Cultural traditions around the world are alike in many ways. In other words, a common thread links us together as human beings. Take for example, the German tradition of the Kaffeeklatsch compared to the English tradition of Afternoon Tea. Although these traditions share a common purpose, they are vastly different in practice.

Broken down, the word Kaffeeklatsch means “coffee gossip”. The meaning of the word will tell you a lot about what goes on at this event. Naturally, coffee is served and “klatsch” means to gossip. The Kaffeeklatsch was a women’s activity. Now, that is assuming that only women gossip. I know that’s not true because women get lots of information from men.

The klatschen group, meeting in the afternoon, usually consisted of four to twelve women who had something in common, like family, interests, etc. The two groups that I remember as a child were both family groups, my mother’s Roessing relatives and my paternal grandmother’s Rose relatives. As a child, I didn’t have much to contribute but I learned a lot. This is where I picked up a lot of German. My mother’s family spoke mostly English, but my grandmother’s group spoke mostly German. Both groups would switch into German when they were saying something that they didn’t want the children to understand.

The best dishes were used. You honored your guests with the best that you had to offer – no paper products, fresh flowers picked from the yard and cloth tablecloths and napkins.

The food at the Kaffeeklatsch consisted of sandwiches of kochkäse, cucumber on crème cheese, sardine spread and the traditional open-faced sandwich with butter and thinly sliced venison sausage. In the early days, water cress gathered from the Comal and Guadalupe Rivers was spread on white bread and crème cheese. During WWII, Spam salad sandwiches made their appearance for the first time. There was always one special cake and cookies on the side. The old NB cookbooks are full of special cakes that every woman knew how to bake but that took a long time. My favorites were the Blitzkuchen (lightning cake because it did look a little like lightning struck it), the Potato Cake, (a chocolate cake with a whole cup of mashed potatoes), Sauerkraut Cake with a full cup of sauerkraut. The cookies and candies were loaded with pecans because they were so prevalent.

The English tradition of afternoon tea, on the other hand, was much more formal. Recently I had Afternoon Tea at the Fairmont Empress Hotel in Victoria, British Columbia. Compare their menu with the Kaffeeklatsch menu:

Smoked salmon pinwheel sandwiches, Cucumber sandwiches with saffron loaf, Free range egg salad sandwiches in a croissant, Cognak Park Pate’ on sundried potato bread; then, Lemon curd tartlets, Chocolate tartlets, Rose Petal shortbread, Parisian macaroons, and their specialty–Scones with butter, clotted cream and raspberry preserves.

A delightful little book about tea by Muriel Moffat tells that at the Empress Hotel the drinking of tea, whether hot or cold, began more than 5,000 years ago in China. According to Moffat, the Chinese Emperor Sheen Nun in 2737 discovered tea by accident. The legend goes that Sheen Nun was resting in his garden sipping boiled water. A few dried leaves fell from a tree into the cauldron of water. The result was a delicate aroma and a change in the water color to brown. He tasted it and found it pleasant so he told his servants to cultivate the plant called “Camellia Sinensis” and tea was born.

The tea culture spread throughout China and for many centuries the purpose of tea was medicinal and spiritual. Legend says that the English started drinking tea in 1650 when King Charles II’s queen brought her tea habit with her from Portugal. Before tea was introduced, the British ate two meals a day – breakfast and dinner. The royals found that another meal was needed between the two meals.

In 1840 Ann Marie, the 7th Duchess of Bedford, after experiencing a sinking feeling late in the afternoon, began Afternoon Tea. Inviting her friends over, at about 4:00 o’clock, they were served small cakes, sandwiches and sweets and of course, Tea.

Afternoon Tea was a social event enjoyed by ladies who wanted to be seen at the right place at the right time and with the right company. That was not the case with the Kaffeeklatsch. This group was not interested in being seen by anyone else and the right place was in the home.

You have probably heard of “High Tea”, but have you heard of “Low Tea”? High Tea was served at the dining table or kitchen table and was less a social event but more of a meal for the manual laborer and farmer. Served at 7 or 8 p.m., it consisted of meat, cheese, thick sandwiches, coddled eggs, scones and pies, and was the main meal of the day. “Low Tea” on the other hand was generally served from a low table in the parlor and was more of a social gathering. Low Tea eventually evolved into Afternoon Tea.

