New Braunfels. Fast-growing Central Texas city. Most likely the only American city founded by a Prince. Settled by Germans. If you live in or near New Braunfels, you probably know this. Here at the Sophienburg Museum and Archives, we tell the story of New Braunfels every day, but did you know our beloved “Beauty Spot of Texas” was a Plan B?

During the 1840’s, Europe was in turmoil both economically and politically. Noblemen from several German states decided to “help relieve” overcrowding by colonizing the new Republic of Texas (as England had done in America). They created the Verein zum Schutz deutscher Einwandrer in Texas (Society for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas) or simply, Adelsverein (Society of Noblemen). Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels was selected to go ahead to secure the needed lands and provisions. The Adelsverein was able to recruit many countrymen who desired a new life in Texas. The first three ships sailed in October 1844, with one trunk per family (and you thought our airline bag fees were tough!). Many emigrants had sold all they had to pay for the trip which was to include passage, transportation from coast to settlement, 320 acres of land, housing, warehouse of provisions, implements, seeds, farm animals, education and churches in the Fischer-Miller Grant. Prince Carl, arriving in Texas ahead of the group, learned that the Fischer-Miller Grant was out in the middle of Commanche hunting territory and too far from the coast. He seriously needed a Plan B. On March 16, 1845, he purchased a 1265 acre tract nestled on the edge of the Balcones Escarpment between two rivers for the bargain price of $1111. With the ink barely dry on the land deal, the Prince and his entourage met the first immigrants at the Guadalupe River on Good Friday, March 21, 1845. Each immigrant was offered a half-acre town lot and 10 acre farm lot, quite a let down from the promised 320 acres. The Adelsverein’s rating went down from there.

The next wave of German immigrants arrived between the fall of 1845 and April 1846. More than 5200 people landed in Galveston and Indianola and were left to fend for themselves. There were no wagons because they were hired out to haul for the Mexican War. There was no housing, forcing some to camp for more than six months under tents, exposing them to harsh winter weather conditions on the coast. An epidemic broke out, with more than two-thirds of the immigrants falling ill. Of those who decided to travel onward to New Braunfels, proportionately few made it. They brought the epidemic with them, losing family members along the road and infecting their new town. Instead of being greeted by a Prince, the sick and starving immigrants arrived to see the river swollen from floods, unable to cross. They were promised provisions of food, finding instead nothing on hand but cheap “unwholesome beef”.

How do we know these things? Whatever did we do before Ancestry.com? Much like people document their lives in photographs or on social media, people wrote accounts of their travels in diaries, journals and letters back home. And just like today, important actions were recorded in the minutes of meetings of government and social organizations, providing us all a wonderful treasure trove of what early New Braunfels was like. Except, it is all in old German. Enter Oscar Haas and his curiosity.

Oscar Haas was born in October of 1885, at Cranes Mill, a third- generation descendant of German colonists in Texas. His ancestors were among the 5000 immigrants landing in Indianola in the fall of 1845. He moved with his family to Blanco County and then in 1897 to New Braunfels at age 12. He attended the old New Braunfels Academy for third through sixth grade before going to work in a grocery store. He worked his way to a dry goods business partnership. In 1934, at age 49, Haas was elected Comal County treasurer. For twenty-eight years he served the county. It was during his time in the courthouse that he discovered the original Commissioners Court minutes book of 1846. His discovery immediately sparked a lifelong interest in our history and sharing it with others. He began writing articles about the details of the court minutes for the Neu Braunfelser Zeitung (German) and the New Braunfels Herald. Now remember, the minutes were in old German script. He actually copied and hand wrote the full translations of the documents on whatever scraps of paper he had – the backs of calendars, old election ballots, etc. before writing the articles. In 1944-45, he wrote the columns “99 years ago” and “100 years ago” before the city celebrated its Centennial. He continued to write articles until his retirement in 1962, when he focused his energies on writing a book, History of New Braunfels and Comal County, Texas 1844-1946. Published in 1968, it was the most comprehensive book written about the founding of New Braunfels, becoming the bible of local historians and genealogists. 2018 marks the 50th anniversary of the book. It is still in print (fourth printing) and can be found at Sophie’s Shop inside the Sophienburg Museum and Archives. Here’s to Oscar Haas, successful businessman and public servant, and most notably a “history geek” extraordenaire.

