Called by some, “a catastrophic failure of dreamers”, the organization of about 40 intellectuals, university fraternity members and freethinkers banded together with a common cause. They were called “Darmstadters”, or the “Society of the 40” and their plan in 1847 was to organize a communistic utopian settlement in Texas.

The group of about 40 young men organized in the town of Darmstadt, Germany. Why 40s? Because there were roughly 40 of them in the 1840s.

Why freethinkers? Because their liberal ideas were very much against the norm in the small principalities that would later become united Germany. The freethinker movement claimed to be against political and religious tyranny. The Darmstadters wanted to create a classless society with no ruler and guiding themselves by common collective consent. There would be no private property.

The organization of the Darmstadt group of the 1840s was encouraged by Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels, John O. Meusebach, and Hermann Spiess, the first three commissioner-generals of the Adelsverein. Prince Carl and Hermann Spiess made speeches at the Universities of Giessen and Heidelberg about setting up a utopian type socialistic colony (The word Utopia was coined by Sir Thomas More four hundred years ago in which he described a perfect society). Prince Carl also made speeches at the Industrial School at Darmstadt. He said Texas would be perfect for their communistic and socialistic ideas of freedom and equality; it was a young republic and susceptible to new ideas.

The young university fraternity men’s social life was made up of a fondness for sword dueling, singing, drinking grog (combination of weak beer and rum), and talking. Immediately I pictured a scene from Romberg’s musical “The Student Prince” with its well-known song “Drink, Drink, Drink”. Five men gradually emerged as leaders – Gustav Schleicher, Ferdinand von Herff, Hermann Spiess, Friedrich Schenk, and Julius Wegner. Von Herff had the potential to become a famous surgeon and Hermann Spiess, a naturalist, would become Meusebach’s successor as commissioner- general. Spiess and von Herff first met in the 1830s at the Gymnasium (high school) in Darmstadt.

Spiess had traveled through the United States for two years in 1845-46. He visited NB, then returned to Germany and met with von Herff in Darmstadt. Von Herff was part of a social circle of idealists including Alexander von Humbolt, the Grimm brothers, and poets Bettina von Arnim and Hoffman von Fallensleben.

These endless talks on the university scene led to the intellectual groundwork of the Darmstadt group and finally created the resolve to leave Germany and move to the U.S. The group lacked money, so when Spiess suggested that they join the Adelsverein, they accepted, even though most of them were against the aristocratic system. The Darmstadt probably could never have financed their project alone and, after all, the Adelsverein had free land.

There was trouble within the group from the start. Immediately von Herff took over as leader and that was the exact opposite of the idea of everyone being on equal ground.

Arrival

The Darmstadters arrived at Indian Point on July 4, 1847, and used 14 carts provided by Spiess. They walked, singing German fraternity songs along the way. Some with money bought horses. It was noted that none of them knew any English except von Herff.

When they arrived in New Braunfels they camped outside the Sophienburg (headquarters of the Adelsverein). Not to waste time before leaving for the Llano, they bought 500 acres of land two and a half miles away from NB (location later became Danville). Here they planted vegetables and grapes, built log cabins and called the area the Darmstadt Farm.

Bettina

On Sept 1, one month later, the group left for Fredericksburg. Gustav Schleicher stayed behind to run the farm in Comal County. Reaching the north bank of the Llano, they named the place Bettina after the liberal writer Bettina von Arnim, the woman who inspired the movement. There they built a large log building where all slept on camp beds and began their utopian experiment. There was no Indian problem because John Meusebach had already made a treaty with the Indians and the Comanches received medical help from von Herff. He had actually removed cataracts from the eyes of one of the Comanche chiefs. For that, the chief presented the doctor with a 14 year old captured girl from Mexico who would later become the wife of Hermann Spiess.

Failure

After less than a year, the utopian experiment was doomed to failure because it was humanly impossible to live up to its own ideals. The professionals in the group wanted to direct and order and not work. The laborers and mechanics could not see the justice in what was happening and so they did nothing. The educated men didn’t know farming, and just wanted to hunt and read classical literature. Most did not want to take orders from Herff and Spiess. Within the organization, discord arose over ownership of property.

As other utopian experiments had done, Bettina failed. By 1848, only eight people were left. In the U.S. between 1663 and 1860, one source claimed that there were 130 idealistic utopian communities attempted. Bettina was the first in Texas. And so, the Darmstadt utopia rose and fell.

What happened to the forty 40s? Some went back to Germany, some to other communities in the hill country and some came back to the Darmstadt Farm in Comal County. Many joined together with another freethinker group called the “48ers” who arrived after the 1848 Revolution in Germany. Being strongly against slavery, the Texas freethinkers joined together during the Civil War against the Confederacy. Individuals from these freethinker groups did much to further education in Texas, to further freedom for all and to advance scientific advancements for all.

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The third weekend in May I realized how hard it was to preserve historic customs. We can remodel, renovate and preserve buildings, bridges and artifacts. Even history is preserved when we write it down. But the arbitrary laws of custom are transient. In other words,” at random” customs are changeable.

Anhalt in the western area of Comal County has held on to old traditions with their Maifest and Octoberfest. Members of the Comal County Historical Commission went to Maifest and observed these old traditions first hand. The Anhalt Association is interested in getting an historical marker on their property. Preserving the history of Anhalt got a big boost when Harvey Schaefer in 2000 wrote the history using the minutes of the organization going back to when they were still written in German.

