The Sophienburg Museum celebrates the Christmas season by presenting an exhibit of dollhouses, old toys and dolls, all reminiscent of our Christmas Past. Dollhouses appeared on the scene all over the world hundreds of years ago. In their beginning, they were not toys; they were much too expensive to allow children to play with. Dollhouses were actually works of art, just like paintings, sculptures and any other art form.

They were at one time, present in royal palaces and homes of rich aristocrats. Precisely constructed details obviously called for high prices that only the rich could afford. Very old examples of dollhouses can be now found in museums and antique stores. Now when you think about it, it’s probably because the dollhouses weren’t toys, that they survived.

Few toys survive the agony of childhood. My Shirley Temple doll never looked the same after I cut off all her curls. Of course, she never made the display cases.

Nuremberg, Germany and Paris, France, were best known for dollhouse production. Often, they were gifts of the groom to his bride. Now get this, these gifts were to replicate the home from which she came. It was supposed to keep her from being homesick. Don’t laugh. That may work, because children and adults alike, when playing with a dollhouse, imagine that they are there. Children put little people in the house and they become the characters that they create.

According to collectors, the most famous of all dollhouses is now in Windsor Palace. It is the Queen Mary’s House given to the queen by her subjects for helping them during a war. Carpets, furniture and wall paper are exact copies of items used during the reign of Queen Mary. Some unusual items in the house are a collection of 300 miniature books by famous authors and a gramophone that plays, “God Save the Queen.” The cellar is stocked with are real bottles of wine and the kitchen and bath have hot and cold running water. Famous houses like these are often on display in museums.

I have to admit that the Sophienburg is not exactly Windsor Palace, but let’s get to what we have to show in the Museum. After entering the foyer, there is the Bill and Nan Dillen house given by this very generous couple in New Braunfels, years ago. They are both deceased, but their generous gifts to New Braunfels live on. This very large house was used as a display for their antique doll furniture. Each room in the three-story house represents a different style of furnishings. The first floor shows furnishings of the 1870s, using furniture of wood with original blue silk upholstery. The klismos-style chairs are based on an antique Greek model popular with early German furniture makers. Also, present in the library is furniture made of cast iron used for both miniature and real furniture in Germany.

The second floor, features more functional furniture from about 1919, emphasizing usefulness and craftsmanship. The third-floor attic has recycled furniture, from around

1935. People would often make dollhouse furniture from discarded items found around the house. Cigar boxes, tin cans and clothespins were repurposed into useful “arts and crafty” items. This house is a magnificent beginning for the rest of the display.

Go into the Museum and there are two after the turn-of-century houses, the Stobaugh-Reeves house and the Roby-Hall House. The Stobaugh-Reeves House was constructed in the 1920s by the grandfather of Janet Reeves for her mother, Betty Zauel Stobaugh. Much of the furnishings were purchased in Germany. The old-fashioned stove is really a work of art. My grandmother had a stove that looked very much like this iron creation. On the dining room table, there are tiny pewter dishes. In the bedroom is the tiniest chamber pot that I have ever seen. We all know the function of the chamber pot. And aren’t we glad that they are a thing of the past.

Historical events did not allow for the production of dollhouses between World War I and World War II. After World War II, doll houses were increasingly mass produced, thereby making them less expensive and more available to the public. They became the toy of choice for little girls. I am very proud to share my 1934 dollhouse with the exhibit. It was built for me by my grandfather, A.C. Moeller. He was a builder of many buildings in downtown New Braunfels as well as houses all over town. I can recognize houses built by him because he built using the craftsmen style. My house is that style so I am well-acquainted with it.

My two-story doll house represents the 1930s era in many ways. Complete with hardwood floors and electric lights, the six-room dollhouse now contains more recently made furniture, as all of the original furnishing were made of wood and deteriorated. I couldn’t move the doll house outside because it was too big, but I could move the furniture. I would set up villages under the shrubs and now I store the furnishings only in my brain. The indoor bathroom is one of the most interesting with its claw-footed bathtub. The original tub was “built in” and so this claw-footed model goes back in time to the 1900s.

Most of the other houses in the museum are incorporated into the individual displays. We skip to the 1960s, when handmade went to factory-made. In the 1980s and 90s, tin and plastic became the material of choice and dollhouses now come in kits. Disney characters have moved into the houses.

Throughout the museum there are other collections. The indoor cabin in the museum is all decked out with old dolls, toys and a fine collection of antique children’s rocking chairs.

Once again, the Sophienburg will celebrate St. Nicolas Eve on Monday, December 5^th. This will be your opportunity to visit the Museum at the same time and for the same price. The price is $5.00 a family. Due to space, there will be two shows only, one at 6:00 and one at 7:30 p.m. You need to call the museum at 830-629-1572 to make a reservation for your family visit. St. Nicholas will make a visit, teach some German, sing songs and then have treats afterwards. Only 35 children will be allowed for each of the two programs, so make your reservation soon. Hope to see you there.

