An outstanding early citizen of New Braunfels and one who contributed much to the culture of the community was a man named Stefan Haelbig. Haelbig organized many of the early musical groups and was the music instructor of hundreds of children and adults alike in voice as well as musical instruments. He generally made music a big part of the community. His studio was moved to Conservation Plaza and open for all to see.

Stefan Haelbig emigrated to New Braunfels from Germany through Indianola in 1868 at age 40. His obituary states that he worked in the woolen mills and resided at the Waisenhaus (orphanage) for a year and a half, giving music instruction from there. He instructed piano, French horn, cello, violin, cornet, clarinet and voice.

Haelbig had received extensive musical training in Germany. He had been the bandmaster of a Regimental band in the Austrian Army, and had played Wagnerian (Richard Wagner) music while Wagner himself was the conductor. With a few local musicians, he was able to put together an orchestra to perform the finest of classical music. Those local musicians were listed as Father Blum, Hermann Schimmelpfennig, Mr. Wenzel, Bose and Eberhard. They, however, were amateurs but Haelbig exhibited the greatest patience and persistence, thereby guiding them into playing the classics. Many fine musical events were held in the old Matzdorff’s Halle and Seele’s Halle on the Guadalupe. Concerts were also held at the Seekatz Opera House, featuring the Haelbig orchestra and selected singers.

Not only in instrumental music was he a leader, but also in vocal music. He founded and became leader of the Maennerchor and Concordia Mixed Chorus. He organized the New Braunfels Music Club and its orchestra. Mrs. Lottie Faust was the pianist for this orchestra. In addition he gave lessons several times a week in San Antonio.

When Haelbig was 83, a celebration was given in his honor. Joseph Faust and A.C. Coers told of his abilities and called him the soul of music in New Braunfels. They raised their glasses and gave a toast, “Er lebe hoch, Er lebe hoch, Er lebe hoch”.When the glass was raised, the salute was given in this manner, showing high admiration The literal translation is “He lives high”.

Before being moved to Conservation Plaza, Haelbig’s studio was located on Seguin Street. After he vacated it, the building became Voigt’s Shoe Repair and that’s how I remember it. There was after all a time when people had their leather shoes repaired instead of replaced. Putting on a new sole or a new heel could add years more service to a shoe. The building was moved to Conservation in the early 1980s and the lot became the site of Pizza Hut and is now Taqueria El Tapatio.

There are some interesting things inside the Haelbig studio at Conservation Plaza. You would expect a piano, although it is not Haelbig’s. Paul Jahn’s cello stands up against the wall. Al Schnabel’s trumpet, the “wiggle and wobble with Al Schnabel” orchestra leader and student of Haelbig. There are pictures of former students, names familiar from the past like: Bading, Fischer, Gerlich, Gruene, Heidrich, Naegelin, Marckwardt, Koebig, Jahn, Oelkers, Voelcker, Coreth, Altgelt, Schultz .There is a tiny trumpet, no longer than 8 inches called a piccolo trumpet. Used in classical music, this instrument plays tones higher than a regular trumpet.

Remember that Haelbig once played Wagnerian music in Germany with Richard Wagner as conductor? Hanging on the wall are three pictures from the operas, “Ring of the Nibelung”, a collection of fantasy-filled operas of Norse Mythology. The first picture is the Rhine Maidens, the second is Siegfried Slaying the Dragon, and the last is Brunhilde, all characters from the four Ring operas. Glorifying ancient war heroes in mythology, Wagner operas became controversial at different times in history.

Stefan Haelbig died at age 90. His obituary ends with, “Here in the beautiful city of New Braunfels, he made an impression which is more beautiful and more lasting than any monument of marble – the love and appreciation of music”. Er lebe hoch, hoch, hoch!

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By Keva Hoffmann Boardman —

“There was a little custom that, I think, has completely died out. It’s called New Year’s Callers.” So began a story told by local New Braunfels resident, Kola Albrecht Zipp. She was born in 1899 and remembered her older sisters participating in New Year’s Day Calling in the early 1900s.

Like me, you may wonder just what New Year’s Day Calling is. “Calling”, an old custom, was when one paid an informal visit to family friends and acquaintances. Its purpose was to renew old friendship ties or settle family differences. It required a calling card which announced the visitor’s name. It was rather restrained and elegant. Think about the young heroines meeting men in Jane Austen’s novels.