Sources:

• History of New Braunfels and Comal County, Texas, 1844-1946 by Oscar Haas
• Sophienburg Archives

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Are you confused about which historical anniversary to celebrate or that you have celebrated? Is it for New Braunfels? Is it for Texas? Is it for the United States? Did we celebrate one year, 25 years, 50 years, 75 years, 100 years (centennial), 150 years (sesquicentennial) or 200 years? We have celebrated so many historical events that it’s starting to really get confusing. And now plans are underway to celebrate the 175^th year of New Braunfels’ founding.

The founding fathers (and mothers) celebrated the first American Fourth of July in 1846, a little over a year after arriving in New Braunfels. Then they celebrated the New Braunfels 25^th etc., etc., etc. In the early 1990s, about 50 New Braunfelsers even traveled to Braunfels, Germany, to help our sister city celebrate its 750^th birthday. I was fortunate enough to be able to go to that big bash. We were treated to a happy time. The Germans love “Texas Charlie” as they called Prince Carl. The long parade featured every era you can imagine. The entry that stuck out in my mind was the era of the Black Plague. Why? They had carts filled with bandaged plague victims and it was gruesome. I suppose we had a similar situation here (cholera, not plague), but as far as I know, this era has never been a parade entry.

The Texas Centennial of the Declaration of Independence From Mexico

Now clear your mind of all confusing past celebrations and concentrate on one celebration – the 1936 Texas Centennial of the Declaration of Independence from Mexico. Texas will recognize on March 2^nd, the date of Texas independence and becoming a Republic. Although the Centennial was officially celebrated statewide in 1936, the celebration began in 1935 and continued in 1937 and 1938 in New Braunfels.

The state did this 100-year celebration in a big way. The Texas Legislature and the U.S. Congress contributed $3,000,000 toward the project. Dallas was chosen as the center of the celebration. Every county in Texas received a granite marker with the date of the county’s establishment and the source of its name. Our county marker is on US 81 in front of Canyon Middle School.

Houston, San Antonio, Ft. Worth and Galveston put on large pageants. The Ft. Worth pageant called “The Winning of the West,” was by far the most visited, even more than the Dallas Exposition dedicated to the Centennial. In addition, museums like the Panhandle Museum at Canyon, the Texas Museum in Austin, the Big Bend Museum in Alpine, the Corpus Christi Centennial Museum, the West Texas Museum at Lubbock, the Alamo Museum and the Gonzales Museum, were established.

The celebration in Dallas occupying 50 buildings, was advertised as the first world’s fair held in the southwest. Throughout the state there were programs of significant historic events, battle scenes and pioneer re-enactments being performed a century after Texas won its freedom from Mexican rule and established the Republic of Texas. In 1846, Texas became the 28^th state of the United States. Texas is the only state that existed as an independent republic and one that was recognized by foreign countries.

Six Flags Over Texas is more than an amusement park. The six flags on Texas soil were France, Spain, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the Confederate States and finally, the United States.

Centennial Celebration in New Braunfels

New Braunfels historical markers for the Centennial, besides the county granite marker, include the Mission Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe on SH 46 in front of HEB, that commemorates the Franciscan Mission from 1757, that was established to bring religion to the local Native Tribes. Another marker is dedicated to John Torrey for the establishment of mills on the Comal River. It is at the foot of Mill Street where the tube chute is located. Two markers are dedicated to Ferdinand Lindheimer. One is at his home on Comal Avenue and the other is at his gravesite in the Comal Cemetery. He is recognized as the Father of Texas Botany. One of the exhibits at the Centennial in Dallas was of the 500 plus wildflowers in Texas. Another marker is located at the home of George Wilkins Kendall, located on Waco Springs Loop Road near SH 46. He was a well-respected journalist, founder of the New Orleans Picayune, correspondent on the Santa Fe Expedition and Mexican war correspondent. Located on Landa Park Drive is a pink granite New Braunfels marker dedicated to the city’s founding. It has a bronze relief of the Sophienburg log cabin and tells the story of Prince Carl. It was erected by the State of Texas with federal funds to commemorate one hundred years of Texas Independence. By far the most well-known monument in Landa Park is dedicated to the German pioneers of Texas. The New Braunfels Herald announced: “New Braunfels has been selected as the site of the proposed monument (to Germans) for which the State Centennial Committee has appropriated the sum of $2,999. The rest of the funds were through contributions locally and collections had been reported in other parts of the state by the San Antonio committee of the Federation of German-American Societies, which is sponsoring the movement.” Refer to Sophienburg.com, May 15, 2007, for further information.

