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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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By Myra Lee Adams Goff —

“Have you heard? Old Squire Moeschen is dead!” So begins Hermann Seele’s narrative of a murder here in New Braunfels in 1855. Seele spun this true, gruesome tale in his book, Die Cypress, which is available at Sophie’s Shop.

Here’s the background: Christof Moeschen, born in 1806 in Thuringia, came to Texas along with his wife, Johanna, and a 9-year-old daughter, Friederike. The year was 1844. Seele says their small log cabin built in 1845 was on Comal Creek, and consisted of one room and a porch surrounded by a fence of cedar posts.

For all one knew, the family of three lived a quiet life, but all that changed in 1854 when the Moeschen’s only child, Friederike, married the shoemaker Carl Riebeling. The mother approved of the son-in-law, but the father did not. Hermann Seele performed the wedding and the young couple lived with her parents.

Unaccustomed to outdoor work, Riebeling became sick. Moeschen believed the son-in-law was just lazy.

When a baby was born to the young couple and died, Moeschen was so distraught about the death that any harmony that had come about because of the baby disappeared. Moeschen became abusive toward his family. The daughter no longer loved her father. She resented his abusiveness toward her mother and husband. As a result, Mrs. Moeschen and the Riebeling couple contrived a plot to get rid of the old man.

On the day of the murder in early September, 1855, the father returned home exhausted, called his son-in-law a loafer and then fell asleep in a drunken stupor. In the dark of evening, the daughter provided a light, and her husband and mother killed the old man with an ax. All that could be heard was the autumn wind wafting the withered leaves from the trees and a few raindrops.

The mother laid the father, who she said was “kaput,” on a mattress and sewed him into a bedspread so no one could see him. The ax was dropped to the bottom of a pond formed by the creek.

Day dawns. Outside, Mrs. Moeschen called to her neighbor G. Holzmann, a laborer going to work. She tells him her husband has died and gives him a string to give to Gerhard, who is to make the funeral arrangements. The string is the length of the body.

Gerhard went to the Moeschen home to make some arrangements and asked to look at the body. The family refused because they said he had already been sewed into a shroud. Upon returning to town, Gerhard said to Justice of the Peace Hermann Seele that he was suspicious, and Seele called for a coroner’s inquest because of the sudden death.

Funeral arrangements continued and friends began to arrive at the house for the funeral. Present were Pastor Eisenlohr of the German Protestant Church where the family were members, the choral society, many townspeople and the carriage with the empty coffin.

Inside, the inquest was performed. The corpse was unwrapped from a dark brown checkered bedspread (shroud), and then carried outside and put on a large table.  Drs. Remer and Koester prepared for an autopsy. (Yes, right there.) Since it was getting dark, lanterns had to be brought from town. After the autopsy, it was determined “the old man has been murdered. Arrest the people.” The three family members were put under arrest.

Through the dark woods, a ghastly procession carrying the casket, proceeded to the sheriff’s home in town. In the spring of 1856, the trial found all three guilty punishable by imprisonment with hard labor for nine years each.

Additional information to Seele’s narrative was written by Everett Fey in his research about the First Founders of New Braunfels. Volunteer Tom Call researched the trial and found that Johanne Moeschen died in prison, Friedrike was paroled in 1860 and Carl Riebeling paroled in 1862.

Picture this: The funeral is at the home, the body is brought outside under a tree, an autopsy is performed right there, and all the while, family, friends, jury, doctors, singing society are all witness to the whole macabre scene. Forensic science has come a long way.

This first appeared in 2012, but we decided to run it again under our True Crime Series.

Sources: Sophienburg Museum and Archives.

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

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The Sophienburg Museum and Archives and an anonymous donor established a yearly scholarship called the Myra Lee Adams Goff Sophienburg History Scholarship. It would be awarded to one senior from among our six high schools in Comal County. The way the scholarship was set up couldn’t have pleased me more. The winner would have to write a 500 word essay about a person or event, showing their knowledge and interest in the history of Comal County.

We were surprised that there were 108 entries. That’s a total of 54,000 words! Those who helped judge the entries were pleased about the amount of knowledge the students had accumulated. The students that put forth the effort to compete in this contest obviously put in many hours thinking about Comal County.

