Carl Heinrich Guenther
New Braunfels, Comal County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(SEPTEMBER 9, 1821 – APRIL 8, 1870) BORN IN PRUSSIA, CARL (KARL) HEINRICH GUENTHER IMMIGRATED TO TEXAS IN 1845. HE WAS A COMMUNITY LEADER, ONE OF NEW BRAUNFELS’ FIRST PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS, AND A DIRECTOR OF THE GERMANIA, AN EARLY SINGING SOCIETY. IN 1854, HE WAS ELECTED PRESIDENT OF STAATS SAENGERFEST (STATE SINGERS FESTIVAL), A STATEWIDE MEETING OF GERMAN POLITICAL GROUPS. THEY ADOPTED AN ANTI-SLAVERY PLATFORM, WHICH REPRESENTED AN UNPOPULAR POSITION IN TEXAS. GUENTHER WAS AMONG GERMAN-TEXAN LEADERS WHO ALLAYED FEARS OF DISLOYALTY, AND DESPITE HIS LEANINGS, HE JOINED THE CONFEDERACY, BECOMING A CAPTAIN. AFTER HIS DEATH, HIS WIFE, MARGARETHE (SCHERTZ), WITH WHOM HE HAD SIX CHILDREN, CONTINUED THEIR BREWING BUSINESS. (2010)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Born in Prussia in 1821, Carl Heinrich Guenther immigrated to Texas in 1845 and became a pillar of New Braunfels — one of its first public school teachers and a leader of the German singing societies. In 1854 he presided over a statewide Saengerfest that adopted an anti-slavery platform, an unpopular stance in Texas; though he shared those leanings, he later joined the Confederacy as a captain. After his death his widow Margarethe carried on the family brewing business.
Why it matters
His life captures the divided loyalties of German Texans on the eve of the Civil War, a community whose free-labor convictions clashed with the slaveholding society around them.
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Related people
- · Carl Heinrich Guenther
- · Margarethe Schertz Guenther
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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