By Keva Hoffmann Boardman —

Christmas lights and decorations are going up all over town. I love all the green, the red, the shiny and the bright. Our German town founders did too.

The tradition of putting up a Christmas tree goes back to 16th century Europe. Germanic-speaking Christians brought fresh-cut evergreens into their houses and decorated them. Not the first time that people celebrated with trees; older cultures like the Druids, Romans and Vikings used trees to celebrate during winter solstice festivals. The German Christian Christmas tree had evolved from the Medieval practice of the “Paradise Tree”. A fir tree was decorated with apples and communion wafers on Christmas Eve and used as the central prop in the “Paradise Play” which told the story of Adam and Eve’s fall into sin and the promise of the coming Savior, Jesus. A tree, the cross, figures in this story as well.

The 16th century Christmas trees were decorated with baked goods and fruit. The first recorded decorated tree was in Riga, Latvia, in 1510.

The first recorded Christmas tree with a New Braunfels connection was reported by our well-known teacher, mayor and lawyer Hermann Seele, in his book, Assembled Writings. It was on December 14, 1843, that Seele’s ship landed in Galveston. A stranger in the Republic of Texas, Seele was feeling a bit lonely and homesick on Christmas Eve. He attended the Episcopal church Christmas Eve service. It was decorated with fresh dark green cedar garlands and well-lit with lamps and candles. Seele delighted in the feeling of his home country and in the choir’s beautiful songs.

Nostalgia set in and Hermann Seele found himself strolling the streets of the East End to see if perchance there was a Christmas tree he could glimpse through the window of a home. He did find a candle-lit tree and after gazing at it for a while, he returned to his lodgings a happy and more settled young man.

Also in Assembled Writings, Seele records the story of December 24, 1844. Here, Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels is the hero by providing Christmas spirit and cheer for the children encamped with their parents at Indianola. The immigrants of the Johann Dethardt were camped in a grove of live oak trees for protection from the foul weather and access to firewood. Prince Carl decorated a small live oak with candles and presents for the children on their first Christmas in Texas. To accomplish this wonderful gift, Prince Carl had to have bought small presents and Christmas candles in Galveston before he sailed down to meet the immigrants at Indianola. Surely, that Christmas on the beach in 1844 was a precious and delightful memory for all.

Ferdinand Roemer, in Roemer’s Texas, wrote about his Christmas experience in New Braunfels. It is the first recorded Christmas that was celebrated on the Sophienburg Hill. For those who do not know, the Sophienburg Museum stands on that hill and is where the Adelsverein (Association) built their log headquarters. Named the Sophienburg by Prince Carl in honor of his fiancé Sophie, this is where the officers of the “Verein” were quartered. In 1846, geologist Ferdinand Roemer was passing through New Braunfels and was told by John O. Meusebach to ask Lt. von Coll for a place to stay within the “Verein Building”. Roemer writes, “According to a custom at home, Christmas Eve was celebrated in the company of the jolly companionship of the Verein’s officers around a richly decorated and candle-lit Christmas tree, for which a young cedar (Juniperus virginiana L.) was used.”

No mention is made of what was going on in the immigrant homes within the town, but I suspect that they, too, were gathering around their own freshly cut cedar trees. The tradition of cedar Christmas trees decorated with cookies, fruit, small gifts and candles was widespread in our founder families and carried on even after the addition of shiny glass ornaments. Funny thing, they used to sometimes use Spanish moss as icicle-like decoration.

Today our decorations go up around Thanksgiving. Back then building fronts were festooned with green cedar garlands the week of Christmas. The Christmas trees were put up that week as well, but no child ever saw the tree, or their gifts, until Christmas Eve. The big reveal of the decorated and candle-lit Christmas tree with presents was a magical and wonderful moment.

The Sophienburg Museum invites you to another precious, time-honored Christmas tradition in New Braunfels. On Friday, December 5, our German-speaking St. Nikolaus will visit on the eve of his feast day. It’s just $10 a family and a fun way to learn the story of St. Nikolaus, get a chance to take a photo and chat with him, make a kid’s craft and enjoy the Christmas decorations throughout the museum. Sophie’s Shop will also be open for purchasing German and other gifts.

