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Directory to the Austin area

German History around Austin

Written by Howie Richey.
Unlike San Antonio and much of the eastern Hill Country, Austin wasn?t strongly influenced by immigrants from Germany during the nineteenth century. But nonetheless, the Capital City benefits from a number of important Germanic contributions and connections. A concise architectural tour is a handy way to experience the Teutonic side of Austin. Your journey begins on East C?sar Ch?vez Street and ends at Scholz?s.

F. Weigl Iron Works, 100 Red River at E. C?sar Ch?vez. Fortunat Weigl was born on 21 March 1884 in Bad Aibling, Bavaria, and came to Texas in 1913. Once in Austin, he worked first as a plumber until establishing his own blacksmith business, which he opened at this place in 1935. The barbecue restaurant has preserved a corner of the old shop as a museum to Herr Weigl, showing tools and productions. Fortunat Weigl forged many fences that are still standing today, such as the one at the Hirschfield House (a later tour stop) and other decorative works all over Austin.

Just up Red River at the northeast corner 3rd Street stands the Hofheinz-Reissig Store and several residences, collectively known as the Waterloo Compound. Named for the tiny village of Waterloo that predated the city, these are some of Austin?s oldest commercial structures. Texas President Mirabeau B. Lamar had visited the log-cabin settlement on a buffalo hunt in 1838 and fell in love with the attractive surroundings before founding the capital city here. Built for German emigrant Henry Hofheinz in the 1850s, the store originally housed a saloon on the first floor and a residence on the second. The basement was a wine cellar, and the carriage house still stands behind the store. The one-room cottage out back, dating from the 1840s, may well be the second-oldest home in Austin. Known as a ?Sunday House,? it was used by rural farmers and ranchers who came to the big city on weekends to trade, visit, and attend church. The compound has been used for a number of businesses over the years, and currently houses Moonshine Restaurant. Continue north to Old Pecan Street (6th) and go west. In the north block between San Jacinto and Brazos streets stands the Hannig Building at 206 East 6th. Besides being the last husband of Alamo survivor Susanna Dickinson, cabinet maker and undertaker Joseph Hannig was famous for his weekly wine-tasting parties.

Continue west to Lavaca and go north to 9th Street. Here?s the Hirschfield House and Cottage at 303 West 9th. Henry Hirschfield was born 22 November 1834 at Schneidermuche, Posen, Germany. He emigrated to the United States at the age of 15. A successful merchant, he was a leader in the Jewish Community in Austin, charter member of the Mason?s Hill City Lodge, co-founder of the Austin National Bank, and a leader of the Austin S?ngerrunde, a German folk song singing club. The cottage was built in 1873, and the house in 1886. The maroon trim might seem a little out of place in this Burnt Orange town until you realize that it is the headquarters of Texas A&M University Press.

Texas Military Institute, 1111 West 11th Street (German-English Academy). After the Civil War as part of Reconstruction, the 5th Military District was formed in Texas and Louisiana. The Texas Military Institute was founded for the purpose of training young men to serve in this Military District. Began in Bastrop in 1868, it later moved to this site. The main structure featured lecture rooms, and other outlying buildings served as professors? residencies, a mess hall, barracks, and hospital. TMI operated for ten years, but dissolved because of the rise of public education in the State of Texas. A few years later, Jacob Bickler moved his Texas German and English Academy to this site (1893-1897). Currently the building is privately owned, and this man?s home really is his castle. It?s also one of the few Austin structures influenced by Turrets Syndrome.

Go behind the Capitol just off Lavaca and 14th to the Wahrenberger House, 208 West 14th Street. It served as a boarding house and school for female students of the German-American Ladies College (1873) for five years. Jacob Bickler?s school for boys, the Texas German and English Academy, occupied the house from 1880 to 1886.