Comal County was created in 1846. The area of Anhalt in Comal County is typical of other hill country areas with rocky terrain covered with elm, mesquite, oak trees and abundant water. Farming is possible but ranching is preferable.

Way back in 1859 this area was known as Krause’s Settlement founded by Conrad Krause and sons with a store, residence and dancehall. A Post Office was established in 1879 and the settlement name changed to Anhalt, meaning “stopping place”, because that was what it was. Farmers gathered at the store to discuss their common problems, one of which was what to do about cattle rustlers that had become a big problem particularly after the Civil War. Since there was no fencing in the area, stock ran loose.

The solution to this problem was to form the Germania Farmer Verein in 1875. Thirty- five farmers met earlier at Krause’s store and decided to organize to protect their livestock by branding the letter “G” on the left shoulder of the cattle, along with the rancher’s own brand. This practice eliminated the cattle rustling problem. The all male organization leased and later purchased nearby land for their hall (across the highway from the original Krause’s Settlement). Over the years the organization built and added on to many sections of the building and in 1908 the large hall was built. It has a well-polished floor and unique arches in its architectural design.

The Spring Festival began as an annual event in May when planting was complete. Then a Fall Festival was held in October when harvesting was finished. Fairs were held to exhibit stock and vegetables, however, this practice ceased when the Comal County Fair organized in 1898.

Now let’s look at the customs that have been preserved:

The 2013 Maifest began at Anhalt Hall at noon. Food was served all day and the menu hasn’t changed much over the years. Due to a lack of refrigeration in the old days, nothing could be served that would spoil. Several men were making meat out back – potroast and sausage. Also sauerkraut and German potato salad which is served warm with no mayonnaise were served. There were two modern inventions served from cans – peas and peaches. In the old days food was served family style, but now by plate only.

Here is the real reason for the Maifest- the dance. Starting at noon the atmosphere is strictly German. An Oompah band plays German music until 4:00 o’clock at which time there is a Grand March. After that the music and crowd is strictly western. This is, after all, ranch land. Along the side of the wall western straw hats are for sale. At one time hats were not allowed on the dance floor.

Signs on the wall make it very clear as to what is acceptable on the dance floor and what is not. “No shorts, pedal pushers, blue jeans allowed on the dance floor”. That custom was obviously modified because there were many clad in blue jeans, shorts and boots.

Another sign posted says: “Indecent, uncommonly dancing in the hall is strictly prohibited.” Since there was none of the above taking place, I have a feeling they mean that one. Even the Chicken Dance and Put Your Little Foot were done with utmost precision.

Couples danced polkas and waltzes in a circle around the hall. Some danced holding babies and small children twirled around the outside of the moving circle. In the old days there was an area in the corner where children were bedded down. These dances, after all, lasted way into the night and it was a long way home.

Do you remember Gerhard and Regina Adam who married on our Plaza during our Sesquicentennial in 1995? He was representing Braunfels, our sister city. He and Regina came to Anhalt with Dr. Fred Frueholz. The Adams glided across the floor. He told me later that this old time polka and waltz was no longer done in Germany except occasionally in Bavaria. So Anhalt is preserving a custom brought from Germany that is no longer preserved in Germany.

A real treat was a performance in costume by the Austin International Folk Dancers. They performed several old dances like the Ländlar, Schottish.

A tee shirt for sale read “Wo in Himmel ist Anhalt? “ (Where in heaven (?) is Anhalt? I know where it is and I’ll be back the third Sunday in October for Octoberfest.

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Do you know where the Klappenbach House is located? From Landa St., turn onto Fredericksburg Rd. and go straight until you get to a hill, Klappenbach Hill. The house on the left is the Klappenbach property. The story of the Klappenbach family is indeed interesting.

The story begins in Sorenbohm, Germany, where in the 1820’s, Johann Heinrich Voelcker was called to be an evangelical Lutheran preacher. He was married to Caroline Wilhelmine Wirth and they had four children, Friedrich, Julius, Franciska, and Eugen Voelcker. In1834 their oldest son, Friedrich, died and then two years later Rev. Voelcker died, possibly of smallpox from parishioners he was tending. The young mother was left alone with three children. She moved to Anklam, a seaport town in far North Germany near the Baltic Sea. Here she eventually married Georg Jochim Jacob Friedrich A. Klappenbach.

Klappenbach, born in 1810 in Lenzen, had studied “Legal Science” at the University of Griefswald. While there he joined a radical reform protest movement, was arrested and sentenced to six years in prison. A year passed and his sentence was commuted. Friends who were in this movement said that Georg was nicknamed “Rebell” and the group was a democratic reform group that met at a pub to drink beer and make speeches. This movement eventually led to the later revolution of 1848 in Germany.

After his arrest, Georg moved to Anklam. He took several municipal jobs. Apparently the political situation was in chaos because the mayor’s position was perpetually vacant. Klappenbach ran for mayor and won, but that didn’t end the discord.

Now here’s a familiar name: John O. Meusebach (as he was later called in Texas) was called on to help sort out the reforms in Anklam and a bond grew between the two men. This friendship ultimately led to Klappenbach’s coming to Texas.

