-speaking churches, First Protestant Church in New Braunfels or Friedens Church in Geronimo.

St. Martin’s Church was taken over and restored by the St. Paul Lutheran Congregation in 1963. St. Martin’s Church was moved to its present place in the Hortontown Cemetery when Loop 337 was built and is marked by a Texas Historical Marker. St. Paul Lutheran Church still holds special services in St. Martins.

One hundred years ago, St. Paul Lutheran began a journey in Christ and extended itself to not only take care of future congregants, but to honor the history of Lutheranism in Texas. Here’s to counting 100 more years!

Sources: Sophienburg Museum and Archives

“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 Tara V. Kohlenberg —

Some stories write themselves. Some, like this one, began as one idea before evolving into something completely different. The idea stemmed from a visit with Myra Lee Adams Goff, (you know, accomplished author and the one that started this column) when she handed me a copy of the The Golden Book of Favorite Songs. I had seen copies of this songbook in the Sophienburg Archives, but never researched it. I took it as a challenge.

The gold-colored 126-page booklet by Hall & McCreary Company, copyrighted in 1915 and 1923, was a favorite keepsake of hers, in part because she sang from the book when she was in school at the Lamar Ward School. A ward is like our attendance zone today. It was also the book used when she began teaching at Lamar Elementary School in 1954. Same school, updated name.

A man by the name of Curt E. Schmidt was named prin­ci­pal of Carl Schurz Ward School in 1931, a year be­fore Myra Lee Adams Goff was born. Schmidt had be­gun his teach­ing ca­reer in 1922 in a one-room school­house in Gille­spie County be­fore teach­ing Eng­lish at New Braun­fels High School. While at Carl Schurz, he earned his law de­gree from St. Mary’s Uni­ver­sity in 1942, leav­ing ed­u­ca­tion to prac­tice law. He re­turned to ed­u­ca­tion as prin­ci­pal of Lamar El­e­men­tary in 1950.

At that time, prin­ci­pals were not re­quired to teach classes, but he of­ten taught art and mu­sic. He was fond of The Golden Book of Fa­vorite Songs. The book was a teacher’s dream, teach­ing mu­sic, his­tory, pa­tri­o­tism, read­ing and re­li­gion all in one. It had songs of every genre: chil­dren’s songs, Christ­mas, Civil War, folk, pa­tri­otic, re­li­gious, Ne­gro “spir­i­tu­als”, with many of the songs’ his­to­ries be­ing given. There were also read­ings or recita­tions: Lin­col­n’s Get­tys­burg Ad­dress, Pledge of Al­le­giance and Twenty-third Psalm. Curt Schmidt led songs from the song­book fre­quently. He or­ches­trated chil­dren’s skits and mu­si­cal pro­grams every year.

Mrs. Goff graduated from Texas Christian University in 1953. Her first teaching job was at Lamar Elementary. Principal Curt E. Schmidt hired her because she could play the piano. She taught music and handwriting to fourth, fifth and sixth graders. She had a degree in secondary education, and there she was, hired to teach music to elementary kids. What’s more, she could not read a lick of music. She played by ear from the age of seven. If she heard it, she could play it.

As Mrs. Goff tells it, at one particular school assembly, while Schmidt was leading songs, he called out a Civil War song on page number sixteen, “Just Before the Battle, Mother.” Well, Mrs. Goff did not know it. She told me that she suffered through, plinking around, pretending, when he finally stopped to ask her what she was playing. She said, “I told you I couldn’t read music.”

I had a natural curiosity about Curt Schmidt. We lived next door to him on Magazine Street for a couple of years up until I was old enough to start school. I never attended school where he was principal. I would later see him orchestrating the Kindermasken Parade when school teachers helped put it on. I thought that the old German dance, Herr Schmidt, was about him. I remember him to be very energetic, almost intense about things. I wondered if my memories about his nature were correct.

Curt Schmidt was an innovator. He was proud of his German heritage and felt strongly about preserving the ways of the ancestors. German language had not been taught in New Braunfels schools since World War I. After thirteen years without German language instruction, Schmidt felt the children needed it. In 1931, he organized German Summer School, devoted entirely to teaching the German language, folkways, folk songs and German pioneer traditions. The number of German School students grew from the initial forty to over three hundred per summer over the years.

The summer program ran until it was crushed by World War II. Since the United States was at war with Germany, everything German became suspect again. Promoting the German language was considered subversive and the German program ended in 1940. You will frequently see the German language textbooks Deutsche Fibel (German Primer) and Erstes Lesebuch (First Reader) that he used in German Summer School in the Sophienburg collection, or estate sales. We have one of each at our house. Schmidt was very persistent. Later, in 1954, as principal of Carl Schurz, he was instrumental in finally getting German and Spanish language electives back into the elementary schools.

