New Braunfels Texas, Historic New Braunfels, New Braunfels Hotels. (original) (raw)
New Braunfels 1881 Birds Eye View
by August Koch, Amon Carter Museum
New Braunfels, Texas History
- The Story of our Texas' German Pilgrims: or Death March to Comal County by W. T. Block Jr.
"...Of the first German Pilgrims to Texas in 1845... only one in four survived the walk from Indianola to New Braunfels..." more - New Braunfels, Texas: Pearl of the Comal-Guadalupe Valley by W. T. Block Jr.
"Perhaps New Braunfels was to play a role in frontier Texas history only because of the reactionary conditions that existed in post-Napoleonic Europe... In the late winter of 1845, the story of the first 6,000 immigrants to land at Carlshafen, which was still a prairie, makes the first year's History of the Plymouth Pilgrims mild by comparison..." more
History in a Pecan Shell
Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels and other semi-nobles from Germany had contracted to settle the "western lands" of the New Republic of Texas. The land grants were to be between the Upper Colorado and the Llano Rivers. New Braunfels and Fredericksburg were originally meant only to be way stations.
Carl only spent a short time in the town that continues to wear his name. He returned to Europe in 1845 to marry and never returned. Meanwhile, the society that was to aid the immigrants went broke. By the time the bulk of the immigrants arrived they were stranded (in the truest sense of the word) at Indianola.
Hundreds died on the beach and many attempted to walk across a land very different from Germany. Recent arrivals infected the settled Germans with Yellow Fever and hundreds more died. About the only benefit to come from the trek was the settlement of many towns in Victoria, DeWitt and Lavaca Counties
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Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels mural TE photo |
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The mural fails to convey any sense of desperation.
Prince Carl planned on governing "his" town from the high ground where the Sophienburg Museum is today (401 Coll Street).
Arriving about the time Texas was annexed to the U.S., the Germans found themselves in a land at war with neighboring Mexico. Between the Mexican War and the Civil War New Braunfels was the 4th largest city in Texas. They managed to avoid participating in the war with Mexico, but weren't so lucky when the Civil War broke out a few years later.
New Braunfels grew steadily. A period of prosperity in the late 1800s built the courthouse and many elaborate Victorian homes and buildings
TheInternational and Great Northern Railroad came to town, followed by the Missouri, Kansas City and Texas. Railroad spurs laid to Landa Park began New Braunfel's tourism industry with excursion trains from towns as far away as Taylor and Elgin.
The New Braunfels Square
The Comal County Courthouse ›
An 1898 design by J. Reily Gordon. It is nearly identical to Gordon's Lee County Courthouse (1897) in Giddings. The New Braunfels Square
An unusual design, but practical. Traffic circles are terrors to those unaccustomed to them, but the corners provide a safe harbor. Reaching the fountain in the center of the island gives one a feeling of accomplishment for having reached it in one piece - the pedestrian can then rest while they consider a plan for re-crossing.
The two statues - one Confederate and one "Doughboy" were donated years apart - but both were donated by Mr. and Mrs. E.A. Clousnitzer.
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| Confederate soldier and courthouse TE photo | The Doughboy Statue (dedicated November 11, 1937) TE photo |
There is also a beautiful fountain and a Friendship Tree - symbolizing some sort of bond between New Braunfels and "Old" Braunfels - back in Germany.
New Braunfels, Texas
Landmarks/Attractions
| A mural just off the square shows landscapes, flora, fauna and indigenous peoples of the region. There's also an 20-foot image of Ferdinand Jakob Lindheimer - the botanist who spent a good part of his life classifying Texas flora. TE Photo |  |
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| The Lindheimer Home (c. 1852) is included on the city's driving tour. Many of the plants named by Lindheimer are growing today on the grounds of his former property. 491 Comal St. Admission. TE Photo |  |
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- The Children's Museum - 386 W. San Antonio. Admissions
- Clear Springs Aviaries and Zoological Gardens -
35-acre park home to over 200 species of exotic birds and animals, 2000 species of exotic plants. I-35 South, Exit 182. 830-606-6029. Admission. - Conservation Plaza - Showcasing preserved buildings owned by the New Braunfels Conservation Society. 1300 Church Hill Dr. Admission
- Dry Comal Creek Vineyards - 6 miles West of New Braunfels. On Hervelin Road off Hwy 46 West. 830-885-4121
- Gruene Historic Distict - In the New Braunfels City Limits
A village established by German immigrants before 1850. Today a popular tourists destination. Includes old homes, stores, galleries, beer hall, and inns. Designated a Historic Town by the State of Texas.