In Anklam Klappenbach married the widow Voelcker, and together they produced a child, Rosa, born in 1840 who died in 1842. Another child, Bruno, was born in 1845.

The Klappenbachs were familiar with the fact that Meusebach emigrated to Texas and Julius Voelcker, Caroline’s oldest living son, emigrated first. Meanwhile the Adelsverein contacted Georg offering him free passage and land in New Braunfels if he would come as an assistant to John Meusebach. He accepted the offer in 1846 and the family pulled up stakes and moved to Texas.

Although Klappenbach received the traditional half acre lot in town (on the corner of Seguin Ave. and Garden St.) he also claimed 50 more acres. This property was bounded by Landa St., which was then called County Road, up Fredericksburg Rd., adjacent to the Balcones Escarpment, and down Parkview Blvd.

On this property in 1846 the Klappenbachs buried Caroline’s child, Franciska Voelcker, 22 years of age. Dr. Ferdinand Roemer describes the funeral in this manner: “According to a North American custom in the rural districts, all people in the funeral procession were mounted (on horses) which appeared unusual ….” The burial was on the property of the stepfather, beside the springs of the Comal, in view of the river and shaded by forest trees.

Stepson Eugen Voelcker constructed the dog-trot style homestead for the Klappenbachs near the springs. He had been trained in carpentry and home building in Anklam. Three feet thick walls of native fieldstone rubble with mortar made of caliche and straw were then covered with stucco. The roof is supported by two unjointed cypress beams the length of the house. The floors are cedar.

Klappenbach farmed and ranched on this property. He used the “GK” brand. He didn’t give up his interest in politics, being elected mayor in 1851 and then on the school board of the NB Academy. He was elected chief justice of Comal County in 1861.

Carl and Augusta Buehler bought the property from Klappenbach in 1881. It was Buehler that terraced the property next to the hill below the house. Buehler was known for his horticulture and the soil was so rich, and the area so perfect for growing fruits and vegetables, that even today many plants spring forth on their own – herbs such as horehound and mustang grapevines.

The most unusual trees are the anaqua trees. They are an old variety that grow close to water (aqua is water). There are many in Landa Park. About this time of year these trees are covered with tiny fragrant flowers that soon turn into berries. Indians concocted a dried food call pemmican. The berries of the anaqua were mixed with dried venison and made into paste for easy carriage.

Buehler’s grandson, Edward Penshorn, took ownership of the farm and then Melvin and Juanita Johnson bought it in the 1930’s. Finally the present owners, Tim and Elisabet Barker, bought the remaining 3 1/2 acres in 1984. Barker is a Master Gardener who grows magnificent flowers on the five terraces. Two small historic buildings have been moved on to the property blending in with the historic dog-trot house still in existence.

Much of the information for this article column has been collected from the Sophienburg Archives. There is a collection of about 450 family books, one of which is “Fink, Voelcker, and Klappenbach Families” by Albert Henry Fink. These family books are a real plus for researchers!

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When I think of Botanists in New Braunfels, I immediately think of Ferdinand Lindheimer. Lindheimer was given property on the Comal for his botanical garden. No doubt his accomplishments were many, but there were others in the field who contributed much to the beauty of our town. One in particular helped make NB the “garden spot” of Texas and that was Otto Martin Locke, Jr. He was a third generation New Braunfelser and a third generation horticulturist. He died in 1994 so some of you may remember him.

Here’s his family story:

Johann Joseph Locke, hailing from Prussia, arrived in NB in 1852 and in four years bought two 10- acre plots of land on the Comal Creek, what is now Town Creek and running to the Landa Street area. It eventually also covered the area from the RR tracks to the hill. Seeing a need for ornamental trees, as well as fruit-bearing trees, he put his knowledge of horticulture to use and began the first nursery in New Braunfels.

For 30 years the business thrived and then was taken over by Johann’s oldest son, Otto Martin Locke, Sr., who named the nursery “Comal Springs Nursery”. He was responsible for developing and producing fruit and pecan trees, vegetables and ornamental shrubs. Large orders were shipped by train. One order of 50,000 peach trees was sent to Mexico.

Many pecan trees around town were grown and grafted by Locke. I grew up knowing that the 10 pecan trees in our yard, the soft-shelled Daisey Pecan, were developed by Locke.

In 1906 Locke planted 50 to 60 thousand roses and developed the Bonita Arbor Vitae, which is a variety of evergreens. Other plants developed by him were Heidemeyer apple, Strington apple, Ferguson fig, Comal cling peaches, Dixie peach, November peach, Daisey pecan, Fall City tomato, Germania rose, Locke’s pride pear, Perfection pear, Old-favorite pomegranate, McCarthy plum, and Guadalupe dewberry. Locke was granted the first state permit for irrigating using state waters (Comal Creek).

The Otto Lockes trained their four boys in the nursery business in NB, Poteet, and San Antonio. The boys were Emil, Herman, Walter and Otto, Jr. It was this youngest boy who made the biggest impact on the whole town of New Braunfels.

