Near River Crossing Used by New Braunfels' First Settlers
New Braunfels, Comal County, Texas
Marker Inscription
At the crossing of the San Antonio-Nacogdoches Road on the Guadalupe River (used earlier by some of Texas' most famous trail-blazers) about 200 German colonists ended a journey that had begun six months before, in Europe. Here, on Good Friday,1845, they founded the town of New Braunfels, named for the estate of Prince Solms-Braunfels, the commissioner-general of the German Emigration Society. Part of a wave of German colonists,1844-1847, this small group and others like it have left a distinctive mark on the heritage and culture of Texas. (1969)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
At an ancient river crossing on the San Antonio–Nacogdoches Road, once traveled by Texas's earliest trail-blazers, about 200 German colonists ended a six-month journey from Europe. On Good Friday in 1845 they founded New Braunfels, naming it for the estate of Prince Solms-Braunfels, commissioner-general of the German Emigration Society. They were part of a wave of German settlers between 1844 and 1847 whose language, food, and customs left a lasting imprint on Texas.
Why it matters
This crossing marks the start of one of the great immigrant migrations that gave Central Texas its distinctive German-American heritage.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
In the mid-1840s, Texas was an independent republic, still young and thinly settled, eager for colonists to fill its land. In Europe, meanwhile, many Germans faced hard economic times, political frustration and crowded farmland. Organized emigration societies promised a fresh start across the Atlantic.
The most important of these for Texas was the German Emigration Society, a group of German nobles who sponsored settlement in the Texas Hill Country. Between 1844 and 1847 it helped send a wave of German colonists across the ocean to the Texas coast and then inland by wagon and on foot.
The colonists came to a crossing that already had a long history. The San Antonio–Nacogdoches Road was one of the oldest routes in Texas, connecting Spanish and later Mexican settlements, and many famous frontier travelers had passed this way before the Germans arrived.
People & events
About two hundred German colonists reached this crossing on the Guadalupe River after a journey that had started in Europe six months earlier. They had come by sea and then by land. They were weary, but they had arrived somewhere they meant to stay.
They founded their town here on Good Friday in 1845. They named it New Braunfels after the home estate of Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels, the society's commissioner-general and the man who led the effort on the ground. A German prince choosing a Texas riverbank for a new settlement is a reminder of how far the hopes of Old World emigrants reached.
This small group was only the beginning. Over the next few years other German colonists followed, spreading into Central Texas and the Hill Country. Together they built farms, churches, schools and towns that kept their language and customs alive for generations.
Its place in the American story
German immigrants were among the largest groups to settle in nineteenth-century America, and Texas drew a large share of them. The founding of New Braunfels was an early chapter in that migration. It shows how European newcomers shaped the American frontier alongside settlers from the eastern United States.
The settlement also came at a turning point for Texas. When these colonists arrived, Texas was still a republic, and it joined the United States soon after. The Germans thus helped build a region just as it was becoming part of the country.
The mark they left is still easy to see. German surnames, festivals, food traditions and stone architecture remain part of Central Texas culture. It's one of the clearest examples of how immigrant communities have shaped American regional identity.
If you visit
This marker stands near the river crossing where the town began, so take a moment to look at the Guadalupe and picture weary colonists finishing a six-month trek right here. The idea that a whole town grew from one river crossing is easiest to grasp when you're standing beside the water.
New Braunfels today blends its German heritage with Texas river culture. Look for the old German-style buildings and the community's lasting pride in its founders. Its rivers have long been a draw for visitors who come to cool off in the Texas heat.
The town fits well into a Hill Country road trip between San Antonio and Austin. It's also a good starting point for tracing the trail of German settlement deeper into Central Texas.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels
Related events
- · Founding of New Braunfels
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Sophienburg Hill
New Braunfels, TX
During the Republic of Texas era, a society of German noblemen known as the Adelsverein organized to sponsor emigration to Texas, and their first commissioner general, Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels, founded New Braunfels in 1845. He chose this commanding hill for a protective fortress and named it the Sophienburg for his fiancee, Princess Sophia, though only a log headquarters and storehouses were ever built. Prince Carl soon returned to Germany, the venture faltered financially, and the site later became home to the Sophienburg Museum.
Ullrich Home
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This sturdy sand-brick house was raised in 1855 by George Ullrich, one of the German colonists who poured into central Texas under the Adelsverein emigration company. A decade earlier, in 1845, Ullrich had driven the first wagon of those settlers across the Guadalupe River—a small but vivid moment in the founding of New Braunfels.
The Moeller House
New Braunfels, TX
Working entirely alone from 1859 to 1866, John George Moeller built this sturdy home in the German settlement of New Braunfels using hand-cut limestone, eighteen-foot cedar beams, and random-width cypress floors. The Moeller family lived here into the 20th century, followed by the Nowotnys. Its craftsmanship reflects the traditions German immigrants carried to the Texas Hill Country.
New Braunfels
New Braunfels, TX
New Braunfels was founded on March 21, 1845 by Carl, Prince of Solms-Braunfels, commissioner-general of the society organizing German immigration to Texas, and named for his estate on the Lahn River. His successor John O. Meusebach secured the colony's future, while officials, a pastor, and a teacher gave the new town its institutions. It became a cultural anchor of German Texas — home to Comal County, the New Braunfelser Zeitung (the state's oldest German newspaper, begun 1852), the first Staatssaengerfest, and, in 1856, the first special school tax collected in Texas.