Please RSVP at 830-629-1572 to reserve your family’s place at the 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. session.

My wish for you is that during the flurry of events and things we do during this holiday season, you stop and experience at least one moment of wonder and magic. Gloria in excelsis Deo!

Sources: Sophienburg Museum: Assembled Writings, Herman Seele; Roemer’s Texas, Ferdinand Roemer; Oscar Haas Collection.

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

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By Keva Hoffmann Boardman —

Christmas morning had finally come! Presents, wrapped in shiny red or green paper and topped with ribbon bows, were stacked beneath the Christmas tree. But first, I looked on the coffee table where the Mary and Joseph figures had been reverently kneeling, gazing with love at an empty manger for weeks. There He was, the tiny Baby Jesus, lying in the brown wood manger filled with moss. Our manger scene at home was never complete until Christmas day.

The 13th C. theologian St. Bonaventure credits St. Francis of Assisi with creating the Christmas tradition of a manger scene. In his biography, “Life of St. Francis,” Bonaventure tells us that Francis was inspired by the sight of the traditional place of Jesus’ birth when he visited the Holy Land. In 1223, St. Francis sought permission from Pope Honorius III to create something “for the kindling of devotion to the birth of Christ.” On that Christmas Eve in a rock niche near the town square of Grecio, Italy, St. Francis put together a scene of a live ox and donkey beside a hay-filled manger. “He preached to people around the Nativity of the poor King … the Babe of Bethlehem … a dear friend of this holy man affirmed that he beheld an Infant marvelously beautiful, sleeping in the manger, whom the blessed Father Francis embraced with both his arms, as if he would awake Him from sleep.” The vision wasn’t the only miracle that night. “The hay of that manger, being preserved by the people, was wondrously found to cure all diseases of cattle and many other pestilences.”

After such a beginning, the inclusion of a nativity scene quickly became part of Christian Christmas tradition. In 1291, Pope Nicholas IV decreed that a permanent nativity scene be erected at Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. Attributed to the sculptor Arnolfo di Cambio, the marble figures are believed to be the oldest nativity in Italy. By the end of the 14th C., almost every church in Italy included either live or statue/figurine manger scenes in their Christmas services.

Living nativities fit well into the tradition of pantomimes and mystery plays which were popular in the Middle ages. Renaissance art was dominated with the subject of the Nativity, artists and sculptors telling and retelling the story in unique and beautiful ways. Wealthy patrons even had themselves inserted into the Nativity story. The manger scene was often expanded to include the little town of Bethlehem and the countryside.

Manger scenes are not really historically accurate. They usually incorporate the shepherds and the three Magi along with sheep, donkeys, oxen, and camels. Our manger scene at home has come to include exotic animals like antelope and swans, and a cheetah walks next to the camels. The story of Christ’s birth varies in its telling in the Gospels of the Bible. All are combined in our manger scenes, this adjustment to the timeline simply allowing us to have the whole dramatic and beautiful story gathered together in one place.

The tradition of the Nativity is uniquely kept all around the world in displays both live and static. In past years, Holy Family Catholic Church celebrated the festival of Los Posadas, a tradition in Spanish-speaking countries. This reenactment of Mary and Joseph’s search for a room took the Nativity to the streets of New Braunfels in a lovely candle-lit walking drama. Many other local churches have manger scenes set up on their front lawns. I remember being a shepherd for a night in the living Nativity at First Protestant Church when I was in Jr. High. And we cannot forget the many Christmas pageants, with school children acting the parts of both humans and beasts.

