Sophienburg Hill
New Braunfels, Comal County, Texas
Marker Inscription
During the Republic of Texas period, Europeans became interested in colonizing Texas. In the 1840s, a group of German noblemen formed the Adelsverein or the Society for the Protection of German Immigration in Texas. Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels became the Adelsverein’s first Commissioner General and founded New Braunfels on March 21, 1845. Prince Carl chose this hill property overlooking the city as the site for a fortress to protect the city. He named it the Sophienburg in honor of his fiancée, Princess Sophia. Although a log structure was built to serve as the Adelsverein headquarters, a large fortress was never built. A well was dug and other structures were built on the property that served as Adelsverein storehouses and lodging. Prince Carl returned to Germany a month after the founding of New Braunfels and John O. Meusebach succeeded him as Commissioner General. The Adelsverein had financial trouble and the Sophienburg hill property was sold and divided. Eventually, the buildings deteriorated and in 1886, a storm destroyed the last remaining log structure. In 1933, a portion of the original Sophienburg property was purchased to build the first museum building that still stands at the corner of Academy and Coll. In 1938, the first city library was built adjacent to the museum with a second library built nearby in 1968. These structures house the Sophienburg Museum and archives collections. The Sophienburg Museum Association has ensured that the campus reflects the history of German immigration, the town’s founding and its ongoing growth. (2017)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
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.
Why it matters
Sophienburg Hill marks the founding moment of organized German immigration to Texas, a movement that gave the state a lasting cultural imprint still visible in New Braunfels today.
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Related people
- · Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels
- · John O. Meusebach
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Ullrich Home
New Braunfels, TX
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.
Near River Crossing Used by New Braunfels' First Settlers
New Braunfels, TX
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.
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.