Brendan Cooper from Smithson Valley High School was chosen not only for his knowledge of the subject, but his choice of a very complicated period in history, the Civil War in Comal County. His entry was not a feature article from which one can learn facts; his entry was one that provokes thinking on the part of the reader. Brendan gave me permission to print his entry, so here it is:

Comal County

After a long history of establishment and a strongly agricultural base, Comal County remains intact and prosperous. While it may have changed over the years with the migration of peoples and the environmental circumstances around it, it has remained so that it stands today a conducive place to live. From the rolling hill country, to the wide expanses of land now used for development and in some cases the age old profession of ranching, the county provides a diverse and beautiful environment in which to come of age. The land holds us up to walk into our futures.

With all this being said, I find it odd how openly the county was documented embracing the efforts of the Civil War. The land and the institution we know today are hard to place with the obtuse bigotry that I associate with the Civil War. The Civil War was waged over the simple freedom of all men, who also happen to be the audience of the Constitution. The violence and the shrewdness of the war make it seem rather ridiculous in its intensity, since the common fact of equality is an understanding in today’s society. With the knowledge of this county accepting the ideology of the war with an unquestioning handshake perhaps tarnishes the positive outlook on what it provides to me today. Somehow, by establishing the fact that the county supported what I can see to be wrong makes me disagree with the fiber of the institution. Hindsight is often clearer than what is utilized on a daily basis however, and it seems wrong to generalize.

In such a case, both sides should be shown, neither being denied by the other. I will consider then that I could potentially suffer from some sort of bias. I think that in school students are taught the Civil War while wearing a lens. While learning about the war, the North is continually associated with the good and the South with the bad. Because the South lost, we automatically assume that they were in the wrong. In my view the South was wrong and the wrong was righted with the war, but some would disagree. I see that what the South believed in was wrong to an extent in one area: slavery. Often, though, we can forget that the war was mostly political as it consumed the ideas of isolationism of the states. Because of this, the South is vilified and labeled as vile, at least during this time period. The bias I am instilled with has me disagree with the positions of the county at the time, but I can see that here, the correct thing was done for the situation.

This event is important to me and to the county, since if you can’t agree with the place in which you live, who’s opinion is wrong? While it seems to serve to tarnish the county, it actually shows the stability of this county with the state, which promotes only good traits. While it appears vile for Comal to join the fight with open arms, sending troops into battle in this case, may seem discordant with the country, it shows obedience to the state. In the end, the entire South made the same mistake, and it wasn’t for the lack of a moral compass.

The history of the place in which you live can mean the difference between respecting and devaluing it. The fact that Comal County engaged in a war of this type, while shocking, shows its clarity of mind and a solid belief in itself and its own values. It takes courage to rebuke authority, and our county possesses more than enough to make it worth admiration.

My postscript to Brendan’s essay

Locally, much has been written about Comal County’s involvement in the Civil War. The county vote was 239 for and 86 against seceding from the Union and joining the Confederacy. Questions constantly arise; did joining the Confederacy mean that one was in favor of slavery? I don’t think so. Well why, then, did Comal County vote to secede from the Union? Ferdinand Lindheimer, editor of the Neu Braunfelser Zeitung at the time pushed for secession. He certainly didn’t approve of slavery, so why did he lead the way towards secession? Germans in general were against slavery.

Political issues always have hidden agendas. That’s on both sides. Lindheimer was in favor of seceding from the Union because he was a strong believer in states’ rights. This is a very important concept to Germans and to Texans. Since both the North and South were guilty of slavery, what’s the conflict? The Emancipation Proclamation granted freedom to the slaves only in the Confederate states. Or was it a “money is the root of all evil” issue?

Brendan reminds us that this is an unresolved issue, not only here but all over the United States. Those who chose Brendan’s entry believed that regardless of what field he chooses to study, history and writing will be a part of his field. A beautiful plaque with his name engraved on it can be viewed at the Sophienburg.

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Step into the past this coming Saturday and Sunday at the Folkfest put on by the Heritage Society at the Heritage Village on Churchhill Drive. The whole event kicks off with the annual children’s masked parade, known as Kindermasken (children’s masks) or the old way, Kindermaskenball (children’s masked dance). Doesn’t New Braunfels just love parades?