Otto Martin Locke, Jr. and his wife, Etelka Rose Locke, acquired property between W. San Antonio St. and Hwy 81 S. in 1928, after the death of his father. They began the Otto Martin Locke Nursery that they operated until Otto’s death in 1994. At the time that Otto and Etelka moved to their new property, Herman and Thekla Locke and their son Howard, formed the Locke Nursery and Floral on part of the old property in the area of present streets: Lockner (Locke Nursery),Howard (Howard Locke),and Floral (obvious).

When Otto and Etelka Locke bought the property on W. San Antonio, it was a cotton field. Etelka was famous for her gardens, once planting 5,000 tulip bulbs in the 1940’s. (For pictures of theses tulips, log on to Sophienburg.com and click on column). She planted the garden around the Lindheimer House on Comal Ave. and the McKenna Memorial Hospital. Otto planted a chestnut oak for the Arbor Day ceremony at the Landa Park office. They used no pesticides on their ten acres, using only chameleons, lizards and snakes to eat the bugs.

Otto Locke’s love of animals as a child grew into a business. He became famous nationally and internationally as a major importer and exporter of exotic native animals and birds for zoos around the world. Inquiries came for birds, snakes, and armadillos. He traded his stock for monkeys, exotic snakes, lion cubs, alligators, crocodiles and even kangaroos. Animals were shipped to many countries and continents- England, Mexico, Germany, Singapore, Australia, Africa, Calcutta, and India. He supplied many snakes for Hollywood. Locke Nursery provided the closest thing to a zoo that New Braunfels had, for these animals were all on display. Children’s trips to the nursery were a real treat.

Looking toward the old nursery from I.H. 35 S., you see the remnants of the old sign, “Locke Nursery”, and thousands of overgrown trees, helping us remember a thriving business for 138 years. But…

“We’ll never smile at a crocodile again”.

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By Tara V. Kohlenberg —

I often think about living in New Braunfels and how fortunate we are to have wonderful century-old buildings everywhere. I don’t necessarily think about that when I am trying to dodge tourists crossing the streets of downtown or hurrying to be on time to some destination, but I do think about it. I love how the downtown buildings have evolved over time and taken in new businesses. A recent visit to Myron’s Steakhouse on North Castell Avenue reminded me of visits to the same building many years before, piquing my curiosity about its history and how my memories match up.

The sleek stucco building was built in 1924. The Palace Theatre, owned by A.J. Loehman and John H. Stahl, was one of several movie and entertainment houses in New Braunfels. The partnership dissolved by October of 1925, but Stahl continued to run the theatre for a few more years. By June of 1932, the building was sold to R.B. Gode to satisfy debts. Clearly, I was not around in 1924, but we need to back up even further to pick up the details of what came after the theatre.

Just before the turn of the century, a young girl named Milda Richter moved to New Braunfels with her mother. Money was scarce, so the girl began doing housework for the Gruene family at a very young age. She later worked for a restaurant in town. In 1912, Milda met and married a young man and they set about their life’s journey.

There was an establishment at that time, on the corner of San Antonio Street and North Castell Avenue (where Callahan’s stands now), that sold wine, liquor and cigars, otherwise known as a saloon. If patrons wanted food, they were directed through the saloon to a restaurant connected in the back. There was also a door facing Castell Avenue. The young couple bought said restaurant from Mr. Edmund Runge, the owner, for $175.

The couple opened their new business under the name Fritz Bloedorn’s Restaurant. It was hard work. Everything was cooked on a wood-burning stove. No gas or electric ovens. No microwaves. Plus, they had two children to care for. Fritz soon left. When they divorced in 1921, Milda retained the restaurant. Milda lived above the restaurant, raised her children and ran the restaurant by herself. Milda was friendly, outgoing, and compassionate in caring for her customers. She earned the name “Ma” from Walter Faust, Sr. and the name stuck. She built a great reputation; she built a great business; and she survived the Great Depression.

By the end of 1932, Milda had a terrific opportunity to rent the much larger space right next door in the former Palace Theatre. The building renovations allowed enough space for the restaurant and one other tenant, the Central Meat Market, owned by A.G Startz and Erwin Startz. Bloedorn Café opened in the renovated Palace Theatre building on February 1, 1933. It eventually became known as just “Ma’s Café”.

Restaurants in New Braunfels were a little different than today. There were a lot of people who lived in a boarding situation. In other words, they rented a room with no kitchen, so they had to take their meals at a café. Every meal. Ma cooked breakfast, lunch and dinner. There was usually a special of the day with limited choices. Many of the patrons ate there several times a day.

Ma was an innovative cook. She bought fresh vegetables from farmers who came to the back door. Fresh chickens were delivered on Fridays, LIVE, which then had to be plucked and butchered to cook for Sunday dinner. On one occasion, someone brought soft-shell turtles to the back door and she made turtle soup.

When Prohibition was repealed in 1934, Ma’s was one of the first restaurants in New Braunfels to get a beer license to better serve her customers. Before that, beer was only consumed in saloons.

Food was rationed during World War II. The purchase of meat, sugar, coffee, and butter required ration stamps. Restaurants were required to take their menus and the sales book for the month in order to obtain food stamps for the coming month. Ma survived many hardships — single motherhood, the Great Depression, and World War II — and yet was very generous with others. She never turned away a hobo, but she would give them something to do to earn their food. Ma was known to open the café to boarders on Christmas Eve. On New Year’s Eve, she would start her day early in the morning, preparing the day’s meals as usual, before hosting a huge New Year’s Eve dinner and after-dance meals. There were a lot of people that even showed up during intermission from a nearby dance for a bite to eat. Then she would start all over again at 5 a.m.