In the mid-1800s, it seems that the “Dutch” population in New York began a new custom which combined this old one of “calling” with what can only be described as the equivalent of a 19th-century dating app. Let me explain.

It became a New Year’s Day tradition for young single men to “call” on young single women during the afternoon. Often, a group of two to four men would visit a home where two or more women had gathered in anticipation. The men were welcomed into the best room of the house and served refreshments. The visit only lasted 10 to 15 minutes because there were a lot of “calls” to make. And that meant, there were more eligible young women with whom you made acquaintances. Yes, the guys were checking out the girls and vice versa. The calling cards made perfect tour tickets into the ladies’ homes. They would be left at the home and remind the women who had made the visit.

By the late 1800s, the New York New Year’s Calling scene began to look a lot like “speed dating.” It became a competition between the men as to who could visit the most houses and between the women as to see who would collect the most calling cards.

So, back to Kola Zipp and the New Braunfels rendition of New Year’s Callers. “The young men would hire a carriage from the livery stable and they’d go out on New Year’s afternoon and they’d go calling. The girls would stay home to welcome them and they just made the rounds of their girlfriends … the girls sort of expected them, you know?”

As for refreshments, “The girls would offer the boys wine. Mother always bought a gallon of wine for Christmas and a case of ginger ale. Oh, that was a treat, you know! And the New Year’s Callers would come in, and oh, they were a happy lot. Of course, by the time they’d get all around, they had a lot to be happy about!” (Wink wink!)

“This was from the time of my very oldest sisters … and some of their friends that came were Udo Hellmann, Herbert Voss, Ben Nuhn and Paul Jahn.” Check out the photo of the card to see their names.

Erna Heidemeyer Rhode, born in 1896, was also a local lady who remembered this interesting custom. “I was thinking back on an activity which happened on New Year’s afternoon. A boyfriend, of course — by that time we were teenagers and we each had a boyfriend — would rent a buggy or surrey from the livery stable. There were no cars at that time; maybe one or two boys had them. They would bunch up in fours or fives or whatever amount they could get into the rental buggy and they would come to the different houses and call on the girls. Usually, two or three girls would go together and be at somebody’s house. [The boys] would stay for maybe an hour or so, and if the house had a piano and one of the girls could play the piano, then we’d sing and we’d have refreshments for the boys. They’d stay for about an hour and then they’d go back … I mean, they’d leave and would go back to somebody else’s house where they got the same courtesy and entertainment.”

“I have pictures of two or three of these boys who used to come: Julius Voelcker, Erwin Shaw, Herbert Haus, Paul Young and Oliver Eikel. We’d dress up in long dresses, evening dresses, because it was a very special occasion. The house was decorated, flowers and everything, and it was quite an event.” If you look at the photo of the card with young men, you will find Julius Voelcker on the far right.

I wondered if these were chaperoned events for the young ones. It was a time when stricter conventions were in place for the interactions of men and women. Erna Rhode answered my question. “They might come in and shake hands and say hello … maybe bring in the refreshments, but it was all very permissible. This was the New Year’s custom.”

New Year’s customs sure have changed.

This year, while munching on snacks and watching football games, think back on those gentle times when young men and women set their sights on new relationships in the new year. Not a bad idea.

FYI: These memories and others have been collected and recorded at the Sophienburg Museum & Archives through the “Reflections” oral history program and can be accessed at the Sophienburg or the New Braunfels Public Library.

Sources: Sophienburg Museum’s “Reflections” programs #8 and #202; https://friendsppm.wordpress.com/2019/12/09/the-long-lost-custom-of-new-years-day-calling/; https://nycpast.org/2016/12/29/calling-in-new-york-a-new-years-day-tradition/.

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

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By Myra Lee Adams Goff —

An outstanding early citizen of New Braunfels and one who contributed much to the culture of the community was a man named Stefan Haelbig. Haelbig organized many of the early musical groups and was the music instructor of hundreds of children and adults alike in voice as well as musical instruments. He generally made music a big part of the community. His studio was moved to Conservation Plaza and open for all to see.

Stefan Haelbig emigrated to New Braunfels from Germany through Indianola in 1868 at age 40. His obituary states that he worked in the woolen mills and resided at the Waisenhaus (orphanage) for a year and a half, giving music instruction from there. He instructed piano, French horn, cello, violin, cornet, clarinet and voice.

