Hidden in plain sight
By Tara Voigt Kohlenberg — 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 […]
World War I Centennial and Weihnachtsmarkt
By Tara V. Kohlenberg — At 11:00am on November 11, 1918, the fighting ended. Bells tolled around the world to mark the end of the Great War. Over 4.7 million Americans stepped up to serve in uniform between April 6, 1917, and November 11, 1918. Two million of them were deployed overseas and 116,516 of […]
Troop 133 – the oldest established troop in New Braunfels
By Tara V. Kohlenberg — The year 2018 marks 75 years of Scouting for New Braunfels Troop 133 sponsored by First Protestant Church. Seventy-five years is a significant milestone… so my story topic is born. At the beginning of any project, we tend to use the “scatter gun approach,” which is a broad search to […]
Look and Learn! Part 1
By Keva Hoffmann Boardman — Don’t know your early NB history? No excuses, people. There are many outstanding works of art and memorials you probably see every day just driving through our beautiful downtown. Pack up the kids or load up your Omie and Opie and take a mini field trip or two. Enjoy the summer […]
Depot sign returns to New Braunfels
By Keva Hoffmann Boardman – Imagine it’s 1920. You’re making your way north on Seguin Street and you can just see the roofs of Landa’s flour mill and cottonseed oil gin over the tree line. You get to the “Y’ where Landa Street and N. Seguin split and you stay right because you’re going to […]
Christmas brings peace, even in time of war
By Tara V. Kohlenberg — Quiet doesn’t happen often in the Sophienburg, so I make the most of it when I can get it. Today, the week before Christmas, I attack the pile of mail on my desk, complete with Christmas cards. One in particular strikes me as I read the beautiful simplicity of the […]
Amanty Christmas Connection
By Tara V. Kohlenberg — Museums tell the stories of our lives over and over again in detail. It becomes challenging to present annual events – like Christmas – in a new and interesting way. Our current special showing is an 18-month long exhibit of War Stories: Memories of New Braunfels in WWI, so Christmas during […]
Birds of War
Keva Hoffmann Boardman, Sophienburg Curator Whether winging their way through barrages of shells, dodging shrapnel, maneuvering through clouds of gas, or flying through torrential downpours of machine gun and anti-aircraft gun bullets, pigeons were feathered aviators that played an essential role in the Great War. Both the Greek and the Roman armies used homing pigeons […]
The history behind the Marglin name
By Myra Lee Adams Goff Recently, the Ludwig Leather Company on Seguin Avenue was purchased by Terri Moore Cocanougher, originally from New Braunfels. The new name of the company is Ludwig and Marglin. Why Marglin? Marglin is the French name for Mergele and First Founder Peter Mergele is Terri’s ancestor. Steve Moore, her father is […]
Dollhouses on display at the Sophienburg
By Myra Lee Adams Goff The Sophienburg Museum celebrates the Christmas season by presenting an exhibit of dollhouses, old toys and dolls, all reminiscent of our Christmas Past. Dollhouses appeared on the scene all over the world hundreds of years ago. In their beginning, they were not toys; they were much too expensive to allow […]