Milda’s children Arthur and Erna helped their mother a lot. She operated the café for 47 years until her death in 1961. Her son, Arthur, and his wife, Louise, ran it for 19 more years. People are more likely to know Arthur by “Schimmel”, which in German means “white horse.” He was given the nickname because as a child he had very white blond hair. I remember Schimmel as a gregarious man who served the biggest, best hamburgers ever.

It was during Schimmel’s time at the helm that a group of men began meeting after work to discuss the affairs, events and politics of the day. This group was composed of local bankers, businessmen, doctors, dentists, lawyers, and salesmen. Their camaraderie developed into a Stammtisch table. For those who do not actually know what a Stammtisch is (even though you might see the word as a heading above the events in the Herald-Zeitung) it is a “regulars’ table”. Twenty-six men routinely met at Ma’s to enjoy discussion and a round or two of adult beverages. Besides meeting regularly, the group took a page out of Ma Bloedorn’s playbook and sponsored a yearly feast for the people who worked downtown. Ma’s generous soul fed the community for many years from downtown New Braunfels.

Sources: Sophienburg Museum and Archives; Dennis Schwab.

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By Tara V. Kohlenberg —

Part I of the history of 650 and 666 South Seguin Avenue properties was a story of immigrants who worked hard and expanded their family holdings. Now, on to Part II.

Ysmael Zamora Isasi and Otila Martinez, fled the atrocities of the Mexican Revolution with their children to become permanent residents of the United States. Shortly after they crossed the Texas border, their daughter, Olivia Zamora, was born in Laredo, Texas in May of 1913. The Zamoras learned that a Mr. Dittlinger was hiring men for his lime quarry just outside of New Braunfels. The work was hard but the jobs came with free housing. While Ysmael worked in the quarry, Otila helped earn money by cooking for the workers. She also found a cheap source for boots and clothes to sell to the workers. Eventually the Zamoras put enough money aside to build their own grocery store in New Braunfels. Their daughter, Olivia, grew up helping her parents at Zamora Grocery, located at 197 North Hackberry Street where their living quarters were attached to the store.

About 1930, at age seventeen, Olivia met and married Felix Garza Sanchez. The twenty-year-old Felix was born in Rio Verde (Lampazos, Nuevo Leon, Mexico) to Felix Garza Flores and Maria de la Paz Sánchez Mendiola. Felix was a man of slim build, fair skin with an incredible work ethic and great ambition. The newlyweds lived in a little house on Market Street close to downtown New Braunfels. Felix worked for Comal Dairy. Olivia stayed home to care for their children, Ysmael (Mike), Carlos and Maria de la Paz (Mary). They later rented a house at 635 South Seguin Avenue.

Olivia’s brothers, Raul and Manuel, had learned from their parents’ grocery business and began their own produce truck business. Young Felix went into business for himself when he was given his first produce truck by Olivia’s uncle Antonio. He would purchase produce wholesale in San Antonio and sell it door to door to wealthy and middle-class customers in New Braunfels.

One day Olivia asked Felix to leave a bushel of fruit and a bushel of vegetables outside their home so she could sell it to passersby. She saved $500 in the middle of the Great Depression selling produce from her front yard. Millions of people were out of work during the Depression, but she was saving money. That’s dedication! They began Valley Fruit Stand at 635 South Seguin in 1933. Business grew and in 1939 they expanded, moving the store across the street to 666 South Seguin Avenue. They paid an out of work carpenter, Mr. Vicente Villareal, to expand the store in 1940.

The store name was later changed to Valley Fruit Store. The store was tiny but full service with a dairy case, many shelf items and a meat market. There were previously no Hispanic-owned businesses on that street. It is believed that the store underwent more than one expansion at that site. As a point of interest, the ‘666’ street number was eventually changed to 664 after more than 60 years because later renters of the building were superstitious about the number 666.

The house behind the store was built in 1940, and sometime later two bedrooms were added. They bought the land from Otto and Emma Bodeman for $400. The house had a front yard, a large back yard, and a long gravel driveway to one side that reached Castell Street behind the property. Daughter Alicia was born in 1943. Felix Junior was born in 1947 and died in 1948. Otila, the youngest, was born in 1949. They later bought the big house next door at 650 South Seguin Street on October 16, 1950, from Oliver Sands for $8,000. The monthly mortgage was $63.29. The house was remodeled, as it had been boarded up by Mr. Sands for two years after the death of his wife.

Felix was an active member of the New Braunfels LULAC- League of United Latin American Citizens. In 1943, he registered his children, Ismael, Carlos and Mary at Carl Schurz Elementary School. Only two other Hispanic families registered their kids at Carl Schurz that year. It was the first year that Hispanic kids were integrated into the public schools in New Braunfels. On the first day of school, Felix walked his children into school. There were protests, so Henry B. Gonzalez, from San Antonio, the National Guard and the New Braunfels police were present. Prior to 1943, they had to walk across town to the segregated Stephen F. Austin School in Comaltown. The African American kids attended the Booker T. Washington School, which was actually the closest school to the Garza home. The African American kids did not integrate until the 1950s.

