Diedrich Rode Complex
Fredericksburg, Gillespie County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This group of buildings was constructed by german native Diedrich Rode (1828-1905). The three-story limestone residence was completed in 1880 and featured a third floor storage area for wool and cotton produced on the land. A Lutheran, Rode served as an early minister and held services in the Betkapelle, a prayer chapel on the east side of the second floor. In addition to his ranching, he also taught school. A landmark in the Cherry Spring community, the homesite was sold to Willie Kothe in 1929. It has remained in his family for over 50 years. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1989
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
German-born Diedrich Rode built this cluster of buildings in the Cherry Spring community, completing a three-story limestone residence in 1880 with a top floor for storing wool and cotton from his land. A Lutheran, Rode served as an early minister and held services in a prayer chapel built into the second floor, and he taught school besides tending his ranch. The homestead passed to the Kothe family in 1929 and stayed with them for more than half a century.
Why it matters
The Rode complex embodies the self-sufficient world of German immigrants in the Texas Hill Country, who wove ranching, worship, and schooling into a single enduring homestead.
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Related people
- · Diedrich Rode
- · Willie Kothe
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church
Fredericksburg, TX
German Lutheran settlers around Cherry Spring began gathering for worship in the 1850s in the home of lay minister Diedrich Rode, who opened his house for services and Sunday School. The Christ Church congregation formally organized in 1905, and by 1906 a rock sanctuary stood on land given by John and Mary Rode Wendel. Worship continued in German until 1922, and only in the 1950s did English finally become the primary language.
Old Cherry Spring School (Das Alte Schulhaus)
Fredericksburg, TX
German immigrants founded the Cherry Spring community around 1850, teaching their children in private homes until nobleman Wilhelm Marschall von Bieberstein deeded ten acres in 1859 to a group of settlers so they could build a proper schoolhouse. Classes filled the original part of this building from 1860 to 1878, after which it served the community as a place of worship — and in 1905 became the birthplace of Christ Lutheran Church. One modest stone building held the settlement's schooling and its faith.
The Marschall-Meusebach Cemetery
Fredericksburg, TX
This Hill Country cemetery holds members of two German noble families joined by marriage. John O. Meusebach came to the Republic of Texas in 1845 leading the German Emigration Company, founded Fredericksburg in 1846, and in 1847 signed a lasting peace treaty with the Comanche—one of the rare frontier accords that held. Wilhelm Marschall von Bierberstein settled in the community in 1848, and the first burial here was that of Marschall's sister-in-law, Mathilda Weiss.
John O. Meusebach
Cherry Spring, TX
John O. Meusebach gave up a German baron's title in 1845 to become a Texan, and as commissioner-general of the German Emigration Company he founded Fredericksburg in 1846 as a gateway to the Fisher-Miller grant deep in Comanche country. Rather than fight, he rode unarmed into a council and secured a treaty that opened the land to settlement without bloodshed — earning the Comanche name "El Sol Colorado," the Red Sun. He later served as a state senator and settled at Loyal Valley, adding "Texas forever" to his family motto.