The story of New Braunfels, TX for those interested.
New Braunfels was established in 1845 by
Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels, Commissioner General of the
Adelsverein, also known as the Noblemen's Society (in German:
Mainzer Adelsverein). Prince Solms named the settlement in honor of his home of
Solms-Braunfels,
Germany.
The Adelsverein organized hundreds of people in Germany to settle in Texas. Immigrants from Germany began arriving at
Galveston in July 1844. Most then traveled by ship to
Indianola in December 1844, and began the overland journey to the Fisher-Miller land grant purchased by Prince Solms. At the urging of
John Coffee Hays, who realized the settlers would not have time to build homes and plant crops further inland before winter, and as the German settlers were traveling inland along the Guadalupe River, they stopped near the
Comal Springs. Prince Solms bought two leagues of land from Rafael Garza and Maria Antonio Veramendi Garza for $1,111.00.
The land was located northeast of
San Antonio on
El Camino Real de los Tejasand had the strong freshwater Comal Springs, known as
Las Fontanas, when the Germans arrived. It was about halfway between Indianola and the lower portions of the Fisher-Miller land grant. The first settlers forded the
Guadalupe River on
Good Friday, March 21, 1845, near the present-day Faust Street bridge.
As the spring of 1845 progressed, the settlers built the "Zinkenburg", a fort named for Adelsverein civil engineer
Nicolaus Zink, divided the land, and began building homes and planting crops. Prince Solms would also lay the cornerstone for the Sophienburg, a permanent fort and center for the immigrant association.