Haelbig had received extensive musical training in Germany. He had been the bandmaster of a Regimental band in the Austrian Army, and had played Wagnerian (Richard Wagner) music while Wagner himself was the conductor. With a few local musicians, he was able to put together an orchestra to perform the finest of classical music. Those local musicians were listed as Father Blum, Hermann Schimmelpfennig, Mr. Wenzel, Bose and Eberhard. They, however, were amateurs but Haelbig exhibited the greatest patience and persistence, thereby guiding them into playing the classics. Many fine musical events were held in the old Matzdorff’s Halle and Seele’s Halle on the Guadalupe. Concerts were also held at the Seekatz Opera House, featuring the Haelbig orchestra and selected singers.

Not only in instrumental music was he a leader, but also in vocal music. He founded and became leader of the Maennerchor and Concordia Mixed Chorus. He organized the New Braunfels Music Club and its orchestra. Mrs. Lottie Faust was the pianist for this orchestra. In addition he gave lessons several times a week in San Antonio.

When Haelbig was 83, a celebration was given in his honor. Joseph Faust and A.C. Coers told of his abilities and called him the soul of music in New Braunfels. They raised their glasses and gave a toast, “Er lebe hoch, Er lebe hoch, Er lebe hoch”.When the glass was raised, the salute was given in this manner, showing high admiration The literal translation is “He lives high”.

Before being moved to Conservation Plaza, Haelbig’s studio was located on Seguin Street. After he vacated it, the building became Voigt’s Shoe Repair and that’s how I remember it. There was after all a time when people had their leather shoes repaired instead of replaced. Putting on a new sole or a new heel could add years more service to a shoe. The building was moved to Conservation in the early 1980s and the lot became the site of Pizza Hut and is now Taqueria El Tapatio.

There are some interesting things inside the Haelbig studio at Conservation Plaza. You would expect a piano, although it is not Haelbig’s. Paul Jahn’s cello stands up against the wall. Al Schnabel’s trumpet, the “wiggle and wobble with Al Schnabel” orchestra leader and student of Haelbig. There are pictures of former students, names familiar from the past like: Bading, Fischer, Gerlich, Gruene, Heidrich, Naegelin, Marckwardt, Koebig, Jahn, Oelkers, Voelcker, Coreth, Altgelt, Schultz .There is a tiny trumpet, no longer than 8 inches called a piccolo trumpet. Used in classical music, this instrument plays tones higher than a regular trumpet.

Remember that Haelbig once played Wagnerian music in Germany with Richard Wagner as conductor? Hanging on the wall are three pictures from the operas, “Ring of the Nibelung”, a collection of fantasy-filled operas of Norse Mythology. The first picture is the Rhine Maidens, the second is Siegfried Slaying the Dragon, and the last is Brunhilde, all characters from the four Ring operas. Glorifying ancient war heroes in mythology, Wagner operas became controversial at different times in history.

Stefan Haelbig died at age 90. His obituary ends with, “Here in the beautiful city of New Braunfels, he made an impression which is more beautiful and more lasting than any monument of marble – the love and appreciation of music.” Er lebe hoch, hoch, hoch!

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

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By Myra Lee Adams Goff —

Soon it will be the annual Comal County Fair which had its first event in 1894.

When I was doing the research at the Sophienburg for the book It’s Fair Time for the Fair Association, there was one particular era in its development that intrigued me. It was the period beginning in 1923 for about 10 years. It was a period of extreme success, followed by almost complete failure and then success once again. To me, it showed the tenacity of the directors to keep this “the largest County Fair in Central Texas”.

Here’s how it happened: After some slack years, the Fair Association reorganized into a corporation in 1923, bought more land, put up more buildings, repaired the grandstand and then the unexpected happened; a fire totally destroyed the new grandstand. The choice was to rebuild or close up; they rebuilt. Then they took out rain insurance, and as luck would have it, rain came on Friday and Saturday. On Monday the insurance adjuster handed over $5,000 and with the additional gate receipts that year, the fair was in good shape financially.

The success of this fair spurred on spending for the next few years. Additional buildings were built and the land was improved. Write-ups in the New Braunfels Herald showed an overall optimistic spirit. Two gigantic pageants were held at the fairgrounds, the biggest with over 300 performers was called “The Gypsy Rover”.

The first fair queen, Alvina Vogel, was crowned in 1929 with much pomp, circumstance, and expense. The parades were getting bigger and so were the carnivals and rodeos. Slowly the Great Depression crept south but the local economy was looking good (so they thought) and the Fair Association decided to hold the 1931 fair despite economics. The depression was having a bigger effect than they realized and unfortunately, the fair went in the hole to the tune of $2,250, a big amount at that time.