Felix’s activism took him to neighboring towns. On September 30, 1951, he and Alberto Aragon traveled to an event in Seguin to talk about integrating the Hispanic children into the neighborhood schools. They attended the event at Starke Park with Paul Fritz, the principal of Juan Seguin Elementary School. When they left the park, Paul Fritz’s car was struck by another car killing both Mr. Fritz and Felix Garza. Alberto Aragon, the godfather of Garza’s children, suffered a broken leg. JT Morgan, 19, of LaVernia was also injured. His brother, Samuel, who was driving the oncoming car, was not injured. Felix was forty-one years old.

After Felix died, Olivia ran the store for the next ten years with son Ismael. Medical issues forced her to make big decisions. Olivia closed the store after 28 years. She was only forty-five years old. She rented out the store building and went after a new career. She earned her beauticians license and opened Be Lovely Beauty Salon in what was the master bedroom of her home at 650 South Seguin. That is how I remember that building. She worked in her beauty shop into her late sixties. During that time, Olivia also derived income by renting out her real estate. The store at 666 was occupied over the years Red Elbel Used Furniture & Appliances, Howard TV & Appliance and Hill Country Trail Antiques.

The Garza family taught by example: how to survive in hard times, how to do what is right and how to raise a strong and intelligent family. Like the earlier German immigrants, they, too, were good stewards of the properties at 650 and 666 South Seguin Avenue and an asset to New Braunfels.

Sources: Sophienburg Museum & Archives; Alicia Garza Moreno.

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Almost everywhere we go in New Braunfels, there is history hidden in plain sight. Perhaps it is something we drive by daily, but when asked about it, can’t recall where it is. Perhaps it is a building that looks like any other built within the last twenty years, except it is closer to a century old. Some things we just take for granted, like “ice”. Yes, ice, that clear, cold object floating in your tea prompting the name, “Iced tea”. Have you ever thought about how they got “ice” in South Texas? It is available from the door of most refrigerators now, but what about a 175 years ago? Ice has only been manufactured in New Braunfels for a little over a hundred years.

It is fairly easy to understand that the meals prepared by the founders of New Braunfels were probably meager by our standards. They ate what they hunted and harvested fresh from the garden because the food spoiled quickly. Meats were smoked or dried to preserve them. Vegetables and fruits were canned or made into jams to have food throughout the winter months. Up North, ice was harvested from the frozen lakes and streams during the winter and stored in ice houses. The ice was then delivered by wagon to help keep food cool in ice boxes during the summer months. Large blocks of ice were put into the top compartment to keep the foods cool below. By the 1850s, ice was being shipped to the southern U.S. by special insulated trains and boats. In 1859, French engineer Ferdinand Carré patented the first absorption refrigerator. One of his machines was shipped through the Union blockade to Mexico and eventually was moved into San Antonio, Texas. By 1867, there were three companies in San Antonio making artificial ice. By 1900, there were 766 ice plants in the U.S. with 77 in Texas. It wasn’t until 1916 that New Braunfels got its first ice plant, Citizens Ice Company, built by E. A. Clousnitzer.

Located at 262 Jahn St., Citizens Ice Company plant consisted of a mechanical refrigeration system, water cooling tower, ice pit that formed 300-pound blocks of ice and a cold storage vault. The plant originally had the capacity to produce ten tons of ice per day. A 1926 expansion increased the output capacity to thirty tons per day. The ice was delivered by horse-drawn wagon to homes in New Braunfels. The ice plant was in full operation until about 1960. It sat vacant until restored and made into a discotheque/supper club called “The Ice House” by Mike Kilgore in 1974. Since then, it has had several incarnations as a club/bar and is currently known as “Conway’s”.

Mr. Clousnitzer was quite the entrepreneur. Born in Germany in 1869, he not only built Citizens Ice Company in New Braunfels, he built a second plant in Taylor, Texas, and obtained a plant in Temple. He was very civic minded and generous to this beloved city. In 1935, he donated the Civil War Memorial “To the Memory of our Fallen Soldiers of the Civil War 1861-65”, honoring all soldiers of that war. In 1937, he donated a second war memorial, “The Spirit of the American Doughboy”, honoring the soldiers of World War I, as well as donating six palm trees which were planted along the streams of Landa Park. Both statues can be found on the plaza. You can read more about them in the Around the Sophienburg article by Myra Lee Adams Goff at https://sophienburg.wpenginepowered.com/statues-on-plaza-honor-soldiers/.

There was also another ice plant in New Braunfels, not quite as easily seen, but you probably know it. New Braunfels Brewery was established in 1918. Since brewing beer and ice for cooling went together, the New Braunfels Ice Company was begun within the same plant. Located at 441 N. Guenther St., it produced 300-pound blocks of ice. By 1922, New Braunfels Ice doubled their capacity. During prohibition, the brewery closed and the ice plant was acquired by South Texas Ice. In 1945, RK Dunbar bought the company. He eventually sold off three of the plants and kept the two located in Seguin and New Braunfels. In 1950, when the Dunbars established the New Braunfels Smokehouse restaurant, the ice portion of the business still operated under the name South Texas Ice for many years. The Seguin plant was sold off in 1974. The Smokehouse continued to make block ice until the mid-80s when they began producing the clear cubed ice that you find in your ice chest or party drinks today.

