Sophienburg Museum and Archives

Women in history

April 12, 2020

By Tara V. Kohlenberg — When the Museum is quiet, like it has been for the past few weeks, I like being in the exhibit hall. In fact, my favorite thinking spot is sitting on a bench in there, just listening. In the silence, one can almost hear the sounds

The good old days?

March 20, 2016

Around the Sophienburg, Sophienblog

By Myra Lee Adams Goff How easy we ladies have life today compared to the old days in the 1850s. “You’ve come a long way, baby” is the understatement of our time. A woman’s role in society has changed dramatically due to not only modern technology but changes that occurred

The year 1898 was a news-filled year for the Neu Braunfelser Zeitung

November 1, 2015

Around the Sophienburg, Sophienblog

By Myra Lee Adams Goff In 1998, the late Dr. Robert Govier, native New Braunfelser and volunteer at the Sophienburg, translated the 1898 Neu Braunfelser Zeitung, one hundred years later. The weekly newspaper is on microfilm at the Archives and had to be translated from German script to English. Govier

First Baptist Church dedicates Bill and Gwen Arnold Ministry Center

April 19, 2015

Around the Sophienburg, Sophienblog

By Myra Lee Adams Goff Next Sunday the First Baptist Church will reach another milestone with the dedication of a Christian Life Center named the Bill and Gwen Arnold Ministry Center. The first attempt to establish a Baptist Church in New Braunfels was in 1905 when the San Marcos Baptist

Background of Bracken Bowling

November 30, 2014

Around the Sophienburg, Sophienblog

By Myra Lee Adams Goff “Rip Van Winkle” is a short story written by Washington Irving. Rip lives in a village by the Catskill Mountains. He is an easygoing, henpecked husband. One day he wanders into the mountains to go hunting and he meets and drinks with Henry Hudson’s legendary

Depression years affected everyone

August 10, 2014

Around the Sophienburg, Sophienblog

By Myra Lee Adams Goff The fall and failure of the Stock Market in 1929 was the beginning of an era in American history called the Great Depression. The statistics of this period are staggering. Almost half of the people in the United States had no jobs, homes or food.

Phoenix Saloon applies for historical designation

July 27, 2014

Around the Sophienburg, Sophienblog

By Myra Lee Adams Goff Another downtown building, the Phoenix Saloon owners Ross and Debbie Fortune, are applying for a Texas Historical Marker. The Phoenix Saloon history really does live up to the story of the Phoenix, a legendary bird that builds its own funeral pyre, throws itself into the

Many traditions different and alike

July 14, 2013

Around the Sophienburg, Sophienblog

By Myra Lee Adams Goff 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