Bellville Concordia
Bellville, Austin County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(Name adopted in 1938) Singing society organized in home of Fritz Schlecht, at Piney (3.5 mi. E), 1860. Members: Fritz Brandes, Heinrich and Gustav Koch, Joseph and Theo Menke, Herman Mueller, Fritz Schultz. Emil Koch, director. Hall (built 1877), wrecked by 1900 storm, was moved here, rebuilt same year. Land given by Henry Strauss. (1968)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
German settlers around Piney, east of Bellville, organized a singing society in Fritz Schlecht's home in 1860, part of the rich Sängerfest tradition that immigrants carried from central Europe to the Texas hill and prairie country. The group built a hall in 1877; after an 1900 storm wrecked it, members moved and rebuilt it on land given by Henry Strauss. The society adopted the name Concordia in 1938.
Why it matters
The Concordia preserves the German-Texan singing-society culture that made music and community central to immigrant life across 19th-century Central Texas.
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Related people
- · Fritz Schlecht
- · Emil Koch
- · Henry Strauss
Themes & tags
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Joachim H. Hintz
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