Look at that, a whole article about something as small as an ice cube. Drive around, see what you’ve missed and stay cool!

Sources:

• Sophienburg Museum & Archives
• Mike Dietert
• New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung

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Dr. Ferdinand Roemer in his book “Roemer’s Texas,” when he arrived in the village of New Braunfels in 1846, wrote that a speculative American had laid out a new city in between the fork of the Comal and the Guadalupe within view of the city of New Braunfels and it was called Comaltown. This American citizen was Daniel Murchison, a land agent for Maria Antonia Veramendi and her husband Rafael Garza. Maria Veramendi Garza was the daughter of Juan Veramendi, governor of Texas under the Mexican regime who had received this land grant.

When Prince Carl laid out the city of New Braunfels on the west bank of the Comal, the Garzas laid out their inheritance on the east side of the Comal. Although Comaltown was separated from New Braunfels by water, it was soon annexed to the city of NB.

There has been very little history written about this thriving community so David Hartmann and I have begun a research project about Comaltown. We are collecting information on people, businesses, schools, churches, recreational activities and much more. David and I have a lot in common, including sharing a common ancestor here in Comaltown, Johann Georg Moeller (1844). We both grew up in this area and attended Lamar School. But when David went to Lamar, I was teaching there. David was in my music class at Lamar and so was Angie Morales, the daughter of Charlie and Francisca Morales who owned Morales Funeral Home on Common St. The funeral home was the first business that we researched in our new project.

The Morales Funeral Home, which was located at 171 Common St., was a thriving business until it was closed. Angie Morales (Kieny) was its last director and mortician. Her parents were Charlie and Francisca Sanchez Morales. Charlie was born in 1897 in Gruene and Francisca in Laredo in 1903. Together the couple had seven children. Angie, who was born in 1945, was the youngest. The other children are Carlota, Alfonso, Virginia, Francis, Martha, and Henry.

In 1921, Charlie Morales bought the property on which the Morales Funeral Home would be located. On the property was a small Sunday House and next to that was a two-story structure which, over the years, had served as a saloon downstairs and a small hotel with rooms for rent upstairs. There was a full basement for making wine and beer. Attached to this two-story building was another one-story addition probably used as a residence for the innkeeper. The buildings were constructed in the true German fachwerk style of clay bricks and cross timber. The clay used was plentiful in the Comaltown area, as many buildings were made of this easy-to-get material.

There is no information on the early owners, however, on the 1881 bird’s-eye view map of New Braunfels, the buildings can clearly be seen. They probably date back to the mid-1800s. They were at one time considered the oldest surviving buildings in Comaltown.

When Charlie Morales purchased the property, he removed the second story of the two- story building, probably due to the fragility of the clay. Other buildings in the area were converted to one-story due to the same situation. The basement became a cellar for can goods and vegetables. The Morales family lived in the remodeled structure and the other side became a funeral home in 1922. All of the Morales children were born at home.

Before buying the funeral home property, Charlie had worked for local contractors along with Rich Moeller. David Hartmann speculates that they worked for the Moeller Brothers Contracting firm consisting of Adolph and Alvin C. Moeller. All lived in the Comaltown area and Rich Moeller was a relative of the brothers.

Charlie Morales had several brothers who owned funeral homes in San Antonio, Austin, and Houston and so the mortician occupation was not new to him. Over the years over 30 family members were involved in the funeral business.

Angie grew up helping her dad and learning from him. She graduated from New Braunfels High School in 1965 and received her mortician’s license from the Commonwealth College of Science in Houston, doing an apprenticeship at Earthman’s Funeral Homes in Houston. Then in 1969 Angie returned to her hometown, New Braunfels, to help her father who retired, but remained active in the business. She became the first female funeral director and mortician in New Braunfels. She remembers some interesting times and she remembers hard times. Many families, due to lack of money, paid Charlie by bringing eggs, chickens, and even a goat. Some could not pay but received the funeral service anyway. Charlie Morales died in 1975.

To Angie, being a full time mortician and raising a family was no easy job. She remembers driving the hearse that the family named “Nellie Belle” hauling around young children that she helped raise.

Angie Morales maintained the funeral director position until 2006 when she closed the funeral home and turned the property over to her son. The buildings were subsequently torn down to make room for condominiums.

Most of the funeral records have been retained by Angie. Her former classmate at NBHS, Estella Delgado Farias, asked to make copies of the funeral home records. Estella was the person who did the research on the West End Hall and Baseball Parks. Angie agreed and Estella said that most of the 7,000 people in the records were buried in the Our Lady of Perpetual Help and Panteon Hidalgo Cemeteries. She also related that most of the funerals were conducted by the Morales Funeral Home. Estella and her husband, Robert Farias, are now working on the information which they are entering into a database. They are also searching for missing information and eventually will make all of this information available to the public at the Sophienburg Museum and Archives.

David and I are off to a running start. Well, maybe not exactly running, but we’re getting there. If you have information and pictures of Comaltown, we would love to use them.

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Recently in the “Smithsonian” magazine, consumer sensor expert, Kevin Ashton, talked about successful innovator skills. His observation was that they possessed tenacity. “The difference between successful innovators and everyone else is that innovators keep failing until they don’t.” He also said “For most of history, creation was seen as a consequence of common people doing ordinary work.” I believe New Braunfels is full of such individuals and that Richard Gerlich was one of them.