Besides markers, what else was being planned? The newspaper was full of activities to put New Braunfels “on the map.” The opening of Landa Park was a highlight of the time and the Cole Circus with Clyde Beatty. Beatty was known as the world’s most daring animal trainer. There were 20 big and little elephants, including Jumbo the 2^nd, the only African elephant in a circus in the country.

The Katy Railroads offered weekend bargain fares like $5.16 for a round trip to the Centennial Exposition in Dallas, and $4.93 to the Frontier Centennial in Ft. Worth, and for an extra 89¢ you could be picked up at the train station and transported by street car to the grounds of the exposition. What a deal! School children were given the advantage of the state-wide rate reduction on all railroads as well as special rates for the Centennial. The November Herald announced that 56 school children attended the Centennial and have returned from a two-day trip to Dallas.

Speaking of railroads, that very year the president of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s train rolled through New Braunfels on the MKT tracks on June 12, 1936. Nearly a third of Texas’ population saw and heard the president on his Texas Centennial tour. He visited Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Dallas and Ft. Worth. The train “passed through” New Braunfels in the middle of the night, but no stop. Supposedly, many people were standing by the tracks to see the president, but they were disappointed. All I can say is that FDR did not know how important New Braunfels was.

The NBHS Class of 1936 was known as the Centennial Class. There is a photo of this class in the Sophienburg.com column of August 21, 2007. I interpreted it as a costume party but now I know they were cowboys and pioneers. There were 54 seniors taught by 15 teachers that year and it was the largest class ever to graduate from NBHS up to that time. There were so many of them, that the graduation was held in the Seele Parish House because it had a stage that would accommodate all the graduates. In keeping with the Centennial Celebration, the class contacted several prominent Texans at the time to participate in the graduation.

On March 2^nd, take time to reflect on how important the Republic of Texas was in attracting the German settlers to Texas that led to the establishment of our great city. It would lead to other important dates and milestones that we celebrate today.

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Baron Otfried Hans von Meusebach (later John O. Meusebach) and Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels represented two philosophies and cultures of Germany in the early 1800s. Prince Carl was a feudalistic, aristocratic, ultraconservative wanting no change in the politics of Germany. It was a collection of feudal kingdoms. Prince Carl was chosen as the commissioner general of the Adelsverein, a group of aristocrats who formed an organization for the purpose of sending immigrants to Texas. Meusebach was the second commissioner general. He was one of the young Germans that wanted the unification of the Germanic states. This would, of course, take away the rule by the individual aristocrats.

Prince Carl’s background was one of military schooling emphasizing the strict following of rules. His was raised as an aristocrat in a German state where the aristocracy made all the decisions for everyone.

John O. Meusebach, although from a family of aristocrats, his name after all was Baron Otfried Hans von Meusebach, grew up in a household of intellectuals. Students, university professors, artists, musicians, scientists, and philosophers were frequent visitors. The Grimm brothers, Alexander Humbolt, the poet Hoffmann von Fallersleben. were all part of a group of friends of Meusebach’s father. They were a group that could basically be called free-thinkers. The group believed in individual freedom, freedom for all, separation of church and state, and freedom from oppression. They were against military conscription. Fallersleben’s poem about Texas, although he had never been there, tells it all:

The world with its joys
Is a spring gone dry.
Without freedom, the fountainhead
Of virtue and of light. (Translated from German)

Upon their departure to Texas, Fallersleben wrote “The Star of Texas” as follows:

Off to Texas
Where the star in the blue field
Proclaimed a new world

Prince Carl and the members of the Adelsverein advertised land in the Republic of Texas. The Adelsverein hoped to establish a market for German goods. They envisioned a colony in Texas to be another German state. The idea of individual freedom was not at the top of the list.

But it took a certain type of person to immigrate to Texas. They had to give up everything back home and strike out into unknown territory. Prince Carl played a large part in organizing the immigration. Once he got here though, his aristocratic philosophy did not work. The military uniform did not help the immigrants farm. Lucky for them, many were farmers back in Germany.

Many Americans found Prince Carl comical with his mannerisms and his garb of the old military uniform, the hat with the rooster feathers and the sword hanging around his waist. Much has been written about how the prince had no admiration for the Americans and Texans. Mentally, put yourself in frontier Texas and imagine what Prince Carl would look like to you. He also had 20 soldiers dressed in the same manner.

Prince Carl stayed in Texas two months after the immigrants crossed the Guadalupe and right before he left NB, he raised an Austrian flag on the grounds of the Sophienburg Hill and shot off the cannon. Is that symbolic? At the same time, a group of immigrants went to the Main Plaza and raised the flag of the Republic of Texas. The “off with the old, on with the new” philosophy is pretty clear. Once the immigrants had a taste of their own destiny and freedom, there was no turning back.