Now here’s where they showed their tenacity. The FA decided to make some drastic changes in order to hold a fair in ’32. First they sent a letter to all those winners who would have received cash prizes in ‘31 stating that they were sending a certificate that could be redeemed “only after we have the money”. Secretary Edwin Staats suggested that they might want to consider just donating the unpaid certificate as many others had done. Then they cut out all activities that cost big bucks, like the queen’s contest. Elsie Meyer in ‘31 was the last fair queen until 1967. In addition, as much home talent as possible was used.

Of course, the carnival had to be engaged and a professional rodeo had to be hired. For entertainment, the arena was converted into a western ranch with ponies, steers, and broncos. Then there was a home talent rodeo in which only Comal Countians could participate.

Pageants that had become a big draw were eliminated. They called on the community to provide free entertainment, like the NB Unicorns football game and polo games. There was even a burlesque polo game on donkeys as a comedy act. On this team were Ernst Stein, Charles Scruggs, Paul Jahn, Pete Nuhn, Coach Rode, Red Babel, Barney Koepp, Dr. Rennie Wright, and Jack Eiband. There were no cash prizes for anything.

By far, the biggest innovative change was the practice of giving gate passes to exhibitors in order to attract large crowds. This practice has been carried on ever since. The strategy worked! The fair not only kept afloat, but it made a whopping profit of $150. When all was done, a Herald reporter observed,”No depression that ever existed can depress the fair spirit in Comal County”. If you would like to know more about the history of the fair, purchase their book It’s Fair Time at the fairgrounds or the Sophienburg.

(This article first appeared SEPTEMBER 18, 2007)

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By Keva Hoffmann Boardman

It’s just a little snapshot of three old guys in a back yard. The story that goes with it, however, is a humdinger and you’re gonna love it.

It was uncomfortably cold and wet that midnight hour of January 20, 1922. Deputy Marshal W. Nance Meredith had walked his section and was heading back to the Faust & Co. building to punch the time clock. The 65-year-old night watchman was ready to be out of the weather and warm up. It would get really warm soon, hot in fact.

The Faust & Co. store was on West San Antonio Street next to the IGN depot, where the Brauntex theatre now sits. An “L” shaped building, it wrapped around the back of its neighbor the smaller First National Bank. The time clock was at the back in the campground that ran behind all the way to Mill Street.

Marshal Meredith made his way around the corner. “Stick ‘em up! Stick ‘em up!” a low voice hissed, making its point known by the touch of the muzzle end of a shotgun in Meredith’s belly. Meredith was startled but he quickly reacted by jumping back around the corner. He could just make out the figures of two men — one held a shotgun and the other looked like a rifle.

Meredith let a few shots fly in their direction and made fast time toward the depot. Felix Conrads, the station night manager, heard the gunshots and reached over to shut off the depot light. That evened up the odds. The two men had been in darkness since they had broken the lights in the campground. Meredith, now also in the dark, had a fighting chance. And fight he did.

Marshal Meredith fired again in the direction of the would-be robbers which only encouraged them to answer with a barrage of 20 to 40 shots back in his direction. For years, the walls of the depot bore the signs of the gunfight.

Two more men, obvious friends of the others, joined in the melee firing from Mill Street to create cover for their buddies. Making their way to a parked car, the foursome slipped into the dark. A “touch of blood” found in the campground was thought proof that at least one of Meredith’s shots had found its mark.

Meredith had used up all his ammunition, but by now many in the city were awake. Chief of Police Moeller, storeowner John Faust and neighbor Paul Jahn arrived on the scene. Faust immediately unlocked the store and checked his office. He found all in order. The other men went to the back of the store and stared at a gaping hole in the wall. Large bolt cutters lay on the ground alongside the heavy steel shutters, window and window frame that had once filled the opening before them. Ironically, the robbers thought they were breaking into the back of the bank without realizing that the Faust building wrapped around it.

The robbers had left an enormous amount of gear in their hasty retreat. Chief Moeller found a brand-new oxygen and acetylene torch with two extra tanks, a large sledge hammer, a pinch bar, and a sack of smaller tools that included keyhole saws and wrenches of all sizes. There was a large black rubber curtain with loops and rings to hang and shield the robbers’ work lights. A leather pouch contained flashlights, dynamite caps, fuses, a ball of soap mixed with oil and cotton bandages. Other miscellaneous articles included three bottles of liquid which turned out to be nitroglycerin. In short, the robbers had brought, and left, an A-1-state-of-the-art burgling kit.