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Besides the Plaza Hotel on the Main Plaza, another grand hotel was built around the turn of the century, the Comal Hotel (now Prince Solms Inn). What was the reason for more large hotels in the little town of New Braunfels? Hotels are built to fill a need. The coming of the railroad bringing visitors to the quaint little town, with its Landa Park, was actually the big boost to tourism. At one time Emilie and Theodore Eggeling ran the Plaza Hotel on the Main Plaza and decided that a second large hotel was needed. Let’s go back to the roots of the family that made this second hotel possible.

Joseph Klein

Immigrant Joseph Klein built a little German house in New Braunfels in 1852. That house still stands but not where it was built. It started its 115-year-old life on the property where the Prince Solms Inn is now located on the corner of San Antonio and Market Sts.

Joseph Klein, a single 26-year-old bachelor from Germany first lived with his parents, Stephan and Margaretha Klein who had built their small house next to the Naegelin Bakery on Seguin St. in 1845. This house is also still standing.

Stephan Klein helped his son Joseph construct his corner lot house on San Antonio St. Joseph married widow Johanna Freitag and they moved into the new house.

William and Friedricke Kuse

Records show that Joseph sold his house in 1859 to William Kuse who became a naturalized a citizen the next year. His family consisted of his wife Friedricke, his ten-year-old son Carl, a daughter Emilie, aged six and a son Friedrich, one year old. All the children were born in Prussia except Friedrich. Daughter Emilie would have a big impact on New Braunfels.

Theodore and Emily Eggeling

William Kuse was a shoemaker and had set up his shop in the house that he bought from Klein. About 40 years later the house was moved to the north of the same lot and resituated about 100 feet from its original location. Then it faced Market St. The reason for this move was an economic one instigated by Emilie Kuse now married to Theodore Eggeling. They had a general store across the street from her parent’s house on the corner of San Antonio and Market Sts. (Look at the photo) Theodore and Emilie Kuse Eggeling were successful business people. Together they ran the very successful Plaza Hotel around Main Plaza. Particularly Emilie was considered a successful business woman in New Braunfels.

Around the turn of the century New Braunfels began to attract thousands of visitors who often spent the night in local hotels. Emilie was familiar with what was happening in town and decided that another large hotel was needed. Her parents had been living in the little house on the corner of San Antonio and Market Sts. all this time. Her father had retired from the shoemaking business and she convinced her parents to allow her to move the house to the back of the large lot. Emilie and Theodore would construct a large hotel on this spot.

The Comal Hotel

The Comal Hotel, sometimes called the Eggeling Hotel, built over a period of two years from 1898 to 1900 was another masterpiece by builder Christian Herry. Built in Texas Victorian style, the two story brick building has maintained its original exterior walls to this day. The bricks were made in McQueeney where a certain clay was located. The walls are 18” thick, the window sills of white limestone with cypress wood boards are 20” wide. The building consists of a full basement, two floors and an attic.

Rooms had no closets but were provided with private basins, pitchers and chamber pots. In the back yard was a privy. At the front of the building on the second floor was a luggage hoist, a pulley used to raise and lower trunks to the upstairs porch. There was a large dining room/parlor that became a favorite of townspeople.

Upon completion of the hotel, the Eggeling family, consisting of four children, moved into the hotel. As these children grew older, they became a part of the operation of the hotel. Son Adolph drove a dray (stout cart or truck) to haul luggage from the train to the hotel. Two carriages were driven by family members. With time, family members were involved in running the hotel.

The Comal Hotel (now the Prince Solms Inn) is situated on a half-acre lot. The Eggeling family utilized the lot for their business. They would serve food from the garden and kept pigs, cows, and chickens. They had a feed store. Stories tell of guests wanting fresh milk, and Emilie would go out to the cow lot, milk the cow, and bring it to the guest.

For a brief time in 1919, a hospital was set up in the hotel by Ida Heulitte, R.N. complete with operating rooms, emergency ward, and private rooms. All doctors were welcome to use the facilities.

Bill and Nan Dillen

After the death of both Eggelings with Emilie in 1930, family members helped run the hotel until the property was sold to Bill and Nan Dillen They bought the hotel, the Klein house, and the feed store. The Dillens refurbished the hotel and brought the structure up to modern standards with electricity, heating, and plumbing. Bill and Nan Dillen were responsible for saving many historic buildings in New Braunfels.

Dillen was the one who named the hotel, “The Prince Solms Inn.” The Dillens added historic features from other structures. Cypress shutters inside were joined by wooden pegs and purchased from the original courthouse in Marlin, Tx. The doors leading to the basement were obtained from the Sam Bennett mansion in San Antonio. When the Dillens added a patio next to the outside basement entrance, stones from the old original Comal County Prison that was torn down were used. This prison building was located behind Chase Bank building and the words, “Comal County Prison” can be seen carved in the entry of the basement. For the cover of the patio, old cypress and cedar timbers were obtained from the first woolen mill-steam laundry on Comal St. Also from that site are two large doors that are used as entrances from the patio to the storage area.

The Dillens sold the property, but the sale was unsuccessful and the Dillens reclaimed the property in 1977. They sold it that same year to Betty Mitchell and Marg Crumbaker. Much of the information for this story came from research of these two ladies.

Present owner is Al Buttross who has owned the Inn since 2007. New Braunfels is so fortunate to have some of these original structures and thankful for the people that made that possible.

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