The seven Timmerman Sisters of Geronimo (just up Hwy. 123 towards Seguin) were well-known for their family’s nativity scene. In 1936, Mrs. William Timmermann found a description in Hermann Seele’s Die Cypress, of the 1849 Christmas celebration at her grandparents’ home, the Waissenhaus (the orphanage out near Gruene). Seele described seeing a manger scene set within a circle of honeycomb limestone rocks beneath a native cedar Christmas tree. Mrs. Timmermann, the seven sisters’ mother, then reestablished this tradition of her grandparents by setting up a manger scene surrounded by honeycomb rocks beneath the Timmermann Christmas tree. The scene grew to include a miniature Waissenhaus, a waterfall and other little vignettes which were nestled within an ever-growing ring of honeycomb limestone rocks.

Special figures for the orphanage were created in Germany after WWII. A copy of Seele’s story was sent to a West German friend. Disguising herself as an old woman gathering seeds, she made her way to a home in East Germany and placed a note under a rock which described the children and adult figures needed for the scene. The friend then arranged to return and pick up the finished pieces which she sent to the Timmermanns in Texas. The completed Waisenhaus scene appeared under the Timmermann tree in 1949 — on the hundredth anniversary of the Christmas described by Hermann Seele.

Many of us remember visiting the Timmermann Sisters at Christmas to marvel at their manger scene. Surrounded by honeycomb rocks, the Nativity and Texas Hill Country scenes spilled out from under the wide-spreading branches of the Texas cedar tree quite nearly filling the entire room. For many years, the scene was also created at the Heritage Exhibit which was put on at the NB Civic Center during Wurstfest.

Of course, depending on where you are from, a manger scene has a different name. In Spanish-speaking countries it is known as belén which is literally “Bethlehem.” Churches and cathedrals have elaborate scenes which include the manger, the city, and the countryside. German-speakers call the manger scene a Weihnachtskrippe or “Christmas crib.” While the French call it a crèche, the Italians call it a presepio, but both mean a “crib.”

All these names reflect the most important part of Christmas — the Baby Jesus in the manger on Christmas morning.

Sources: San Marcos Daily Record, Austin American Statesman, New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung, Texas Library Journal Vol 29 No. 4 – Sophienburg Museum & Archives; https://www.google.com/search?q=history+of+nativity+scenes; https://theconversation.com/how-st-francis-created-the-nativity-scene-with-a-miraculous-event-in-1223-124742; https://catholicstraightanswers.com/what-is-the-origin-of-the-nativity-scene-creche/

Photo: The Timmermann Christmas tree and nativity scene in 1948. The Waissenhaus is on the left. (S481-014_3)

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Happy Easter today while you celebrate the Resurrection and the coming of Spring. It’s a particularly exciting time for members of St. Paul Lutheran Church of New Braunfels. They have chosen to build a new church on their historic property. While traveling down San Antonio Street towards the plaza, I noticed a building program going on at St. Paul Lutheran Church. There was a wonderful old stone building, still part of the campus and they were building around it, still preserving it.

Lutherans In Texas

Lutherans have been in Texas for a long time. On November 8, 1851, the first Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Texas was organized by the St. Chrischone Missionaries. They were interested in establishing mission churches in the Guadalupe Valley of Texas. At the second convention of the Synod in May, 1852, Pastor Braschler and Pastor Kleiss were present. Pastor Kleiss had been in the Neighborsville-Hortontown area as pastor for a newly formed group of Lutherans for two years and now Pastor Braschler was going to become the minister. Pastor Braschler served as both teacher and pastor of the Lutheran group. On August 13, 1854, a formal congregation organized under the name of the Evangelical Lutheran Saint Martin Congregation. It embraced both Neighborsville and Hortontown. The St. Martin Evangelical Lutheran Church is known as the oldest Lutheran Church in Texas.

Incidentally, Pastor Braschler’s home is still standing and located at 249 Kowald Lane. It has a Texas Historical Marker and is a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark. The land was sold to Pastor Braschler by Jacob de Cordova. De Cordova, along with church parishioners helped Braschler build the home.