Curt Schmidt was ambitious. He first served as principal of Carl Schurz, then after returning from his law practice, he served as principal at Lamar for three years before returning to Carl Schurz. By the time Mrs. Goff returned to teaching after having a family (no pregnant women could teach!), Curt Schmidt was the superintendent of New Braunfels School District. Mrs. Goff’s teaching career led her to Carl Schurz, Lamar and New Braunfels Junior High before authoring her own articles and books to preserve the history of New Braunfels.

Schmidt served as superintendent from 1962 to 1966, during which time he established the first area vocational school in Texas, inaugurated the first Head Start program and established a vocational school of nursing. Overall, he spent forty years as an educator, mostly in New Braunfels. Some loved him, some did not, but he accomplished a lot in his time. He again practiced law from 1970 until his retirement in 1982.

Curt Schmidt loved his German heritage and his community. He was active in Scouting his whole life, earning the Silver Beaver and Scoutmaster Key awards. He was a charter member and past president of the New Braunfels Rotary Club, and active with the Sophienburg Memorial Association. Schmidt wrote and illustrated two books about German Texan pioneers and was the local correspondent to the San Antonio Light for ten years.

I may not have fulfilled my task of writing an article about The Golden Book of Favorite Songs, but in this final year of Lamar Elementary, I have managed to tie together a bunch of things that I did not know about before writing this article: the Songbook, the German primers, German School, Mrs. Goff and Herr Schmidt. It is almost like the Six Degrees of Curt Schmidt. Too much?

Sources: Myra Lee Adams Goff; Sophienburg Musuem and Archives.

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

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By Keva Hoffmann Boardman —

This autobiographical sketch was written prior to a Reflections: Oral History Program taping recorded on November 13, 1979. Mr. Fischer was born in December of 1896. He was the son of Fritz Fischer and Caroline nee Klinger Fischer and one of 12 children. He passed away 10 months after the recording, at the age of 83.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He was married — twice — and had one son.

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

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

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

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

Well done Mr. Fischer, well done.

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

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

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Keva Hoffmann Boardman —

I have always found that the imagery of an idiom helps me to better understand a person’s meaning. However, discerning the meaning behind an idiom, or expression, in a foreign language is often challenging.

At the Sophienburg, we are faced with interpreting German expressions when we translate letters and newspaper accounts. While a true, literal translation often sounds like gibberish, we find that there is sometimes similarity in German and English idioms if we dig for the intended meaning.

Think of the following examples as “little pearls of wisdom” to take into 2022.

Eine einzige Nuss rappelt nicht im Sacke.

Literally – A single nut doesn’t rattle the sack.

Meaning – One event is insignificant; you can forgive one mistake.

Der Fisch stinkt vom Kopf her.

Literally – The fish stinks from the head down.

Meaning – Problems start at the top.

Ich bin keine Kuh, die man melken kann.

Literally – I am not a cow that man can milk.

Meaning – Said to those who always ask for money or for you to pay.

Wer weiss, warum die Gänse barfuss gehen.

Literally – Who knows why the geese go barefoot.

Meaning – That’s just how it is; like “Does a bear s**t in the woods?”

Die Kirche im Dorf lassen.

Literally – Leave the church in the village.

Meaning – Calm down, don’t go overboard.

Er hat das Pulver nicht gerade erfunden.

Literally – He didn’t invent gunpowder.

Meaning – Dim-witted; “he’s not the sharpest tool in the shed.”

Wer Feuer frisst, scheissst Funken.

Literally – He who eats fire, s**ts sparks.

Meaning – You get what you give; “he who lives by the sword dies by the sword.”

Das ist ein Streit um des Kaisers Bart.

Literally – That is an argument over the emperor’s beard.

Meaning – Being pedantic; “splitting hairs.”

Du hast einen Vogel im Kopf.

Literally – You have a bird in the head.

Meaning – You are crazy.

Alles hat ein Ende, nur dir Wurst hat zwei.

Literally – Everything has an end, only sausage has two.

Meaning – (self-explanatory)

Langes Fädchen, faules Mädchen.

Literally – Long thread, lazy girl.

Meaning – Comes from sewing and means do the job right.

Lange Rede, kurzer Sinn.

Literally – Long speech, short meaning.

Meaning – Saying a lot without saying a lot at all.

Loch in Erde, Bronze rin, Glocke fertig, bim, bim, bim! (reference from a Schiller poem)

Literally – Hole in earth, pour bronze in, bell is ready, bim, bim, bim!