Children like to dress up and parade around and they were doing this in Germany long before the settlers came here in 1845. The immigrants brought the tradition with them and supposedly Hermann Seele organized the local event here in 1857. The reason for children parading goes way back too. Children represent new life and Spring represents a new year. Although it has changed over the years, the tradition lives on.

“Kindermaskenball: Past and Present” written by Rosemarie Leissner Gregory and Myra Lee Adams Goff can be purchased at the Sophienburg. The book illustrates, through photographs, the changes in the tradition from the beginning to the 1920s, the war years and up to the present.

This year children are asked to line up at 9:15 Saturday around the Main Fire Station and march towards the Plaza then to First Protestant Church. Two NBISD middle school bands will march. (Parade participants are invited to Folkfest where judging of costumes will be held. Each will receive one pass and one adult pass)

This is the 27th Folkfest put on by the Heritage Society. The setting at the Village is perfect with its beautiful wildflowers and historic buildings. There is something for everyone and especially children.

Ladies, this is what you can experience: Imagine getting up early to feed and milk the goats and feed the chickens. You fix biscuits in a small cottage that could easily be 100 degrees inside. Why do they taste better than canned biscuits? Now you sit down and make lace for the one dressy dress that you own. Look how the handwork is piling up. Let the kids help you wash clothes in a wash tub using lye soap on an old wooden scrub board. By the way, the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, Ferdinand Lindheimer Chapter, will be there to help you with your genealogy. Were your ancestors in Texas during the Republic?

There is plenty for you men to do. First there is a chuck wagon cooking demonstration. That will come in handy when you make biscuits, cobbler and stew outside. Go by the Texian tents where the re-enactors are camping out. There are also Civil War re-enactors. What a show they put on with their canons that they really do fire. How about learning about native plants and you might as well learn how to make adobe bricks. The blacksmith demo is really interesting since I’ll bet not too many of you do that any more.

Now comes the real highlight of Folkfest, children’s activities. Kids, you can learn how to make a kite and then most important how to fly it. Of course there are the old favorites, candle dipping and the making of clay pots or whatever. You can learn how to make arrowheads and play games like sack races, hoops and graces, lassoing and stick pony races. There’s a bird feeding activity where you make a bird feeder using peanut butter. And for you little girls, you can dress up (clothes provided) and go to a real tea party.

On Sunday, Ravenstar will teach you how to identify birds and the Gorge Preservation Group of Canyon Lake will have an archeological dig and just maybe you will find a little dinosaur.

Both days there will be entertainment like Ballet Folklorico and Kindertanzen. There will be music and food of all sorts. You can see things like snakes. No, they won’t just be crawling around, they will be caged. You can shop for antiques and collectibles and tour the buildings on the grounds. What a great way to learn about the past and have fun at the same time.

All of our historical museums like Heritage, Sophienburg, Conservation, Railroad, plus the County and City Historical groups are doing such a good job of keeping our history alive. Hats off to them all!

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By Tara V. Kohlenberg —

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

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

By Rebecca Zuniga

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

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

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

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

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

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(Reprint of AROUND THE SOPHIENBURG article published March 31, 2009, by Myra Lee Adams Goff)

Children don’t question whether it’s possible for rabbits to lay eggs. They just know that when they build a pretty nest of grass and flowers, the Osterhase (Easter Rabbit) lays these beautiful multi-colored eggs. It’s the miracle of the beginning of life.

Research says that Easter was named after the ancient spring goddess Eastre whose earthly symbol was the hare. Being a pagan symbol, it was rejected by the more austere religious denominations until after the Civil War. With all the tragedy during that time, Easter became a symbol of renewal and hope. (Charles Panati, “Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things”).

I have found no written account of the frivolous hare in the records of the first 1845 Easter in New Braunfels. Arriving on Good Friday (March 21, 1845), the first settlers celebrated Easter with a worship service under the elms below Sophienburg Hill. There is no mention of rabbits or eggs. Supposedly it was the Pennsylvania Dutch who brought the Easter customs to America. The rabbit was a natural symbol of renewal (that figures).