Rev. Milton Frueh compiled the history of St. Martin Church and he writes that the 1850 beginning of St. Martin is associated with founder, Pastor Theobald G. Kleiss from Germany. In 1851, the Neighborsville-Hortontown congregation erected a church building and the services were conducted in German. In 1852, Pastor Braschler became the minister followed by Rev. Albert Kypfer, who served from 1857 to 1880. Kypfer was the last full-time pastor. In 1870 a school was built next to the church. It was the Church Hill School that is still standing on Church Hill Drive across from Conservation Plaza. It is owned and maintained by the New Braunfels Conservation Society. It also has a Texas Historical Marker and is a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark. Near 1900, the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Texas congregations ceased to provide a resident pastor for the church. Many members left and joined other German-speaking congregations like Friedens and First Protestant Church.

For safekeeping, the church records were given to First Protestant Church and in 1968, the St. Martin Church building was moved from Church Hill Drive, a short distance away to sit in a prominent location on Loop 337 within the Hortontown Cemetery. St. Paul Lutheran Church owns and maintains the beautifully restored church. It is currently used for historical tours, weddings, church services and family gatherings.

St. Paul Lutheran

Twenty years passed with no Lutheran church, and in 1920 the Mission Board of the Texas District of the former Iowa Synod had been considering establishing a mission church in New Braunfels. In 1925, Rev. Henry H. Schliesser began conducting services twice a month in a building on Seguin Avenue (Mergele building). The organization of a congregation seemed favorable, so in 1926, the Evangelical Lutheran St. Paul Congregation was organized. A small chapel was built in 1927.

In 1939, under Pastor Heineke, the building of a new church (currently the chapel that is still standing) was started and dedicated in 1940. A new sanctuary was dedicated in 1962, a full-time day school was organized in 1983 and an education complex dedicated.

Martin Luther

Martin Luther was behind the whole Lutheran movement. Who was Martin Luther and what influence did he have on the world? Martin Luther was born in 1483 and was a German professor of theology, a composer, a priest and monk, and was a key figure in the Protestant Reformation. He disputed the Catholic Church view that freedom from God’s punishment for sin could be purchased by paying money. He believed and taught that salvation and eternal life were not earned by deeds but a gift from God through believers in Jesus Christ. Those who identified with his beliefs and teachings were called Lutherans. The Reformation was aimed at the Late Medieval corruption of the Catholic Church that resulted in the Protestant movement. The word Reformation means to reform.

Luther also translated the Bible into German, using a dialect that would reach most of the German people. Each state in Germany, at the time, had developed a different dialect of the language and in many cases, they could not even understand each other. By Luther translating the Bible, the German language became standardized. The language used in the translation became a part of the German heritage and the creation of a German identity. His goal was to make the Bible accessible to everyday Germans that could be used in church, at school and at home. He translated the New Testament from Greek in 1522 and the Old Testament from Hebrew in 1534. Although not the first translations to German, they were the most popular. This translation was one of the most important aspects of the Reformation.

Luther’s hymns influenced singing in Protestant Churches. Of course, his most famous hymn is “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” sung to this day in many Protestant Churches. Luther’s Bible stirred a mighty storm in the church giving power to the clerically dominated public.

The printing press

A German, Johannes Gutenberg, invented the printing press around 1440. The invention and spread of the printing press was one of the most influential aspects of the time. It ushered in the modern age. By 1500, the printing press was in operation throughout most of Western Europe. The result was the permanent alteration of society. The circulation of ideas through the printed word, captured the masses in the Reformation and threatened current government and religious authorities. No longer were the elite only able to have access to education, the middle class emerged as educated. Other technologies contributed to the success of the printing press. About that time eyeglasses were in common use for those with vision problems. Gutenberg was able to take existing technologies to make his printing press operate successfully. The manufacture of paper had also improved and Gutenberg developed an oil-based ink suitable for high-quality printing.

Martin Luther’s translation of the Bible could not have been done at a better time. The printing press allowed for mass production of the texts that were available for all.

Once again, Happy Easter, St. Paul Lutheran, and congratulations on your new endeavor.