The Sophienburg is working on an exhibit of Grimm Fairy Tales and one of the tales is “One Eye, Two Eyes, Three Eyes”. The story has to do with tables of food and the exhibit shows this with its collection of miniature tables set with tea sets. Although this particular story is not directly about Kaffeeklatsch and Afternoon Tea, there is a social connection to food. Look for this big exhibit in September.

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By Keva Hoffmann Boardman —

With the Comal County Fair over and done, we look forward to the other fall community events. Dia de los Muertos comes next and will be followed by the granddaddy of them all, Wurstfest!

For me, a first founder descendant, Wurstfest is my favorite. It is much more than beer and sausage. It’s the time families and friends, old and new, gather to have Gemütlichkeit. Translated loosely, that means a time of warmth, friendliness and good cheer amongst people. Wurstfest is also a time we get to dance to the music and songs that have always been a special part of our lives.

The polka music that our grandparents taught us to dance to at weddings and dances have a nearly 200-year-old history. Mystery surrounds the true beginnings of the polka. Some say the name comes from the Bohemian word pulka, which is the half-step dance movement one uses. Others claim that the dance was invented by a young Polish servant girl and named “polka” in reference to the word for Polish woman.

History only knows that around 1830, in villages around Prague, the polka rhythm and steps were noticed and became a sensation in Prague itself. The upbeat tempo, catchy tunes and often humorous lyrics then took Paris by storm in the 1840s. Well, all of that and the added bonus that a man could hold his lady friend deliciously close when spinning her around the dance floor. The polka was a far cry from the formal and staid minuets, quadrilles and waltzes of the 19th century.

The major emigration of Europeans in the 1840s brought the sound, beat and steps of the polka to North America. Texas, with its high concentration of Germans, Czechs and Poles, became a hotbed and haven of the polka. As Germanic immigrants settled throughout east and central Texas, they tended to band together for their common good. They formed vereins. These associations or clubs promoted their members’ general welfare as well as preserving their culture. Music — and the polka — always played an integral part.

Dance halls were basically mandatory in these communities and bands were readily available since there were many men who knew how to play at least one instrument. Stringed and brass instruments came with the immigrants. Woodwinds like flutes, clarinets and saxophones were also prevalent. But the most distinctive instrument was the accordion.

The accordion is a wind instrument comprised of two reed organs connected by folding bellows. Sound is made by expanding and compressing the bellows forcing air through the reed organs. A keyboard of keys or buttons is used to play the melody.

The earliest accordion was invented by Friedrich Buschmann of Berlin, Germany in 1822; Buschmann called his instrument the Handäoline. In 1828, Armenian organ and piano maker Cyrill Demian created the Akkerdeon and chose that name based on the German word Akkord, which means chord.

The Germans, Czechs and Poles loved their accordions and the polka, and the music was heard often. In a wonderful turn of events, Texas-born Tejanos in the San Antonio area took the accordion, the polka sound and dance steps they heard and saw and invented the unique musical genre of conjunto. Conjunto blended the sound and rhythms from both German and Hispanic communities and remains popular in Texas music today.

The same beat, similar dance steps and the all-important sound of the accordion still echos in dance halls and street festivals. Even if you are new to the polka or conjunto sound, I guarantee that if you listen to the beat your foot will start tapping. If you listen closely to the words, you will often find yourself giggling. If you really listen to the music, I’m going to bet that you will get off your chair, grab yourself a partner and dance deliciously close in circles around and around the dance floor.

Sources: PBS Western Reserve: The History of Polka: From Europe to Northeast Ohio; Appalachian Freunde Polka Band; Handbook of Texas.

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

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By Keva Hoffmann Boardman —

Ah … the Christ­mas hol­i­days are near­ing their end and I am feel­ing the peace and joy of the sea­son. I am sit­ting back and rem­i­nisc­ing Christ­mases past. I tell my­self that I should write some of this down; or maybe some­day I will be recorded for all to re­mem­ber!

The Re­flec­tions Oral His­tory pro­gram of the So­phien­burg Mu­seum cap­tures such mem­o­ries and sto­ries of the lives of peo­ple who have lived in New Braun­fels and Co­mal County. Many sub­jects have been cov­ered that re­flect events and mo­ments of the late 19th and 20th cen­turies.

And we con­tinue to col­lect and record the sto­ries to­day.