Easter is one of the most sacred of Christian holy days, falling on the first Sunday after a full moon on or after the vernal equinox (never before March 22 or after April 25). In the Christian religion, it is the celebration of Resurrection.

Now about eggs: The ancient Romans had a saying, “Omne vivum ex ovo” meaning, “All life comes from an egg”. Colored eggs were exchanged as gifts. The eggs were commonly dyed with flowers, leaves, insects, vegetables and whatever stained.

Karl and Helen Kypfer Zipp are a multi-generational family here in NB that celebrate Easter in the same way that their families did years ago. Helen grew up in Geronimo and to this day, her family gets together at the Kypfer homestead for a late Sunday egg hunt. Each child builds a nest of grass outside (unless it rains) and decorates it with rose petals, primroses and any wildflower that can be found. That illusive rabbit lays beautiful, colored eggs in the nest and all over the yard. The advent of food coloring made the laying of colored eggs easier for the rabbit. In the past, the children would be given baby chicks to then be raised on the farm. New clothes, hats, shoes and gloves were part of the Easter tradition. Helen can remember that wearing white was done only after Easter.

I know what Karl Zipp’s traditional Easter was like because he is a part of my extended family. Our aunts and great-aunts owned the original Karl Roessing homestead in Comaltown on Union Street where the Comal Drug stands. Karl Roessing was his g-grandfather and my g-g-grandfather. The family would gather on Easter Sunday afternoon. While the children played in the house, the men would hide the eggs all over the yard. Then the cousins would take our decorated oatmeal box baskets outside and begin the hunt. It took quite a while because it was such a large yard. In the evening, we would sit around a long picnic table under the trees and as evening came, candles were lit casting a sort of magic as night fell. Then began the storytelling and singing. That was the most fun of all.

Addendum:

Karl Zipp passed away Dec 9, 2016. The Kypfer Family descendants still gather at the old Kypfer homestead to celebrate Easter and family. It is a tradition that has lasted for seven generations!

You can read more of Myra Lee’s stories at http://sophienburg.wpenginepowered.com/museum/around-the-sophienburg or purchase her book at Sophie’s Shop in the Sophienburg Museum.

“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 Tara V. Kohlenberg —

New Braunfels historians have told us that the first immigrants arrived with very little in the way of belongings. And, unlike today’s new arrivals in New Braunfels, our founding ancestors had a lot to do before settling into a house. They had to secure materials (chop trees for lumber, make mud bricks, cut stone) to be able to build their own places to live. We are very fortunate to live in a place where so many of those early homes still exist. One of my favorites stands on a lot at 212 W. Austin Street in Comaltown, exactly where it has stood for over 150 years.

The story? It begins with people making life-changing decisions to build a new life, sell everything, move across the Atlantic Ocean and settle on the Fisher Miller Grant in the Republic of Texas. Like many, that is exactly what Johann Georg Moeller did.

Georg Moeller left Bremen aboard the ship Weser, arranged by Henry Fisher for the San Saba Colonization Company, in May of 1844. Once he arrived in Galveston in July 1844, he learned that the Fisher & Miller land grant had never materialized. He was stuck along with several others from his hometown of Michelsrombach, Hesse. Moeller did eventually end up in New Braunfels in late 1845.

Meanwhile, on similar track, Johann Peter Hoffmann boarded the Garrone, arranged by the Adelsverein, with his wife and children. They arrived in Galveston in December of 1844 and finally reached New Braunfels with the First Founders. Mr. Hoffmann died shortly thereafter, leaving Elizabeth Hoffmann to fend for herself and her two children, Charlotta and Alex. (Soap operas got nothing on true history!).

So fast forward to 1848, when Georg Moeller and widow Elizabeth Hoffmann married. Their instant family of four eventually totaled seven with the addition of twin sons, Franz and Johann, in 1849 and Louis in 1852.

The Moellers settled in Comaltown. At one time, they owned/farmed most of the Landa Estates area. Georg Moeller began building my favorite limestone house in 1859. He built it all by himself. The beautiful two-story is constructed of hand-cut hard limestone that was quarried locally. All the walls are constructed of hard limestone, cut into squares and rectangles with stone lintels across the top of each window.