Next, cross the Capitol Complex to the southeast corner of the Capitol lawn. The earliest surviving state government building, the Old Land Office looks like some Prussian fortress. This Norman-style three-story was designed by German architect Conrad C. Stremme, who was educated at the University of Germany and was a member of the Royal Hannoverian Commission on Public Buildings. Stremme taught architecture at the University of Dorpat in Tartu, Russia, published a book on architecture in 1842, received the title of nobleman from Czar Nicholas I.

William Sydney Porter (O. Henry) worked as a draftsman in this building, the setting for two of his short stories, Bexar Scrip No. 2692. Along with the Governor?s Mansion, the Old Land Office is one of the oldest buildings in the Capitol Complex. It once housed the state of Texas? deeds, patents, maps, and other records. Today it serves as the Capitol Complex Visitor Center and gift shop.

A few more blocks east, cut one block south to Red River. The German Free School stands high on the west bluff of Waller Creek at 507 East 10th. One of the first schools established in Austin (1852), it served not only German-speaking pupils, but children (some of them slaves) who were in need of a free education. Julius Sch?tze served as the schoolmaster for many years, establishing its fine reputation as an academic grammar school. He also founded the Austin S?ngerrunde, as we?ll see later. The building was enlarged in 1872 with a second story for the Sch?tze residence. Austin artist Kelly Stevens purchased the building in 1948 and lived there until his death in 1991, when it was deeded to the German Texan Heritage Society.

The German-Texan Heritage Society (GTHS) was founded in 1978 by a handful of people in response to the dwindling study and recognition of German-Texan heritage and culture. Today, membership totals more than 1,200, including individuals and institutions, all located across several foreign countries and more than 35 states. GTHS members come from all walks of life and include homemakers, families, business professionals, students, teachers, researchers, genealogists, historians, biographers and librarians.

You can see the German-American Ladies College building at 1604 E. 11th, just down from the State Cemetery. It?s a ?transitional Victorian? design built for Ada and Julius Moreau for $900 in 1876. During their ownership, the structure housed the Ladies College under directors Alice Nohl and Natalie von Schenck, and was considered one of Austin?s outstanding schools.

Saving the best for last, get yourself to Scholz Garten at the corner of San Jacinto and 16th. German immigrant August Scholz (born 1825) debuted Scholz?s Hall at this site in 1866. At the grand opening, Herr Scholz offered free beer, a huge cast of singers, and various bands to his new customers. Scholz?s became famous for concerts, dances, and social functions in subsequent years. It was also the favorite meeting place for the German population in and around Austin with their many community activities and German food. General George Armstrong Custer, stationed two blocks away during Reconstruction, reportedly took meals here.

Mr. Scholz operated his unique tavern and cafe until his death in 1891. His step-son operated the little bar and restaurant for two more years, then sold Scholz Garten to the Lemp Brewery Company (makers of Falstaff Beer) in 1893, the same year that The University of Texas football team had its first undefeated season. Since The University was just up the street, the team celebrated its victory at the Garten.

About the turn of the century, this building replaced the original. A German social club, the Austin S?ngerrunde, purchased the property in 1908 and added the adjacent hall. The Texas Legislature honored Scholz Garten in 1966 as ?a gathering place for Texans of discernment, taste, culture and erudition, epitomizing the finest traditions of magnificent German heritage in our state.? Celebration is a tradition that is still alive at Scholz Garten, a National Historic Site, a registered Texas Historic Landmark (1967), and the oldest continually operating tavern in Texas.

Scholz Garten?s Wurst Band, perhaps the oldest polka group in Central Texas, has been playing OomPah favorites and a few of their own mixtures at Scholz Garten for some 20 years. The Wurst Band members number about 33. Sometimes the mood moves them to even sing a bit. There is nothing like sitting in the biergarten with a pint of a German Lager and relaxing to the sounds of an army of tubas, horns, and a big bass drum. An original (1871) framed music poster standing near the bar lists the evening?s music to be performed, but with a strict warning: ?Admission is free, but privilege of ejection is reserved.? This is still a Scholz Garten?s tradition.

This concludes your tour of German Austin. Other discoveries await the curious traveler and newcomer, but we?ll save them for another excursion.

Howie Richey,

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