Meaning – Just get the job done without any fuss.

Lügen haben kurze Beine.

Literally – Lies have short legs.

Meaning – Lies will eventually be found out.

Alles aufs Spiel setzen.

Literally – To place everything on a game.

Meaning – To risk it all; “put all your eggs in one basket.”

An’s Kissen horchen.

Literally – To listen on the pillow.

Meaning – To go sleep; to “hit the sack.”

Aus einem traurigen Arsch kommt selten ein fröhlicher Furz.

Literally – Out of a sad a** seldom comes a joyful fart.

Meaning – If a person is a certain way, don’t expect them to behave contrary to that.

Bei ihm ist der Groschen gefallen.

Literally – The “Groschen” fell for him.

Meaning – Enlightenment; the “penny dropped.”

Bei Nnacht sind alle Kuhe schwarz/alle Katzen grau.

Literally – At night all cows are black/all cats are grey.

Meaning – Sometimes the difference between things doesn’t matter.

Es hat ihm die Sprache verschlagen.

Literally – It hit his speech.

Meaning – At a loss for words; flabbergasted.

Das ist Schnee von gestern.

Literally – This is snow from yesterday.

Meaning – This is nothing new.

Das ist gehüpft wie gesprungen.

Literally – This is jumped as well as sprung.

Meaning – It makes no difference; “six of one and half dozen of another.”

Das Leben its wie eine Hühnerleiter: Eng, steil und beschissen.

Literally – Life is like a chicken ladder: Narrow, steep and s**t upon.

Meaning – (self-explanatory)

Dem ist das Hemd zu kurz gekommen.

Literally – For him, the shirt came too short.

Meaning – He didn’t get his share.

Der Abend is klüger als der Morgen.

Literally – The evening is smarter than the morning.

Meaning – Hindsight is better than foresight.

Der Apfel fällt nicht weit vom Baum/Stamm.

Literally – The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree/stem.

Meaning – The child’s character is similar to the parent; “like father like son.”

Der hat ihm in die Grütze gespuckt.

Literally – He spat in his (someone else’s) porridge.

Meaning – Messed up someone’s plans/day; “he peed in someone’s cornflakes.”

Der Spatz in der Hand ist besser als die Taube auf dem Dach.

Literally – A sparrow in the hand is better than a dove on the roof.

Meaning – Be content with what you have; “a bird in hand is worth two in the bush.”

Die Kirschen in Nachbars Garten sind immer süsser.

Literally – The cherries in neighbor’s garden are always sweeter.

Meaning –“Grass is greener on the other side of the fence.”

Die Spatzen pfeifen es vom Dach.

Literally – The sparrows whistle it from the roof.

Meaning – The news is out; “a little birdie told me.”

Die Witze eines Reichen sind immer lustig.

Literally – The jokes of the rich are always funny.

Meaning – People laugh at the jokes of the one they want to impress or benefit from.

Die Würfel rollen wie sie wollen.

Literally – The dies fall as they want.

Meaning – Life’s unpredictability; “let the chips fall where they may.”

Dreck macht Fett.

Literally – Dirt makes fat.

Meaning – 5-second rule when food drops to the ground; “a little dirt never hurt anyone.”

Du gehst wie der Storch im Salat.

Literally – You walk like a stork in the lettuce.

Meaning – You are a picky eater or too careful a worker.

Eckige Eier legen kann ich noch nicht.

Literally – I cannot yet lay eggs with corners.

Meaning – I cannot do the impossible.

Ein grosser Hut macht noch keinen Edelmann.

Literally – A big hat does not make one a nobleman.

Meaning – Pretention doesn’t change the facts.

Er hat zu tief ins Glas geguckt.

Literally – He has looked in the glass too deeply.

Meaning – He is drunk; “deep in his cup.”

Er ist nicht auf den Mund gefallen.

Literally – He has not fallen on his mouth.

Meaning – He is quick with his replies, clever in his answers.

Es ist so sauer, da zieht es einem die Löcher in den Socken zusammen.

Literally – It is so sour, it pulls together the holes in one’s socks.

Meaning – Wow…that is really sour.

Sources: Guten Appetit!, Sophienburg Museum cookbook, Oscar Haas Collections, germanproverbs.wordpress.com

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By Keva Hoffmann Boardman —

It’s words like this that make the German language so much fun. Actually, this word doesn’t even translate into English…which happens more times than you think. It comes with a great story though.