Thumb­ing through the oral his­tory in­dex, I found a record­ing from 1980 by Erna Hei­de­meyer Ro­hde (1896-1993) and Emma Roth Wille (1895-1986). Their tales of early 20th cen­tury hol­i­day mem­o­ries re­flect a pre­cious, slower time full of close-knit fam­i­lies and time-hon­ored tra­di­tions. You can lis­ten to their en­tire record­ing, #202, at the Mu­seum or NB Pub­lic Li­brary, but I will give you a tiny taste of what they shared. I be­gin with Erna Ro­hde:

The store I remember best and probably have the fondest memories of was the Henne Weihnachts store … a Christmas store that was a very popular place once a year when we children were allowed to go and look at the presents and the toys and so forth that they had for sale in it. It was only opened from the evening of St. Nikolaus night and closed again right after Christmas … it stayed closed until the next St. Nikolaus night. Everybody went to view the toys and try to influence Mama and Papa to buy such presents for us for Christmas.

Sister to Louis Henne, Tante Amalie Henne ordered toys from New York and set up the Christmas store in the building next to Henne’s across the alley. She would cover the store windows so that no one saw the dolls, stuffed horses, wagons, marbles and other lovely, desired playthings until the St. Nikolaus’ Eve grand opening. In the photo, you can see that some toys were then put out on the porch and sidewalk to entice customers. Erna continues her story:

There was no other place in town where you could buy Christmas presents … toys and dolls … of course it was a great anticipation for us kids to wait for that night [Dec. 5] to come, and we were fortunately living right in town just a block away from there. Our father and mother took us younger ones to the store.

We would try to get there first … sometimes stood in line with 20-30 people ahead of you. That was a lot of people at that time since our town had approximately 5000 inhabitants. As you walked in, there was a counter to the left … and above it on the walls were shelves. That is where they had their dolls, all kinds of dolls, all sizes, all prices. Each doll was in a cardboard box, and then it was stood up against the wall so that the doll would be standing up inside the box.

We would go there with our mamas and papas and look at them and wish we could have one and beg for them and so forth; and then finally when I guess the parents had decided that they ought to get together and see what they could buy for us, we kids were sent on down in the little store. We could look at the other presents and gifts, but it was really impressed upon us that we were not allowed to touch anything and we didn’t. If I child would forget, which was rare, Tante Amalie was always standing by to gently tell them to look and not touch. And then, once we wandered off into another part of the store, our parents would go over and whisper to Tante Amalie to put that particular doll or toy aside until they could get back to pick it up.

When Christmas came, and we saw the doll or toy in our pile underneath the tree, the one we had seen and hoped for in the Weihnachts store, we were very, very happy. Our gifts were never wrapped and if there was more than one child in the family, everyone had a little corner or space. We did not see the Christmas tree until the night of Christmas Eve. The door would be closed or a sheet was hung up so we couldn’t look through and see the presents and tree until Christmas Eve.

Tante Amalie never married and was always referred to as a spinster. Photos of Tante Amalie show a rather stern-looking, serious woman, not someone children would hold dear and run up and hug. But, the children were not afraid of her — they loved her and their respect for her made them behave in her store.

Mrs. Emma Wille also shared beautiful rich memories of Christmas in her family on this recording. She, too, remembered Tante Amalie’s store and Christmas Eve:

I don’t know of any other town in the area where they had a similar occasion to open a toy store right before Christmas. It was very unusual. When we knew the store was open then there was no rest until we were there. And it was St. Nikolaus night! We hung up stockings and we got fruit and cake and cookies and maybe a nickel, no presents at that time. And people would dress up and come to the door and bring us fruit and candies and things like that. It was usually older children or people.

We also got our presents on Christmas Eve, that was the style, and then we went to Midnight Mass at the church. Papa would hitch up the horse and buggy and took the whole family to church. The Protestants were there too since their church did not have services at midnight. The Catholic church was the only one that had a nativity scene at that time.

And then there was second Christmas day, the day after Christmas, 26th of December, and we would go visiting our friends. We would see what they got for Christmas and look at their Christmas tree and see if their cookies were as good as ours. We usually got cookies and ginger ale at the different houses. Ginger ale was a special holiday thing. Sometime in December, Mr. Weidner would come around. He had a soda factory, a bottling works, and he would take orders for us and bring it for the holidays. Also, oranges and apples. They came by the boxes.

I just love how Christmas was such a very special time. Its wonder, its decorations and its surprise gifts were not taken for granted back in the days when Erna and Emma were children. Imagine waiting all year for the toy store to open!

Hearing about their anticipation and happiness has warmed my heart.

Have a Happy and blessed New Year!

Sources: Reflections oral history program #202; New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung, December 18, 1980.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Verse 1)

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

(Verse 4)

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

(Verse 5)

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

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

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