The wood beams and roof rafters are of hand-hewn cedar logs and the floors are hand-hewn cypress planks. Although the outside walls are perfectly square and the floors and ceilings are perfectly level, there are no two rooms the same size, no two walls the same thickness and no two rooms with the same size floorboards. The walls range from 8 to 18 inches in thickness. The original house had two staircases: one leading to the basement, the other to the second floor. Each wood tread of the steps going upstairs is smoothly fitted into grooves in the supporting side boards. No nails were used. The stairs to the basement are solid rock. It is truly amazing that no cement was used to put the stones together. In some places, it is said to be plain black dirt mixed with straw; and in others, a mortar made of sand and lime was used.

The limestone house, begun in 1859, took 6 years to build. The family lived in a modest home where Our Lady of Perpetual Help is now located while their limestone home was being built. It was finally completed in 1866. Sadly, Johann Georg Moeller died in 1867, just weeks after the family moved into the new home.

In 1881, ownership of the house changed. Okay, this is where it gets sticky. Pay attention to the “OE” and “UE” here. The home was sold by the Johann Georg M”oe”ller family to Johannes M”ue”ller, known as “Mueller-Hanas” in 1881. He owned a freight company. Mueller-Hanas was a very interesting guy, but I will save that for another day. He raised his family in the home. Johannes Mueller died in 1908 followed by his wife in 1909. Oddly enough, Emma, daughter of Johannes Mueller, married Henry Moeller, the grandson of Johann Georg Moeller.

In 1910, the home was sold to Mr. & Mrs. Albert Nowotny. Their son Jerome, who was born in the home, bought it in 1947. He eventually built a very successful tourist attraction/restaurant around it — Bavarian Village. By coincidence, Jerome Nowotny’s son, Lionel, married Mary Lou Mueller, a great-granddaughter of Johannes Mueller, second owner of the house. The Moeller House is now owned by Schlitterbahn Waterparks/Cedar Fair.

There were many descendants of the Moellers in the area and many were builders. Most of the structures are still standing as they are very well built like the Moeller House. The following is a list just to name a few: Garden Street Bridge, Mission Valley Mill Dam, Old Fire Station, Richter Buildings, Wagenfuehr House, Celebrations, Comal Flower Shop, The Black Whale Saloon, Lamar School, Seele Parish House, Johnson Furniture, Main Plaza Gazebo, Gerlich Home (Borchers Office), Fischer House (next to the Civic Center), Corner Coffee Shop, Old New Braunfels High School, Citizens Ice House (Conway’s), numerous curbs and sidewalks, and hundreds of homes in the area and surrounding counties. They truly lived well-built lives.

The Moeller House became a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1970; however, at some point the marker was removed. A new marker was sponsored by a Johann Georg Moeller descendant, Myra Lee Adams Goff.

The Moeller House Marker Rededication ceremony will take place Sunday, March 3, 4:00 p.m. at 212 W. Austin Street. The public is invited.

Sources: Sophienburg Museum & Archives; Comal County Historical Commission.

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By Keva Hoffmann Boardman —

We go see the latest movie and think nothing about it. It is an easy and common thing to do. I don’t even remember the first film I saw, though I’m fairly certain it was a Disney movie. Not so in the early 1900s. I recently found several articles in the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung microfilm collection that talk about what it was like to see moving pictures for the first time.

Fred Oheim, a long-time editor of the newspaper, had some wonderful memories. He was born in 1903, so his earliest recollection as a kid was of a film shown on Marktplatz (Tolle Street). A traveling carnival set up a tent for the film. He was too young and too poor to go — which turned out to be a very good thing. After the first showing, rumors spread through town that parts of the film “shorts” were, in fact, “X-rated.” Mostly men were seen entering the tent at the 9 p.m. showtime and “they had a sneaky look about them.” The men all exited the tent with their hats tipped low over their faces.