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Imagine that you are on the Texas Coast where you have just arrived on one of the Adelsverein ships. You left Germany three months ago. You are far away from the Heimatland (homeland) for the first time ever and it is Christmas time. Your whole life you have loved the traditions that you grew up with – the music and the decorated tree that celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. On Hermann Seele’s arrival in Galveston, he wrote in this diary: “Memories, sweeten for me, lonely as I am in a foreign country, the hours with the balsam of a wonderful past.”

The year is 1844. The Republic of Texas is in the last stage of being an independent nation. Texas would soon become a state of the United States. The land was beautiful but rugged.

These immigrants would bring their culture and joyous traditions with them from Germany. The Adelsverein promised them land, supplies to help them get established and the provision of churches and schools. The immigrants brought with them the love of music, food and dance, strong family values, and the German traits of self-discipline and most of all, tenacity. These last two were important qualities because the whole venture was fraught with obstacles, but they persevered. In five years, New Braunfels was the fourth largest city in Texas.

Prince Carl hired Louis Ervendberg to establish a church in the new settlement of New Braunfels. Ervendberg met the first group of immigrants on the coast and conducted the first church service there on December 23, 1844. Prince Carl cut down a small oak tree for a Tannenbaum and decorated it with candles and candy for the children. This service on the coast is considered the first church service of the German Protestant Church. Prince Carl made this comment about the service: “The people, deeply touched, shed ardent tears of compassion and on Christmas, Holy Communion service would be conducted.”

German historian, Joachim Klenner, has done extensive research on Ervendberg and says this about the man:

He graduated August 26, 1833 from the University of Griefswald, taught school for four years, and then requested consent to immigrate to North America in1837. He gave as his reason for immigrating that a rich family from Hannover wanted him to come to North America to teach their children for five years. He was granted a permit with the stipulation that he could not come back to Prussia if he ever returned to Germany (no reason is given for that). He emigrated as Louis Ervendberg although his family name was Cachand. You have to wonder why he changed his last name.

Ervendberg settled in Illinois where there were others from Hannover, Germany. There was no pastor in the area so he organized a congregation. In 1838, he married Marie Luise Sophie Dorothea Műnch. They left Illinois in 1839 to come to Texas. After arrival in Galveston, they moved to the small settlement of Blumenthal in Colorado County. It was in Blumenthal that he was later approached by Prince Carl to handle the religious services for all the settlers, Protestant and Catholic. He accepted the invitation.

Ervendberg met with this first group of immigrants on the coast and accompanied them as they crossed the Guadalupe on March 21, 1845. This date is considered the founding date of New Braunfels as well as the German Protestant Church. He lost no time in organizing his German Protestant Church in New Braunfels. Prince Carl gave remembrance gifts to the congregation: a chalice, the twin of which is located in Germany, and two bells that are currently installed on the front lawn of the First Protestant Church.

In the settlement of New Braunfels, the first services were held outside at the foot of Sophienburg Hill until a log church could be built. Hermann Seele taught school in the same spot. Seele was chosen secretary of the church, a position that he held for 56 years.

Constant rain kept the Guadalupe River in a constant state of flooding that brought disease. The steady arrival of immigrants on the coast under these conditions played out a tragic drama of horrors. After Texas became a state, a war broke out between the United States and Mexico and the promised immigrant wagons were sold to the United States Army. There was no housing, no food, and no way to get from the coast to the settlement. In desperation, many immigrants tried to walk the 150 miles to New Braunfels. Hundreds died along the way and many arrived in the settlement sick, only to spread the sickness. A make-shift hospital was set up and Pastor Ervendberg recorded 348 deaths in one year. Sixty orphaned children were left and all but 19 were taken in by family or friends. The remaining 19 were taken in by the Ervendbergs. The Adelsverein gave Ervendberg land on the Guadalupe where he and Luise eventually set up what is believed to be the first orphanage in Texas.

