Moritz-Hitzfeld-Jacoby House
Fredericksburg, Gillespie County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Built for newlyweds Edmund (1884-1958) and Anna (1881-1968) Moritz in 1907, this house has been occupied by the descendants of three of Fredericksburg's earliest families. Edmund and his father, Joseph, used limestone from their family-owned quarry nearby to build the house with the help of Anna's father, carpenter John Metzger, Sr. The house exhibits late Victorian-era styling with features of Germanic construction, which includes the use of native stone. The house was purchased by Levi and Caroline Hitzfeld in 1914 and in 1941 by Felix and Emma Jacoby. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1994
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Built in 1907 for newlyweds Edmund and Anna Moritz, this Fredericksburg house was raised from limestone quarried by the Moritz family and finished with the help of Anna's father, carpenter John Metzger, Sr. Its late-Victorian styling blended with Germanic building traditions, including the characteristic use of native stone. Passing to the Hitzfeld family in 1914 and the Jacobys in 1941, it links three of the town's founding German families.
Why it matters
The house shows how Fredericksburg's German immigrant families sustained their distinctive stone-building traditions well into the twentieth century.
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Related people
- · Edmund Moritz
- · Anna Moritz
- · John Metzger, Sr.
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Henry Cordes House
Fredericksburg, TX
Fredericksburg native Henry Cordes, born in 1861, had this limestone home built in 1893, beginning as a three-room dwelling accompanied by a smokehouse, tankhouse, and stone cistern. The stonework shows the fine craftsmanship of the German masons who gave the Hill Country its distinctive architecture. Cordes worked for years at the Reliance Roller Mill and the Stein Ice House and raised three children here with his wife Emma.
Felix Van Der Stucken Home
Fredericksburg, TX
Belgian immigrant Felix Van Der Stucken bought this Fredericksburg site in 1864 and raised the original one-story limestone section soon after, adding a second story later. He ran a steam-powered mill nearby that grew into the Reliance Roller Mills, and his home blended Victorian and Greek Revival details in native stone. The Hennig family bought the house in 1940.
Meckel-Hanus Building
Fredericksburg, TX
Saddle and harness merchant Henry Meckel bought this Fredericksburg property in 1886 and improved a stone house already on the lot dating to around 1860, adding a second level of concrete blocks and a double gallery of milled wood. In 1927 Dr. J. J. Hanus purchased the building for a hospital and reworked its facade to the look it wears today. It later served as a Catholic convent from 1949 to 1979 before being restored in 1985.
The Meinhardt-Pfeil Home
Fredericksburg, TX
The original limestone section of this Fredericksburg home was built around 1850 by pioneer settlers Albert and Doris Meinhardt. After Doris sold it in 1879 to her former son-in-law G. Adolph Pfeil, a cotton gin owner, he adapted it as a blacksmith shop and later a soda water factory, keeping it in the family until 1939.