When he arrived in Texas, Baron Otfried Hans von Meusebach dropped his old name, changed it to John O. Meusebach, thereby declaring his transition to a new way of life.

Let’s look back at the events leading up to Meusebach’s arrival. Meusebach had been lead to believe that the immigration project was extremely successful and that the finances were in good shape. He was to meet with Prince Carl who would show him the financial status of the project. Unfortunately, the prince did not meet Meusebach when he arrived in Galveston. Instead, D.H. Klaerner, agent for the Verein in Galveston met Meusebach and told him of the dire financial straits, about drafts and overdrafts coming into his office.

Klaerner said that with the five Bremen ships arriving in July, November and December, 1844, only 200 out of the 439 immigrants had actually survived and reached New Braunfels.

Meusebach was then determined to take the same route from Galveston as the immigrants, and all along the way to the settlement of New Braunfels, he was presented with bills from people who found out he represented the Adelsverein.

When he got to New Braunfels, he went to present himself to the prince only to be told by J. Jean von Coll, treasurer of the Adelsverein, that the prince had left to go back to Germany. When asked for an explanation of the finances, von Coll told Meusebach that the prince did not require a record of promissory notes and that no accounting was necessary until all funds were used up. Von Coll said that one big expense was the prince’s food. He required fresh meat provided three times a day. The colonists wrote home about this extravagance because in Germany meat was scarce.

Meusebach decided to overtake the prince who was in Galveston on his way to Germany. When Meusebach got there, he was greeted enthusiastically by the prince because the creditors of the Verein had detained him because of debt. Meusebach on his own letter of credit, assumed the debt. He also supplied the prince with travel money. Prince Carl blamed von Coll for the financial woes. Meusebach wrote a letter to the Adelsverein telling about the financial situation and it was to be delivered by the prince to the Adelsverein. The letter was never delivered and Prince Carl never mentioned the financial situation to the Adelsverein upon returning to Germany.

Back at the colony, one of the first moves by Meusebach was to disassemble the military and change it to a work battalion. After this move, von Coll resigned.

After assessing the financial situation in New Braunfels, Meusebach requested funds from the Verein. He felt that his objective was still to strive towards colonization of the Fisher-Miller territory under the control of the Verein. He left for two months to scout the area and also to allow the financial situation to cool. Upon returning to New Braunfels, he found that the Verein had advanced a credit of $24,000, just enough to cover the debts. Meusebach also knew that there were over 4000 settlers already at the coast ready to move inland and there was no additional money.

Meusebach had Klaerner published an article in the Bremen newspaper concerning the dire circumstances of the colonization effort. The situation in Carlshafen had not been felt by the Verein and the article exposed the situation. Relief from the Verein came as an additional credit of $60,000. This unfortunately was received too late and in addition to severe weather, too many immigrants, war with Mexico, and epidemic diseases, tragedy was inevitable.

Stay tuned for the rest of the Meusebach story and note that the Meusebach family moto, Tenax Propositi or “Perseverance in Purpose” or as his mother would say, “finish what you begin,” was a personality trait inherent in John O. Meusebach.

Most of the information for this article was gathered from the book John O. Meusebach, German Colonizer in Texas written by his grand-daughter Irene Marschall King.

One last P.S.: Thank you, Prince Carl, for bringing your German culture to New Braunfels, and thank you, John O. Meusebach for helping us become Americans. The transition was often painful, but well worth it in the end.

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You, no doubt, have heard of Baron John O. Meusebach’s treaty with the Comanche Indians to promote peace between the Comanches and the German settlers. There was one person, Baron Emil Kriewitz, who played an important part in the success of this treaty. Here is his story:

Kriewitz was a German aristocrat immigrant who left Germany in 1845. He had become aware of the economic conditions in Germany and the political unrest prompted him to join the Adelsverein. Kriewitz saw no future for himself in Germany.

The Adelsverein, organized in 1842 for all the right reasons to settle Texas, possessed inadequate knowledge of survival in Texas. Prince Carl, one of the Adelsverein members, was the one chosen to buy land in Texas. The Prince has been described as a visionary but a poor business man, a dangerous combination. Upon arrival in Texas the Prince discovered that the Adelsverein had already been swindled by one speculator. The Prince decided to purchase a large piece of land in the Fisher-Miller Land Grant composed of all land north of the Llano River to the Colorado River. Not only did he discover that this land was far inland from the coast where the immigrants would land, but it was also right in the middle of the Penetaka Comanche hunting grounds. Disturbed by these facts, Prince Carl purchased the Comal Tract land instead from Juan Veramendi. Before the Prince left Texas three months later, the settlement was named New Braunfels. While in Germany, Prince Carl began his sales pitch to come to Texas by making speeches about the beauty of the land. Probably Kriewitz heard the speaches and was sold. He joined the Adelsverein to go to the Republic of Texas.