Richard Gerlich

Richard Gerlich was born in Prussia in 1852. He grew up in Germany and married Augusta Puppe in 1875. In 1878 they came to the United States. They did not come with the first wave of immigrants with the Adelsverein, but came separately, landing in New Orleans eager to make their way to Texas. He appears on the 1880 Comal County Census list as a 28 year-old, along with his 28 year-old wife, his 26 year-old sister, Alma and his children, Emil (4) and Gertrude(2).

Richard’s occupation is listed as a carpenter and wheelwright, which is a repairer of wheels. He became a naturalized citizen in 1882. By 1883 he had purchased a two-acre lot #168 from owner Heinrich Hoeke who had originally been granted the lot from the German Emigration Company. Gerlich immediately built his house at 505 W. San Antonio St. This wooden frame house remains intact with later additions to the rear. It is this house that is now a Bed and Breakfast owned by the Conservation Society. The standing seam tin roof and windows are original. Next to this house Gerlich built his shop where he would establish a business, now the site of Wagenfuehr’s Buckhorn Barber Shop Museum.

Meanwhile the family increased adding Linda, Walter and Augusta. The oldest child, Emil died. Richard’s sister Alma, who accompanied the family to New Braunfels, set up a millinery shop on San Antonio St. (possibly where the Miller & Miller parking lot now stands). Here she taught young girls hand sewing and machine sewing skills.

Aside from his business of being a “Jack of all trades, master of ALL”, Richard busied himself with other activities. He gave swimming lessons in the Comal Creek to boys and girls. The importance of swimming skills in NB cannot be underrated. Coming from Germany, swimming was not a skill learned naturally by boys and girls as it is here. Old records of NB show that many people, especially children, drowned in the early days. New Braunfels was surrounded by water. Gerlich would separate swimming lessons for boys and girls. Family tradition says that Gerlich’s method of instruction was to tie a rope around the child’s waist, throw them in the water and pull the rope toward shore. This technique in my early days was called “sink or swim.” Whatever it’s called, it worked.

At the shop, Gerlich sold produce from the adjoining two-acre farm such as corn, all sorts of vegetables and cotton seed. He was also a wagon builder, but working with wood was his specialty. Historian Oscar Haas described a one-cylinder steam engine which powered his (Gerlich’s) jigsaw: “He had a jigsaw and did a lot of gingerbread (cutout wood for decoration) on your porch and gables… and he had to fire that engine with wood.

“He had a little mustache and smoked cigars…When he was firing the stove to produce steam, he’d forget about drawing on the cigar.” Haas said he switched to a gasoline engine and then later to electricity after 1892 when the Landa Power Company made electricity more available.

Gerlich had the ingenuity to make up patterns for the gingerbread trim and to meet the taste of the more modern world. When he pulled down his “Richard Gerlich Wheelwright” sign he replaced it with “Richard Gerlich Gunsmith”. He repaired clocks, sewing machine, bicycles, toys and just about anything that was broken. He died in 1930 and his wife died in 1933 and both are buried in the Comal Cemetery.

Walter Gerlich

Richard’s son Walter grew up in the house on San Antonio St. and worked with his father in the shop. He eventually opened his own bicycle repair and gun shop there. He was definitely mechanically inclined like his father. An opportunity arose that he could not resist; a representative of the Ford Motor Company offered him a dealership and he accepted. The offer had been made to Eiband & Fischer, but they declined because they did not want to get into the new automobile business. Gerlich did.

The Ford Company would send him the parts (probably by train) and he would assemble them into a Ford automobile. Needing more room to work in, Gerlich bought the property on which he would establish Gerlich Auto Company on the corner of Academy and San Antonio Sts. from Albert Penshorn who had a blacksmith shop there. Penshorn sold the shop to W.H. Gerlich for $24,000 in 1920. He built his building with a large basement and an elevator. Large boxes arrived with car parts and were delivered to the elevator and taken to the basement. After assembly, the finished product was put on the elevator and taken up to the show room for sale. Henne Hardware had a similar setup with elevator, only they put together wagons on the second floor and brought the finished product down. I believe it was not accidental that both these businesses were close to the railroad tracks. Large items arrived by train because there were no large delivery trucks.

Walter Gerlich had married Laura Bielstein and they had two children, Norman and Marguerite. The untimely death of Laura in 1914 left Walter with two young children.

The Gerlich home at that time was on Academy St. Six years later in 1920, Walter was married to Valeska Babel. Their daughter Madelyn was born in 1923. A new home on the corner of Seguin and Garden Sts. was built for them by my grandfather, A.C. Moeller. The ten room home was complete with basement and wine cellar. It is now the law office of Marion J. Borchers.

Walter died in October, 1933, and four months later daughter Wallie Henrietta was born, never having known her father. Valeska Gerlich became the sole owner of a thriving business. The final chapter of Gerlich Auto Company was sale of the property to Ben Krueger in 1944 and the building now belongs to Joe Keen who restored it and replaced the name Gerlich at the top.

I believe that the quality of tenacity in Richard Gerlich as he fixed the little toys, bicycles, and clocks, was passed on to his son. Walter Gerlich used this same tenacity to put together automobiles.

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