For numerous reasons, Ervendberg’s career as pastor fell apart, as did his marriage to Luise. They decided to return to Illinois. She left with their three daughters, and he was to follow shortly with their two sons. Waiting for him in Illinois, Luise learned that her husband had intentionally met with one of the orphans and left for Mexico. She returned to Texas and he was gone. She never saw her sons again and she was granted a divorce in 1859.

Although the orphanage story is sad, the Ervendbergs provided a home where memories were made as well as old traditions kept and new ones formed for all who lived there. Many of the orphans and Ervendberg children grew up, married and had happy endings to their stories. Generations later, descendants of the orphans and the Ervendbergs gather at the old orphanage to celebrate the Ervendbergs and their ancestor’s survival in Comal County.

The German Protestant Church also survived and a stone church was built in 1875, with the tower added to the front of the building in 1889. This building still stands today.

In 1894, three new bells were installed in the tower (not the two small bells that you see now on the front lawn). Each bell has a significant name – Germania signifies the German heritage, Columbia signifies the immigrant loyalty to their new country and Concordia expresses the hope for harmony between the old and the new, not only generations, but ideas and traditions. The largest of the bells, Concordia, almost six feet in diameter and four feet high, has a deep mellow voice and forms the bass for the harmony of their blending. Columbia is forty-four inches in diameter and forty inches high. Germania is the smallest, three feet in diameter and thirty inches tall. Hers is the high tenor. These bells represent the struggles that the church and community have endured in its long history.

Henry Longfellow’s poem, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” tells it all:

(Verse 1)

I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

(Verse 4)

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep
God is not dead, nor doth He sleep
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.

(Verse 5)

Till ringing, singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

At least eight generations have been born in this new land of Texas with new memories made and old traditions harmonized with new. I heard the bells on Christmas Day.

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There is something really magical about the Christmas season and especially in New Braunfels, with its rich history and traditions. The stage is set when the Main Plaza lights are turned on. There are several Christmas events sponsored by the Sophienburg, so you know they are going to have something to do with history.

Weihnachtsmarkt

Sophienburg’s money-making event that allows the doors to stay open, is Weihnachtsmarkt. That long word means “Christmas Market”. The Sophienburg brings exciting shopping for Christmas gifts to Comal Countians. Every year that event at the Civic Center is more than a shopping experience, it really is a place to meet friends, to eat German food, to shop for unusual gifts and to really get into the Christmas spirit.

As I listened to the plans for this year’s market, I realized that Weihnachtsmarkt is also a great art experience. Yes, just like last year, the artists in the group that volunteer to decorate have created an artistic experience not to be forgotten. In other words, when you go to Weihnachtsmarkt, you experience interesting shopping plus a side effect of an artistic experience or if you go to see the art, you have a side effect of shopping. The decoration committee, headed by Beverley Wigley and Donna Debner, plus about 75 helpers, have chosen the theme this year to be “The Nativity”. Talk about an appropriate theme for Christmas, they have it! The Nativity is the traditional iconic Christmas symbol. About 300 volunteers put on the event. Besides the decorating, there’s the Sophienburg’s prime shopping booth, Sophie’s Shop that so many volunteers are involved in.

Nativity

The origin of the Nativity has many different interpretations but many historians claim that the birth date of Jesus Christ was adopted as December 25^th in the fourth century. For two centuries after the birth of Jesus Christ, His birth was considered unimportant, for at that time, only death dates were recognized. Also because Christ was considered divine, a natural birth was played down. Supposedly sometime along the way, the church legitimized Dec. 25 as the date of Christ’s birth to compete with the Roman holiday, “Natalis Solis Invicti”, a popular Roman celebration that honored the birth of their sun god of agriculture on that date.

The Church officially recognized Dec. 25 as the Nativity of Christ and it became a day of holy prayer by celebrating a “Christ Mass”. The name stuck as “Christmas”. When the Roman emperor, Constantine, united his emperorship with the Church, he declared Christianity to be the state religion in the year 354 A.D. Not only Christ’s death was emphasized, but also his birth. December 25th became the Nativity, a holy day, or holiday.