I found a history of Luckenbach, Texas, on the town’s website. Yes, it’s the same town from the country western song and it indeed exists about 10ish miles from Fredericksburg. Reading along, I saw names of people connected to our founders here in New Braunfels, names of people I know and lots of fascinating information. My eyes stutter-stepped over the word “elfendritschenwolpertinger”. What?

“1847: Reports circulated throughout the area that the first elfendritschenwolpertinger was seen by hunters in the South Grape Creek woods.”

Clue #1: It is something found in the woods.

The story continued with John O. Meusebach’s treaty with the Comanche, and how they had shared cherished secrets about the fruit of cactus, what they called cactus hearts, with their new German friends.

“Following the recipe of instructions the Indians taught them, they ceremoniously ingested the compound. In the midst of the “Rausch” or rush of the resultant bliss, there would often suddenly appear on the edge of the camp the jolly, chirping elfendritschenwolpertinger: nature’s most perfect of all living things. So awesome the men would collapse in sheer ecstasy, not waking until the crack of dawn.”

Clue #2: It is only seen when you are intoxicated.

The men returned to their homes and shared the experience with family and friends. The children searched long and hard for the elfendritschenwolpertinger in the fields and woods around Grape Creek to no avail. Only when they reached the appropriate age, would they be initiated into the rituals of the hunt for the rare creature.

You have to admit, these Freidenker (free-thinking) Germans had quite the fun-loving imagination — – with a little “medicinal” help.

I looked up elfendritschenwolpertinger on the internet. Only when I split the word did I come up with some answers. A wolpertinger is an animal from German folklore found in the forests of Bavaria. A hybrid of many forest creatures, it often has the head of a rabbit, body of a squirrel, antlers of a deer and the wings of a pheasant. It’s not known exactly when or where (or how?) this creature came into being, but there was a rise in its possibility and popularity in the 19th century as stuffed representations began to come out of Bavarian taxidermy shops. These composite creatures found pride-of-place in bars, hotel lobbies and museums. Present-day tourists may still find examples.

Locals continue to spin tales of romantic encounters between hares and roebucks, foxes and ducks or pine martens and pheasants and their possible offspring. You can see that the variations can be endless which is why no two wolpertingers look alike, and why they begin to embody more than two animals. I mean, if two wolpertingers mate…well, it boggles the mind.

Now an elfendritschen, or more popularly known, elwetritsch, is a legendary chicken-like creature with antlers. They seemingly come about through the coupling of chickens, ducks and geese with mythical beings such as goblins and elves. That makes sense.

Elwetritsch were lost to time for a while but rediscovered by a man in Espenschied. He organized hunting parties to search the forests of the German Palatinate for the shy, horned, bird-like beasts that couldn’t fly since they had scales or feathered fur instead of feathers. A coat made out of the skin was reputed to make the wearer invisible.

An elwetritsch hunt was very like a snipe hunt. In a snipe hunt, you and your buddies drink a lot, gather flashlights and rope for a trap and take off into the woods. Of course the newbie or most gullible in your group gets to sit by the trap while the rest beat it home. Hunting the elwetritsch involved a “Fänger” (catcher) with a big sack and a lantern accompanied by a group of “Treiber” (beaters). Apparently elfendritschen follow lights so a trail of lanterns lead to the open sack trap. The dupable Fänger is literally left “holding the bag” as the group of Treiber stop beating the bushes and sneak away to the nearest pub and wait for him to figure out the game.

I am interested in how German-Texans morphed these beings together. Espenschied is just west of Frankfort so it is reasonable to assume that there were many of the German immigrants who knew the elfendritschen folktale. Others who came from southern German states knew the wolpertinger myths. I guess the creature was even more wonderful when combined. Let’s face it, everything is bigger and better in Texas! The addition of special cactus juice makes it more intriguing. It must have been quite the rite of passage for young German boys. Keeping the secrets to pass on to each year’s initiates bonded them into a special brotherhood.

America’s take on the wolpertinger is the horned rabbit we know as the jackalope. Popularized in the 1930s by a pair of hunter/taxidermists in Wyoming, it is thought that the inspiration for this creature first came from sightings of rabbits or hares infected with a viral infection (Shopes papilloma virus) that causes antler-like tumors to grow on a rabbit’s head and body. Seeing one of these infected little bunnies would make a believer out of me.

Elvendritschenwolpertinger. Say it fast three times. Now have a couple beers and try again. A new bar game?