One more item was found. It was a package about 14 x 4 inches in size. Chief Moeller handled this package very carefully; dynamite was unstable and exploded easily. He gently unwrapped the contents. There was an explosion — of laughter, for the package contained an entire loaf of bread that had been hollowed out and stuffed with ham! Apparently, the robbers had brought munchies to the heist.

The burglary equipment was taken to San Antonio where it was discovered that much of it had been stolen. The bottles of nitroglycerin were taken to an open prairie out in Preiss Heights and Chief Moeller shot and exploded them creating a large hole.

W. Nance Meredith was hailed a hero in NB and around the state for his bravery and quick action in thwarting the break-in. A collection was taking up by grateful townsfolk and First National Bank presented him with a $100 check.

The bank robbers were not caught. However, when the New Braunfels State Bank was successfully robbed less than three months later on March 10, 1922, Chief Moeller suggested that it had been committed by the same gang (check out https://sophienburg.wpenginepowered.com/a-bank-robbery-in-downtown-new-braunfels/ ). As it turned out, Chief Moeller might have been right. The robbers, known as the “Newton Boys” had successfully robbed quite a number of banks in Central Texas using the same MO and equipment. Personally, I think the “Boys” were responsible for both. They had to be miffed about the botched attempt which made them pull off the spectacular daytime robbery in March. $100,000+ is pretty good compensation.

And now we are back to the photo of three old men. This snapshot of Willis, Joe and Dock Newton was taken in 1972. It was given to Oscar Haas in 1975 when Willis and Joe came to New Braunfels with a film crew from Trinity University. They were capturing footage for a documentary film,”The Newton Boys: Portrait of an Outlaw Gang”. The Newton Boys were caught and sentenced in 1924, served their time and then lived their lives telling many-a-tale.

Small town Texas history is just so good.

Sources: NB Herald, Neu-Braunfelser Zeitung, NB Herald-Zeitung collections; Oscar Haas collections, “Reflections” oral history collection #7, Paul Jahn; Gangster Tour of Texas, T. Lindsay Baker, 2013.

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Once upon a time there were two large Victorian houses sitting side by side on Seguin Ave. next to the First Protestant Church. These two houses belonged to Joseph Faust and his son Walter Faust. Walter Faust’s house was right next to the church and it still stands there. Joseph Faust’s house was right next to Walter’s. That house no longer exists. Well, that’s not exactly true because it was sold and moved a little way down the street. It seems impossible that the large house could be moved, but it was.

Before we get to that almost impossible story, let’s look at the history of hotels in New Braunfels. Hotels, earlier called inns have been popular forever. A traveler getting a good night’s sleep, food, drink and good fellowship was essential to a mobile population. The first inn known in New Braunfels was that of Count Henkel von Donnersmark located across the street from the present McAdoos Restaurant. Von Donnersmark catered to those immigrants newly arrived who had money to spend and still nowhere to stay. Supposedly this inn did a big liquor business. It even became the post office.

Soon to follow were inns on the Main Plaza such as the Millett Hotel on the property where the courthouse is located. Also the Guadalupe Hotel which still stands. The Guadalupe became the Schmitz Hotel in 1855. This was the most well-known hotel because it was also the stopping place of the pony express.

Down East San Antonio St. was the Comal Hotel or Eggeling Hotel built in 1899 (Prince Solms Inn). By the time trains came to NB, passengers were picked up at the train station and taken to the hotel.

Now we get to the granddaddy of them all, the Faust Hotel. What prompted the building of this big downtown hotel was interest in attracting the early 1900s tourist. Paul Jahn with the Chamber of Commerce reported that a committee had been formed to promote the idea of a hotel. The New Braunfels Hotel Company Inc. organized and it was decided to form a stock company of local citizens.

At the first meeting of stockholders, Emil Fischer was elected president, Walter Faust, vice-president, and B.W. Nuhn, secretary-treasurer. An offer was made by the Joseph Faust Estate to place a hotel on the Joseph Faust property where his house was. It was moved off the lot and sold to the Drs. Frueholz. It is cattycornered to the church where it still stands. The story of that move can be found in the Sophienburg.com column on 11-30-2010. The Walter Faust house was eventually purchased by the First Protestant Church.