At the Weihnachtsmarkt, different interpretations of the Nativity theme will be carried out throughout the building. The stage is the main focus of the Nativity decorations. Two giant arches with scenes depicting the Nativity are surrounded by fir trees. Between the two arches are life-sized mannequins of Joseph, Mary and the Christ Child. Sophie’s Café is located in front of the stage where shoppers may sit and enjoy German food. Each of these tables are decorated with a different Nativity and these centerpieces are for sale.

Scherenschnitte and strudel

Several other features this year are Santa’s Workshop for children where a child can take a “selfie” of him or herself with Santa. A new activity called “Schnitt & Strudel” is being offered. Enjoy eating strudel and coffee and learn the art of paper cutting, Scherenschnitte, taught by Betty Spain. She has created a whole Christmas tree of Scherenschnitte ornaments. There is a $15 fee and everything is furnished. Call the Sophienburg 830-629-1572 for times and reservations. Strudel will be enjoyed during the class. Strudel recipes actually go back to early Austria, but strudel is a descendant of the Turkish Baklava pastry, introduced into Austria in 1453. New Braunfelsers know about strudel.

Lindheimer decorates for Christmas

Up on the hill, in keeping with the Lindheimer exhibit, decorations are “au natural”. Would Lindheimer have decorated with glitz and glitter? No way. For months the volunteers, mostly the collection ladies, under the direction of Keva Boardman, have been collecting nature’s fine decorations – acorns, berries, wood, leaves, bird’s nests, butterfly wings, honeycomb and Spanish moss. Decorations throughout the museum with garland and wreaths take you back in time. They are doing their best to make Ferdinand Lindheimer, the naturalist, feel at home. I found this rather interesting: Keva Boardman accepts these natural materials and then puts them in the freezer. It is not wise to introduce bugs and spiders into a museum.

St. Nikolaus

St. Nikolaus will be at the Sophienburg again on Dec. 5. St. Nikolaus is thought to be the forerunner of our modern Santa Claus. Like other old legends, there are many variations of the St. Nikolaus story. He was from Turkey and in the 4^th century entered the seminary. He soon became the Bishop of Myra, Asia Minor, and won many converts. Because of his popularity, the Romans imprisoned him. Finally, the new emperor, Constantine, released him from prison and even made him a church council member. Because of his generosity, he became the patron saint of children in several countries. During the Protestant Reformation, St. Nikolaus was banished from most European countries. The Dutch made him the protector of sailors and began the tradition of children filling wooden shoes with treats. Americans went from wooden shoes to leather shoes to long socks, even stretchable panty hose. In American New England, where the Dutch settled, they spelled St. Nicholas “Sint Nikolass” which, with time, became “Sinterklass” and finally Santa Claus.

Clement Moore wrote the poem, “The Night Before Christmas” and he described St. Nicholas as a little man in a red robe with a belly that “shook when he laughed like a bowl full of jelly.” This description contradicted the vision of a tall stately man in a red Bishop’s robe trimmed in fur with a long white beard as described before.

Then cartoonist Thomas Nast drew a picture of what he thought Santa looked like for Harper’s Weekly in 1881. Nast’s picture definitely put on weight. He looked like the Santa of today. Our St. Nick at the Sophienburg is a combination of several versions, although he does wear a hooded red robe trimmed with animal fur and has a long beard. Our Nikolaus speaks only German and hollers out to the children, “Kannst du beden?” or “Can you pray”? and without even understanding what he said, the wide-eyed children say, “Yes, I can pray”. Early St. Nick stories were brought to New Braunfels with the immigrants. Come to think of it, so did Lindheimer and so did the idea of the Christmas Market, Weihnachtsmarkt. See you there.

Time: Market – Nov. 20 th, 10 to 5, Nov. 21^st, 10 to 6, Nov. 22^nd, 10 to 5

Place: New Braunfels Convention Center, 380 S. Seguin Ave., New Braunfels, Texas

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