The first film Oheim remembered seeing was shown by photographer H.D. Klenke who presented short films in a building on South Seguin Street between the Hoffmann and Klappenbach buildings. Fred saw his first “talkie” in the Seekatz Opera House on West San Antonio Street. “Talkies” came out in the 1920s. Synchronized sound was produced via a belt connecting the projector in the booth with a phonograph on a box on the stage. It was rather like a trotline and ran the entire distance from the projector to the phonograph in the cone of light produced by the projection lens. In Oheim’s own words:

There were two knots in this loop of driving belt and I was fascinated watching them slowly travelling down to the stage and back to the projector, particularly since there were always a couple of “snake doctors” (what he called dragonflies) in the auditorium which regularly attacked the knots.”

The synchronized sound from the phonograph never really matched up well with the film. He remembers that it got worse and worse as the film ran. This story conjures up images in my head of Gene Kelly in “Singin’ in the Rain.”

Oscar Haas was our Comal County Clerk and the unofficial historian of New Braunfels and Comal County. Born in 1895, the first film he remembered was shown “over” South Seguin Street. Yes, I said “over.” A projecting device was set up on the second floor of the old wood Naegelin building/residence which pointed directly across Seguin Street at a screen set up on the second-floor porch of the Homann Saddlery business/residence. Attendees sat in the street. The movie was part of an advertising campaign for some product Oscar did not remember. Called “The Train Robbery,” the film was shown three nights in succession and repeated again the following four summers. Most importantly, it was free, which allowed the children to take their nickel and go into Naegelin’s for jelly beans and wine balls. Oscar described the event:

“This movie had no sound track but there were attendants who realistically produced the sounds of the train as it came puffing around the mountainside, crossing a bridge, and the sound of the horses’ hoofs as the robbers came galloping out from a ravine, firing pistols, and brought the train to a stop with passengers ordered to come off the coaches and stand along the side of the track.”

The excitement was absolutely riveting, and Oscar Haas tried to make it to every showing.

Oscar’s wife, Clara, remembered that there was an open-air movie garden on part of the empty lot next to R.B. Richter’s building on West San Antonio Street. She also remembered Martin’s Theater which was located next to the Phoenix Saloon beer garden (now the courtyard in front of the bank building). Martin’s was showing films already in 1914. Other theaters recalled by Clara included The Capitol, which opened in 1924 on Main Plaza (between Comal Flower and Black Whale). The Capitol got its movies and performers straight from the Majestic Theater in San Antonio. The Brauntex Theater opened in October 1942 with the Bing Crosby flick “Birth of the Blues.”

Roger Nuhn, journalist, photographer, newspaper editor, and SWTSU (TSU) professor, grew up in the generation of Saturday serial movie-goers. Roger and his buddies would go each Saturday to catch the next episodes, known as chapters, of popular Western serials. The serials always ended in a cliff-hanger so patrons would have to come back the next week. Jack Kaufmann Sr. was running the Seekatz at this time, and the kids would all wear a special badge they got at the “Chapter One” film. With the badge, entrance each Saturday was then only a nickel — half of a regular child’s admission. The serial chapters were quite a bargain: you got to see the next part of the story, then a full-length Western or adventure film, a two-reel comedy and a newsreel. Cheap and it kept the kids entertained!

Roger also recalled that Jack Kaufmann had a heart of gold. “If he saw some child hanging around the entrance of the movie house looking longingly at the posters obviously without the necessary cash for a ticket, he would go up to the youngster and say, ‘What are you doing out here? The show’s inside, get on in there!’ Jack Kaufmann never got rich but was among the most-loved businessmen in downtown New Braunfels.”

LaVerne Schwab Pearce, long-time Sophienburg employee and volunteer, shared a story with Myra Lee Adams Goff back in 2008. LaVerne remembered that the first movie she saw was at the Seekatz in 1934. It was Shirley Temple in “The Littlest Rebel.” Temple’s character has to save her Confederate father from execution for treason ,and she does so by pleading with President Lincoln. LaVerne said she was so upset by the action on the screen that she began wailing loudly and her mother had to take her out of the auditorium.

The new-fangled movie business sometimes made it hard to tell the difference between fantasy and reality.

One more story …

Jack Coleman, in a Reflections oral history program recorded in 1977, tells of his Uncle Nob Richardson’s first ever movie. It was a Western. There was lots of shooting. Uncle Nob was so upset that he whipped out his handgun and shot a hole in the screen.