Although primarily an agricultural community, because of the rivers, New Braunfels was also tourist town. With the coming of the railroad, the town was becoming more well known. After a severe drought in the early 1920s, the community recovered and saw a need for hotels. Salesmen called drummers were flocking to town to sell their goods. They not only needed a room to stay in, but also a temporary room to set up their products. This practice was very important to the mercantile business. The New Braunfels Hotel Company would build a hotel called the Travelers Hotel.

My husband, Glyn, grew up living in the Goff Hotel in Kenedy and remembers the salesmen that stopped at the only hotel between San Antonio and Corpus Christi. The 65 room hotel was owned by his grandparents, P.R. and Ida Goff. Stories about this hotel are very similar to the stories of the Faust and they were both built about the same time.

Bids for the four-story Travelers Hotel were requested and the total was to be $120,000 for the building only. Architect was Harvey P. Smith of San Antonio and contractor was Walter Sippel.

After completion in 1929, the hotel was leased to Nagel & Wuest of San Antonio for 15 years. About the time of opening, Nagel & Wuest who agreed to pay for some of the furnishings could not pay for what they had agreed. Since several conventions were already scheduled, First National Bank of New Braunfels agreed to pay the suppliers until they would be reimbursed. That never happened. A grand opening celebration was held Oct. 12, 1929 in spite of the trouble. It was quite an affair with over 2,000 people attending. Who didn’t show was the governor, Dan Moody, even after sending in his RSVP accepting.

A few years after opening, the hotel was turned back to the Hotel Company ending the contract with the Nagel and Wuest. They released the building with all bills pending. The Board turned down future lease offers because they wanted to sell the building.

Upon the death of Walter Faust, Hanno Faust was elected president of the company and he was given full power to operate the hotel in 1933. The hotel was renamed the Faust Hotel after the Faust family. Milton Dietz was the executor of the will of Walter Faust. In 1946, Dietz became president of the company and also became general manager of the Faust Hotel. In 1947, the hotel was purchased by local businessman Arlon Krueger who retained ownership until 1977. Hotel businesses everywhere were being replaced by motels that were more accessible and less expensive. By this time the grand old building was showing its age. The exterior had blackened, windows had broken, squirrels had moved in, and water had damaged the inside.

In 1977, Jackson and Houser purchased the building out of an interest in old hotels. They began the restoration process. Over time with several owners and several restorations, the once-beautiful hotel returned. Eight years ago, the hotel was sold to Vance and Priscilla Hinton.

The outdoor patio had been closed and now houses the Faust Brewing Co. while maintaining the 1920s atmosphere. Brewmaster Ray Mitteldorf who had extensive experience with several other breweries was hired to brew the beer. Making beer takes time and everything brewed in the Faust has to be sold there and can’t be sold at another outlet. This will be taken care of soon, as the Faust is opening the Faust Brewing Company on the corner of Butcher and Castell. Bottled beer and kegs will be manufactured and sold. An outdoor beergarten is planned to open in the future. The owners and brewmaster knew that something had to be done to manufacture more of their popular beer.

The historic Faust Hotel with its brewery and “brew-pub” food with a “German flair” will continue to be open to the public and “what’s old is new and what’s new is old,” so the saying goes. Look for details of the opening of their additional location.

The Faust Hotel is on the National Register of Historic Places, is a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, and is a New Braunfels Historic Landmark.

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Ranch Road 32 West is worth a drive into a scenic part of Comal County. From New Braunfels, drive out FM 306, right on Purgatory Road, then left at RR 32 over a section called Devil’s Backbone. Probably named for the spine of the devil, it winds and winds and you are sure to get car-sick if you are prone to such an affliction.

At the intersection of RR32 and FM484 you come to a settlement called Fischer. Just to tell you how long this settlement has been there, the area (Hermann Fischer Ranch) received the Texas Department of Agriculture Family Land Heritage 150 year designation in 2004, which is given for continuous agricultural operation in the same family beginning at 100 years.

Hermann Fischer and his wife Anna were the first to settle in the valley on 160 acres where they built the first log cabin in the area. They came to Texas in 1846. Otto Fischer bought land next to Hermann’s, and both brothers were in the cattle business. Otto married Adolfina Schlameus. Other Germans that settled in the area were– Schlameus, Spangenberg, Linnartz, Luehlfing, Sachtleben, Pantermuehl, Kaderli, Haas, Schubert, Wersterfer, Krause and Wiechman. With this many families in the valley, Hermann decided to build a store in 1866 at one end of his log cabin. The store became the center of the community. With a large assortment of merchandise, Hermann soon expanded the store to three buildings selling groceries, farm machinery and household goods.

