The Christian Kraus Homestead
Fredericksburg, Gillespie County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This house was begun in 1859 by Christian Kraus when he and his wife, Anna Maria, settled in the Klein Frankreich (Little France) community. Kraus farmed and taught school here. The Krauses reared their 7 children and the 7 children of Peter Burg, who was killed by the Haengebrande during the Civil War. Kraus, who was instrumental in building St. Mary's Catholic Church (Fredericksburg), added a wing and second story to his stone vernacular home in 1879. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1984
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Christian Kraus began this stone home in 1859 after he and his wife Anna Maria settled in the German community of Klein Frankreich, or 'Little France,' near Fredericksburg. Kraus farmed and taught school, and the family raised not only their own seven children but also the seven orphaned children of Peter Burg, who was killed by the Haengebrande, the vigilante band that terrorized Unionist Germans during the Civil War. A pillar of the community, Kraus helped build Fredericksburg's St. Mary's Catholic Church and expanded his vernacular stone home in 1879.
Why it matters
The homestead preserves the story of German immigrant settlers in the Texas Hill Country and the wartime violence that divided them, a lesser-known chapter of Civil War Texas.
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Related people
- · Christian Kraus
- · Anna Maria Kraus
- · Peter Burg
Themes & tags
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