Sources: www.luckenbachtexas.com, Wikipedia; https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC2NRJG_elwetritschjagd-in-espenschied?guid=99fedec3-3c87-4e84-a0f5-a39d98e2bce7; https://www.thelocal.de/20171006/beware-the-wolpertinger-bavarias-legendary-hybrid-creature; https://www.iamexpat.de/lifestyle/lifestyle-news/german-folklore-wolpertinger; https://www.nbcnews.com/sciencemain/viral-internet-frankenstein-rabbit-modern-day-jackalope-6C10622178

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In the last article, I let you know about some of the wonderful and informative markers and memorials located downtown. There are so many more. If you really want to get into this, check out the Comal County Historical Commission’s website, http://www.co.comal.tx.us/CCHC.htm. But, until you do that, I’ll let you in on one other spot in New Braunfels that is absolutely loaded with info on NB history: Landa Park.

You see the monuments and memorials every day, but have you ever stopped to find out why they’re there? Maybe you just don’t care or have the time …. Take. The. Time.

This mini field trip could take all day (it is a park and it has water to play in) so you might want to take food and drink for either a picnic or snacking purposes. Start at the Landa Street entrance and look at the Maibaum. This tall Christmas tree-shaped pole has 20 “branches” with painted metal cutouts illustrating important aspects of New Braunfels’ cultural heritage. From bottom up:

1. Sts. Peter & Paul and First Protestant churches
2. Immigrant journey to Texas by ship, then wagon
3. The Plaza fountain and bandstand and the Schmitz Hotel
4. Seele teaching school under the elm and agriculture
5. Cotton and milling industry and Lindheimer’s home
6. The butcher and the baker and the newspaper
7. The fire department and Kindermaskenball
8. Shooting society and 9-pin bowling
9. Singing society and furniture makers
10. Photographer and postmistress

Whew! An historical marker about Merriwether’s barbed wire is nearby. Imagine a Texas without fencing…

Continue into the park and at the corner across from mini golf is the 125th Anniversary Memorial. Built to showcase the fachwerk building technique of early NB homes, the monument also lists names of founding families and contains one of the many time capsules in place around the city. See if you can find it.

Follow Landa Park Dr. across the bridge and take a left onto Playground Drive. Right before the road exits the park, in a little ornamental iron fence, is the only remaining limestone mile marker on the New Braunfels-Fredericksburg road (1854). Never saw it before, right? Keep going around the road till it joins Landa Park Dr. again. You might as well park and continue on foot.

To your right you will find the Centennial Cenotaph (I just like saying the name), a tall pink granite shaft with a large bronze panel depicting the first Sophienburg. This is just one of several markers in New Braunfels erected by the State of Texas during its Centennial Anniversary in 1936.

Cross the street towards the boathouse taking the paved path. This is essentially “holy ground” in NB. Really. Lots of community gatherings and events have taken place on this little point of land. Early town meetings took place under the grand old oak tree now called The Founders Oak. The tree itself is the monument and attests to the beauty and provision of the Comal waters for the Native Americans, Spanish and early German settlers. Sneak a peek behind the large stone pedestal in front and find the location of yet another time capsule.

Across the paved area is perhaps the most elaborate monument in town, The German Pioneer Memorial. The 1936 ground breaking for this star-shaped, granite and bronze monument, was attended by more than 3500 German-Texans from across Texas as well as Texas Governor James V. Allred. The bronze family on top was sculpted by Hugo Villa (Google this guy). The unveiling and dedication of the monument occurred in 1938. Interesting fact: The German consul was invited to take part in the ceremonies. However, after New Braunfels citizens refused to let him fly the Nazi flag and play the anthem, he left town in a huff.

Nearby you will find two smaller markers. The memorial to Joseph and Helena Landa is of pink granite and honors the park’s first owners. The other little marker has a limestone pedestal and is for the Gesangvereins (Singing Societies) which kept the German language and traditions alive. It’s always good to remember from whence we come.

Only three more! Going back to Landa Park Dr., right before you pass over the car bridge is the Seekatz Saltpetre Kiln. It looks like a little rock building built into the hillside. This relic of the Civil War was used to manufacture saltpetre from bat guano. Saltpetre is mixed with black powder to make gunpowder. Cool, huh?

Just over the car bridge are two state historical markers. One marks the springs gurgling out of the hillside. The Comal Springs feed our beautiful Comal River. As a child I would bike to the park and get a drink from the springs with my cupped hands (I drank from the garden hose, too). Take a look at how many cubic feet of water is currently coming out of the ground.

Last one! The historical marker for Mission Nuestra Senora de la Guadalupe, just opposite on the “island,” marks not the exact spot, but the general location of this short-lived Spanish Mission. There is another marker for this mission up by the HEB on Hwy 46. The Spanish archives from the time tell us about this mission, but just give us clues about its exact location. History sometimes keeps its secrets.

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