Wurstfest
New Braunfels, Comal County, Texas
Marker Inscription
An annual “salute to sausage” celebration, Wurstfest is held every fall on the Wurstfest grounds adjacent to Landa Park. The notion of a sausage festival was conceived in 1961 by Dr. E. A. Grist, veterinarian and city meat inspector in New Braunfels. At the time, New Braunfels had nineteen commercial sausage-making businesses in the city. Sausage making had been a local German tradition passed down through generations since the founding of the city. Initially the festival was held at the National Guard Armory, Landa Park and on Main Plaza. In 1967, the festival was moved to this industrial site originally developed in 1850 by William H. Meriwether who diverted the Comal River for a millrace to operate his grain mills. In 1860, Joseph Landa started Landa Industries at this location that later became Dittlinger Mills. Several buildings from the industrial era are utilized for the festival. In 1968, the celebration expanded to ten days. The festival is hosted by the Wurstfest Association of New Braunfels, a non-profit corporation whose mission is to promote the economy through tourism and preserve the community’s rich German heritage. Leadership and manpower required to oversee operations is provided by the 150-plus Wurstfest Association members along with many volunteers and temporary employees. In addition to business vendors, local clubs and organizations operate food and merchandise concessions to raise funds that benefit their projects and programs. The festival is known for its variety of unique foods prepared and served by hometown folks, the best in Alpine and Bavarian style musical entertainment and its beautiful setting along the banks of the spring-fed Comal River. (2017)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Conceived in 1961 by city meat inspector Dr. E.A. Grist — in a town then boasting nineteen sausage-makers — Wurstfest grew into an annual autumn "salute to sausage" celebrating New Braunfels' German heritage. Since 1967 it has filled a riverside industrial site with deep roots: William Meriwether diverted the Comal River here for a grain millrace in 1850, and Joseph Landa's mills, later Dittlinger Mills, ran on the same water. Today the festival's Alpine music and hometown food carry a sausage-making tradition passed down since the city's founding.
Why it matters
Wurstfest shows how a nineteenth-century immigrant foodway became a living civic institution, preserving German-Texan identity on the very grounds where the community's industrial life began.
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Related people
- · E.A. Grist
- · Joseph Landa
- · William H. Meriwether
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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