Ah, now that’s entertainment!!!

Sources: Sophienburg Museum & Archives newspaper microfilm collection: “Shots at Random,” Roger Nuhn, New Braunfels Herald, Feb. 22, 1973; “Museumantics,” Fred Oheim, New Braunfels Herald, March 1, 1973; “Early-Day Theatricals, Movie Houses Recalled,” Oscar Haas, New Braunfels Herald, March 1, 1973; Reflections program, Jack Coleman, 1977; ”Around the Sophienburg: Brauntex Opened in 1942 with Bing Crosby,” Myra Lee Goff, Jan. 22, 2008.

Photo Caption: Martin’s Picture Palace was the first movie house in New Braunfels. Advertisements for films begin in March 1914.

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By Tara V. Kohlenberg —

Now in our 90th year of existence, the Sophienburg Museum and Archives has maintained artifacts and archival documents to keep the history of New Braunfels alive. Part of our mission is to not only preserve the history, but to share the stories with the generations that follow. I am beyond thrilled when the next generation can come back and share it with you, too.

The Sophienburg Memorial Association is proud to bestow the Sophienburg History Award, established in 2013, honoring Myra Lee Adams Goff for her dedication to the community and her steadfast love of history. The award recognizes a student who demonstrates a love and passion for New Braunfels history. The 2023 recipient chosen by the Sophienburg Memorial Association to receive the award is Logan Summerville. She is a senior at New Braunfels High School and will be attending Texas A&M University in the fall. The following is an essay about a historically significant event or person in Comal County submitted as a requirement of the scholarship application.

By Logan Summerville

New Braunfels, Texas, founded in 1845 by Prince Carl, values its rich German culture. The town was built by German emigrants who spent days at sea to eventually settle in their new home — New Braunfels. Much of New Braunfels’ heritage can be seen by simply taking a walk downtown. The Plaza, Naegelin’s Bakery, and First Protestant Church are just a few historic structures in Comal County that depict life in the town’s early days. Preserving New Braunfels’ historic buildings, sites, and artifacts have kept the town’s heritage alive for generations.

I am a 7th generation New Braunfels resident, and as a descendant of German immigrants, I have always been intrigued by its history. I am a descendant of the Scheel and Altwein family who left Germany in the 1800s and started a new life in New Braunfels. I have recently been researching my family’s heritage and learning more about my German roots. My family’s roots run deep in Comal County and the Scheel and Altwein family name continues to live on in New Braunfels, Texas.

As someone who has attended all 12 years of school through NBISD, I have learned that many of the schools are an important piece to New Braunfels’ history. Hermann Seele was the first school-teacher in New Braunfels and held the first class beneath elm trees. It can be said that the first class held by Seele laid the foundation for NBISD. Seele Elementary was named after Hermann, and elm trees can be seen on the front of the school, a nod to the history of the New Braunfels education system. Many of the schools in NBISD are rich in character, including New Braunfels High School’s history. New Braunfels Academy was established around 1856 and still stands as a tax office for the school district. The old New Braunfels High school, located on West Mill Street, was built in 1913 to replace New Braunfels Academy. The building also still stands and is owned by the district. I have been inside the building multiple times when I was younger, as my mom frequently had meetings there since she works as a teacher for the district. While my mom was in her meetings, I remember wandering around the building and being deeply intrigued by the old architecture and historical elements. The old high school served the district for over fifty years until New Braunfels High School moved to its current facility on Loop 337. Our unique mascot, the unicorn, has ignited a culture of school spirit that’s unlike any other. The blue unicorn was initially taken from the coat of arms of Prince Carl, a nod to the town’s German roots, but it was later discovered that the coat of arms was a lion instead. Despite the misunderstanding, the mighty unicorn continues to be the mascot that is just as unique as New Braunfels.

Living in New Braunfels and being a proud unicorn for the past twelve years has allowed me to learn about New Braunfels’ roots that are firmly planted in German heritage. Even as the population explodes, the city’s history will continue to live on through the town’s historical buildings and value for preserving its German heritage. New Braunfels’ education system also has a long-standing history, and I am proud to be a third-generation New Braunfels high school graduate who has gotten to experience the pride of being a unicorn.

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