When the settlement received a post office named Fischer’s Store in 1876, it became well known over Texas. Then the name changed to Fischer Store and then in 1950 to Fischer.

A dance hall, bowling alley, school, blacksmith shop, cotton gin, gristmill, rodeo grounds, grist mill and last, but certainly not least, a cemetery was added.

Not far from the settlement on Ranch Road 32 is a large cemetery that has the earmarks of a caring group of people. This cemetery already is an HISTORIC TEXAS CEMETERY. Many Fischers are buried in that cemetery. Of the almost 500 graves there are other prominent family names.

In 1886 Otto Fischer gave 30 acres of his land to the Fischer’s Store Community for the purpose of building a school for their children. It was on the highest point of this land that the cemetery informally got started. It was appropriately called Fischer’s School Graveyard at Fischer’s Store. The Fischer Cemetery Association was later organized in 1976.

The first burial was the infant son of Monroe and Nettie Smith, nearby landowners and also the cemetery caretaker. Besides family members interred, there are also 21 graves of people whose remains were moved from the area that would become covered by Canyon Lake. Throughout the years, four graves were also moved from the Pantermuehl Ranch and single graves from Dripping Springs, Pleasant Valley, Schlameus Ranch and Suche Ranch.

So what happened to the rest of the 30 acres that was to be used for education? A school was built on this property and still stands. It is now the Fischer Community Center. All the one-room county school houses were consolidated under the Comal County Rural School which led to the current Comal Independent School District. Under this consolidation, the district claimed ownership of the land given by Otto Fischer. In 1976 the CISD transferred 3.851 acres of the original 30 acres to the Fischer Cemetery Association. The association divided the land into 1170 burial plots.

Leaving the cemetery, turn right on RR32 which leads you into the Fischer settlement. Located in the old Fischer Store is the Fischer Store Museum. There is so much history in that museum and so many genuine old things that tell the history of the Fischer community. One relict of interest to me was the old telephone booth that was located inside the store. It is beautifully constructed of wood. Inside the booth was a phone and at one time there were 16 parties on this one line. I even remember when there were two party lines in the city of New Braunfels. But 16?

The old cotton gin ledgers are there and their liquor license #84. The shelving and tables are all authentic to the store. Another interesting relic was a large cabbage slicer. Guess what that was used for. Right. It was used to make sauerkraut. Many people that live in the country still make sauerkraut.

Just down the road from the museum is the old dance hall. Private dances and receptions are still held and a public dance once a year. Next to the dance hall is the bowling alley where, to this day, nine pin bowling takes place.

Did you know that Fischer Store had a polo team? In the museum are homemade mallets made of a type of bamboo and wood. The open grass field measuring 300 feet long and 160 yards wide is still there across from the dance hall. The game was played with four players. One game lasted six chukkers or periods of 7 ½ minutes each. Cecil Smith who died in 1999 is given credit for starting the polo team at Fischer Store. Smith bought horses from the ranchers and trained them to be polo ponies. Polo ponies cannot be used as ranch horses once they are trained to be polo ponies. These trained ponies were temperamental and had a mind of their own. Part of the sport was the pony trying to throw off the rider.

The Comal County Fair will be this next week, Sept 24 to 28. There won’t be a polo game, but there once was. Back in 1932, the fair was reeling from the Depression, trying to stay afloat. They asked for local talent and the Fischer Store polo team challenged the New Braunfels team. The Fischer Store team was made up of Bill Fischer, Raymond Fischer, J.W. Bode, Bubie Vollmering, Reagan Calhoun and —Pape. The New Braunfels team was E.A. Maier, Hilmar Staats, Clifford Startz, Tommie Specht, Dickie Tausch, Roy Meredith, R.R. Coreth, Jackie Bergfeld, and Herbert Marion.

Between chukkers, a burlesque polo team from New Braunfels put on a comedy act. That team was made up of Ernst Stein, Charles Scruggs, Paul Jahn, Pete Nuhn, Coach Rode, “Red” Babel, Barney Koepp, Dr. Rennie Wright and Jack Eiband. What a sight that must have been!

Even without a polo game, see you at the Fair!

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