Sailing on the Franzeska, it took almost four months on the stormy seas to arrive in Galveston. From there he traveled on to Carlshaven where the Prince had purchased land for the arriving immigrants. Krietwitz found that he was not in the Republic of Texas, but the State of Texas because this land had been annexed to the United States in December of 1845. He also learned that Prince Carl had been replaced after three months by Baron John Meusebach.

Kriewitz was horrified by what he saw on the Texas coast. By February, 1846, hundreds of immigrants had been stranded on the muddy, sandy beach with no food or clean water. Some made dugouts with mud walls and cloth tops to shelter themselves from the winter storms. Disease was rampant and hundreds had already died.

Meusebach tried to help the situation by purchasing oxcarts and wagons. The annexation of Texas had infuriated Mexico and Mexico declared war on the United States. All wagons and supplies purchased by Meusebach to help the colonists were seized by the United States Army in their war against Mexico.

A group of desperate, young German immigrants formed a group to join the United States Army. Kriewitz was one of them. They were led by August Buchel and he made Kriewitz first sergeant of the group that was mustered in as the First Texas Rifle Volunteer Regiment.

During this time Meusebach was busy trying to move settlers to the Llano. In 1846 he led a group to establish Fredericksburg. Meusebach knew that no one was safe in that area of the hill country and he was determined to locate the Comanche chiefs and negotiate a treaty. Meusebach asked for a company of men to accompany him to the Llano grant and Kriewitz was selected to organize this company. He immediately returned to the coast to gather soldiers, many of whom were Mexican-U.S. War veterans.

They left the coast for New Braunfels in January 1847, but upon arriving, they found that the Meusebach group had already left for Fredericksburg and the Llano. Kriewitz’s company left for the Llano and encountered Meusebach’s group on their return from a successful treaty with the Comanches. Kriewitz’s group was told to stay at the site of the treaty and help guard the surveyors of the land. “Without the survey the contract with the government of Texas would have lapsed and the colonists would not have received their allotments of land.” (John O. Meusebach by Irene King) The treaty opened up 3,878,000 acres of land.

The treaty called for the Comanches and Germans to live in harmony and form an alliance against other tribes. The Germans would give the Comanches $3,000 in gifts. The head chief, Santana, requested that one of the Germans live with them. Many were interested in the position, but none came forward, as is often the case. Kriewitz said that for the security of the settlers, he would “risk his scalp.” He was assigned to Santana and the main tribe on the San Saba. Kriewitz was to be the guarantee of the peaceable intentions of the Germans. He went with them and adopted their dress and behavior.

In about six months, the tribe began to feel that they needed more gifts from the Germans. Santana and his tribe, including Kriewitz. came to New Braunfels and met with Meusebach and Herman Spiess who had recently taken Meusebach’s place as the Adelsverein representative. All went well but the Germans did not recognize Kriewetz. They stayed in New Braunfels for two more days. This was the only time that the Comanches came to New Braunfels.

On the way back from New Braunfels to Fredericksburg, Kriewitz asked to visit a friend in town. He stayed a little too long and when he came back to the campsite, the tribe was gone. Kriewitz never rejoined the party.

After this, still in the employment of the Adelsverein, Kriewitz was given many assignments. He built a road and led the first colonists into the Fisher-Mill Land Grant. This group was the one who founded the communal colony of Bettina. Then he led three more parties to establish Castell, Leiningen, and Schoenburg. He eventually returned to Castell, opened a store, was elected justice of the peace for Llano County, served as a judge and finally postmaster of Castell. He died in 1902 and was buried in the Llano County Cemetery.

A celebration in Fredericksburg called “Easter Fires” commemorates the Comanche- German treaty and the safe return of the colonists. While the treaty was going on, the Comanches transmitted messages by smoke. When the fires burned high, other tribes knew that all was going well. The story goes that the fires frightened the children in Fredericksburg. Mothers told their children that the Easter Rabbit placed eggs in kettles that were boiling over the fires on the hilltops and then colored them with flowers. On Easter morning the eggs were laid in nests. As so often happens, an actual historical event leads to a colorful tradition.

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