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New Braunfels

Most of the other locations you've been able to click on and visit have been designed around a town square. Have you seen the movie "European Vacation" starring Chevy Chase where he gets caught in a London traffic circle? New Braunfels has a traffic circle with a gazebo or bandstand sitting in the center of a grassy park-like area. The center of government, in this case, the court house, is sitting on the circumference. What are the formulas for finding the circumference and area of a circle?

New Braunfels, on the edge of the Texas hill country (30 degrees north latitude/98 degrees west longitude), was settled in 1845 by one of the largest immigrant groups to come to Texas--the Germans. What is the terrain like in the hill country? Several times a year, the community celebrates this German heritage with festivals featuring German food (like sausage, sauerkraut and pumpernickel bread), oompah bands, dancing (polkas), arts and crafts.

The German people planned special events specifically for children. The Kindermaskenball is one such custom. In German that means "children's masked dance". Instead of a dance, it is a parade started by Hermann Seele (New Braunfel's first school teacher) in 1856. Children dress in costumes and parade to the park for a picnic celebration. Can you think of parades you have been in or have seen? What was the occasion? Most of you have heard "Stille Nacht" (Silent Night) played or sung at holiday time. Germans love to sing and this song was just one they brought with them from their homeland. It was written in 1818 by an Austrian organist and his friend who was a pastor. On Christmas Eve, Franz Xavier Gruber (the organist) found his organ was not working and he had no way to repair it before the Christmas service. Thinking a new song might help ease the disappointment of all who would attend the Christmas service, he and the pastor (Joseph Mohr) wrote "Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht" which they sang on Christmas Day to the accompaniment of a guitar. All children do not celebrate Christmas. Talk with your classmates to see what special holidays or customs their family celebrates.

Those of us who celebrate Christmas can thank the Germans for the Christmas tree. The Christmas tree has not always been part of the celebration of Christmas. The German custom was (is? Do some research.) for the parents to decorate the family tree on Christmas Eve as a surprise for the children. After dinner on Christmas Eve, the father would leave the table to light the candles (REMEMBER there was no electricity in houses at this time. Buckets of water were kept nearby in case of fire.) While the father was lighting the candles, Santa came and left unwrapped presents under the tree. When the tree was ready and Santa had gone, a bell was rung to invite the children in to see. Have you ever strung popcorn, or cranberries, or made paper chains for holiday decorations?

Many people are lucky enough to be able to celebrate special occasions with relatives and close friends. My family celebrated by visiting grandparents. "Opa" is German for grandfather. What would you guess "Oma" means? Have you ever sung "Over the River and Through the Woods (to Grandmother's house we go...)"?

This is Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church. The very first German immigrants to this area, crossed the Guadalupe and Comal Rivers and set up their camp on the spot where this church is built. Have you ever been to the Schlitterbahn water park? It is on the Comal River. The first camp was on high ground overlooking the Comal River. We've been talking about the Christmas holiday, but New Braunfels was founded on Good Friday before Easter--another religious holiday.

If you lived in a place where the ground water table wasn't so close to the surface (that's how far down you can dig before hitting water) your house or apartment might have a basement or cellar. If we had a cellar here in Houston, it would fill with water. Cellars do not have to be under a building. The one you see here is close enough to the house the occupants could get to it quickly in case of a bad storm (like a tornado). Because the temperature under ground stays cool, cellars were also used as places to store food.

Shopping malls are a relatively new idea. In early Texas, open markets (like the ones held in Nacogdoches) were common. Stores like this mercantile would be separate buildings which lined both sides of the main street or surrounded the city square. What do we mean by "mercantile"?

Notice two other things we haven't seen before. What would be an advantage of using tin for a roof? AND Why would the Lindheimer house have two front doors? Who was Ferdinand Lindheimer?

Books and Other Resources

• TWENTY TEXANS by Betsy Warren; Hendrick-Long Publishing Co., 1985
• TEXAS FOREVER by Rita Kerr; Eakin Press, 1993
• OPA'S STORIES by Mary Dodson Wade; Colophon House, 1996
• THE ABC'S OF TEXAS WILDFLOWERS by Glenna Grimmer; Eakin Press, 1982
• TEXAS HILL COUNTRY LITTLEBOOK by Richard Reynolds; Westcliffe Publishers, 1996
• CELEBRATIONS by Myra Cohn Livingston; Holiday House, 1985
• CHICKEN SUNDAY by Patricia Polacco; Scholastic, 1993
• HANUKKAH THE FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS by Jenny Koralek; Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books, 1990
• LATKES AND APPLESAUCE by Fran Manushkin; Scholastic, 1990
• HERSHEL AND THE HANUKKAH GOBLINS by Eric Kimmel; Scholastic, 1990
• TEXAS HIGHWAYS Vol.40 No.9 ; Texas Department of Transportation, September 1993
• IMMIGRANT KIDS by Russell Freedman; Scholastic, 1992

  TEA TEKS Draft 2

  Multicultural Pavilion Teacher's Corner

  Multicultural Resources

  Christmas Around the World

Suggested Activity

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