Old Gruene Market Days - the third weekend from February through November, and the first weekend in December. - The Henne Hardware Company (c.1893) - 246 W. San Antonio Street
- Lake - Canyon Lake
- Landa Park/ Comal Springs - Scenic city parknear downtown.
196 acres. Site of the annual Wurstfest.
New Braunfels has Texas' shortest river - the 2.6 mile long Comal River, whose source and confluence (with the Guadalupe) are within the city limits. - Museum of Texas Handmade Furniture - In the historic Andreas Breustedt home, circa 1858. 1370 Church Hill Dr. Admission
- New Braunfel's Fire Museum - Fire Station One - First block of Hill Street
- New Braunfels Museum of Art and Music - 800-456-4866
Smithsonian-affiliated museum.
1257 Gruene Road in Gruene Historic District. Admission. - Railroad Museum - 102 N. Hill Street in the Old New Braunfels Depot (c.1891)
- Schlitterbahn - 400 N. Liberty St. 830-625-2351. Admission.
- Snake Farm - I-35 South, Exit 182. 830-608-9270
- Sophienburg Museum - 401 W. Coll St. at Academy Ave. Admission
- Wagenfuehr Home and Buckhorn Barbershop Museum -
521 West San Antonio St. Admission
Faust Street Bridge
Photo courtesy Chia-Wei Wang, August 2006
Faust Street Bridge c.1887
One of the more interesting bridges in this part of Texas is the old Faust Street Bridge c.1887 over the Guadalupe River. The water is usually clear and the fish can be clearly seen.
The bridge just underwent a restoration in 1998 and benches have been provided for fish watching.
1887 Faust Street Bridge plate
Photo courtesy Chia-Wei Wang, August 2006
View of the railroad bridge over the Guadalupe River
Photo courtesy Chia-Wei Wang, August 2006
Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic Church
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2005
New Braunfels Prostestant Church
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, June 2003
New Braunfels Prostestant Church tower
TE photo, 2004
More Texas Churches
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| The Brauntex Theater TE photo | Faust fountain, historic Faust Hotel TE photo |
SCENIC DRIVES -
- RR 32. The road runs the crest of the ridge called the "Devil's Backbone".
- River Road - Along the Guadalupe River
10.6-mile scenic drive between Loop 337 in New Braunfels and Canyon Lake Dam which crosses the Guadalupe River four times Book Hotel Here › New Braunfels Hotels
New Braunfels, Texas Chronicles
- Lincoln Slept Here? by Mike Cox
�Hotel Where Lincoln Stayed Still Operating,� reads the headline on the yellowed 1950 newspaper clipping. That a hotel might be in business nearly a century after Abraham Lincoln spent the night in one of its rooms would not be particularly remarkable in Illinois � say Springfield � or Washington. But the �Lincoln slept here� assertion appeared in a Texas newspaper and referred to a historic hostelry in New Braunfels... more - Skat by Michael Barr
Skat was once a popular card game in the German Hill Country... The game of skat (pronounced 'scot') originated in Altenberg, Germany in the early 19th century when members of the local card players' club combined elements of a popular Italian game called Tarock with another game called Schafkopf (sheep's head)...
There are still skat tournaments in Seguin and New Braunfels, but not so much in Fredericksburg anymore. Skat has gone the way of 9-pin bowling and cursive writing.... more
New Braunfels Tourist Information
Vistior Center - I-35 and Post Road. North of New Braunfels.
Open daily. 800-572-2626
New Braunfels Chamber of Commerce -
390 E. Seguin 1-800-572-2626
Website: www.nbcham.org
City of New Braunfels - 424 South Castell Avenue -
PO Box 311747 New Braunfels, Texas 78131-1747
Phone: (830) 608-2100
http://www.ci.new-braunfels.tx.us/
New Braunfels City Hall - (830)-625-6200.
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