German Texan
Encyclopedia
German Texan is an ethnic
category that includes residents of the state of Texas
with German
ancestry who identify with the term. This identification may include cultural agreements—German language
, German cuisine
, feasts, music, hard work, frugality, and close family ties. From their first immigration to Texas in the 1830s, the Germans tended to cluster in ethnic enclaves. A majority settled in a broad, fragmented belt across the south central part of the state, especially in the Texas Hill Country
.
, who dispersed into areas of Central Texas, where, after a period of activism during the 1850s, Civil War
, and Reconstruction, they lived in relative obscurity as teachers, civil servants, merchants, farmers, and ranchers.
German Americans were the largest group of immigrants during the 19th century, outnumbering both English and Irish immigrants, making German Americans the largest ethnic group
in the United States
today.
The immigrants were as diverse as Germany itself, except that very few aristocrats or upper middle class businessmen arrived. For example, consider Texas, with about 20,000 German Texans in the 1850s:
rule, the first permanent settlement of Germans was at Industry, in Austin County. It was established by Friedrich Ernst
and Charles Fordtran in the early 1830s, when the area was under Mexican
rule. Ernst wrote a letter to a friend in his native town Oldenburg, which was published in the newspaper there. His description of Texas was so influential in attracting German immigrants to that area that he is remembered as "The Father of German Immigration to Texas".
These first immigrants settled in Austin, Colorado, Fayette, and Washington counties. Among the communities in that area considered German towns were Mill Creek, Biegel, La Grange
, Fayetteville
, Cat Spring, Bellville
, Frelsburg, New Ulm
, Bernardo, Shelby
, Ross Prairie, Millheim, Shiner, West, New Braunfels, Luckenbach, Gruene, Fredericksburg, Groesbeck, Boerne, Schulenburg, Weimar, Muenster, and Berlin. Some of the names are German and some are English because some of these were originally settled and named by Anglo-Americans from the United States. Others were settled by German immigrants and some were founded by Germans.
, thus known as the Fisher-Miller Land Grant
. Prospective settlers were promised 320 acres (1.3 km²) of land for a married man or 160 acre (0.6474976 km²) for a single man, plus transportation across the ocean and to the land; a house, household furnishings, utensils, and farming equipment; churches, hospitals, roads and general provisions for their welfare.
Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels
preceded the group to prepare for the arrival of the colonists. He realized that the huge land grant could not be settled immediately because it was too far from the coast and from existing settlements for transportation and supply, and so he established the town of New Braunfels as a way station to the Fisher-Miller lands. Prince Carl returned to his homeland, and was succeeded by Baron Ottfried Hans von Meusebach, who discarded his title upon arrival in Texas, and became known as John O. Meusebach
. When it became evident that large numbers of expected settlers could not be located at New Braunfels, Meusebach laid out another settlement and named it Fredericksburg
. About this time, it became clear that the grant of land was not suitable for settlement: the soil was not fertile enough for farming, and large numbers of Comanche Indians inhabited the area.
In the meantime, thousands of immigrants were en route to their promised lands when the war between the United States and Mexico broke out. Due to the war, all means of transportation were needed by the Army, which left thousands of German immigrants stranded on the Texas Coast. Many perished from exposure to the elements and disease, but some made the long overland trip, even on foot, to New Braunfels and to Fredericksburg. Some remained in the coastal towns and in the earlier-established settlements.
About this time, the Adelsverein, always underfunded, was bankrupt. When Texas became part of the United States, the state government awarded certificates of land to immigrants due lands in the Fisher Miller Grant. The treaties that Meusebach made with the Comanches opened the land for future settlement. Other German settlements in this part of the Texas Hill Country include Boerne
, Comfort
, Kerrville
, Castell
, Hilda, and Luckenbach
.
Meanwhile, the European revolutions of 1848 brought talented and well-educated Germans to Texas; these are known as the "Forty-Eighters". Some of these gathered in "Latin Settlements" to pursue common interests in music, literature, philosophy, and theoretical politics. Such settlements included Latium
, Bettina across the Llano River from Castell, and Sisterdale in Kendall County
. Most of these settlements did not last long, and the Forty-Eighters moved into the larger cities, notably San Antonio
, Houston, and Galveston
. Each of these had a population that was about one-third German.
The Civil War
disrupted travel, shipping, commerce, and communication, so that immigration from Europe was brought to a halt. Following the Civil War, Germans again came to Texas. In fact, more Germans came after the Civil War, from 1865 to 1880, than came in the entire 30-odd years of immigration before the war. But, the story of their immigration has not been remembered with the romance and flair of the Adelsverein
settlers, the ones who came with the Prince, the ones who suffered such tragedy in establishing their settlements.
These later immigrants generally came in smaller groups and had a tendency to settle in areas where other Germans were already active or to displace the previous Anglo-American population. In some cases, later immigrants from other European countries in turn displaced the earlier German settlers. But, German settlers also established new settlements as railroad lands were sold and as large, old plantations and ranches were broken up for farmlands. By this time, overseas, as well as overland, transportation had been improved, with railroads advancing from the coast toward the developed areas of the state. German settlers of this period were not only the poor and deprived peasants, but also members of the craftsman, merchant and professional classes.
Later German immigrants settled in New Baden
, Anderson
, Pflugerville
, Dessau, Westphalia
, McGregor
, Coryell, Thorndale
, Copperas Cove
, The Grove
, Womack, Tours, and Malone
, all in Central Texas; from Rosenberg
to Damon
in East Bernard, Schulenburg
, Weimar
, Yorktown
, Meyersville
, Deutschburg, Ganado
, Vatmann, Woodsboro
, Tivoli
, between Tynan
and Skidmore
, in Orange Grove
, Violet
, and Fashing, all in Southeast Texas
or near the Coastal Bend.
Not all the German settlers came directly from Germany; they also migrated from other parts of Texas, from other parts of the United States, and neighboring Mexico those from the latter left during Mexican Revolution
and include Mennonites. Some such settlements include Muenster
, Lindsay
, Pilot Point
, Mount Carmel, Fulda, Olfen, Windthorst
, Rhineland
, Nazareth
, Umbarger
, Slaton
, and Scotland
. (In spite of its name, Scotland was a German settlement; it was a secondary settlement of Windthorst
, established on a subdivision of the Scotland Ranch–thus the name.) Marienfeld was renamed Stanton
; and New Brandenburg was renamed Old Glory
during the World War I anti-German hysteria. These settlements are in north and northwest Texas, on the High Plains
, and even into the Texas Panhandle
, forming a chain of "folk islands" in the cultural sea of Anglo Americans.
After 1900, German immigration to Texas decreased considerably. In times of economic downturn and worldwide wars, immigration from all countries nearly ceased. Following the World Wars, a considerable number of Germans were admitted to the United States, and many of these came to Texas, settling primarily in established cities and towns. By 1980, persons of German descent were the third largest ethnic group in Texas, exceeded only by persons claiming English-Irish and Hispanic
descent. Germans and Hispanics intermarried and mingled cultures from the time they settled during Spanish and Mexican times, and that influenced Tejano music
.
A map of present-day Texas shows a "German Belt" from Houston westward to the Fredericksburg vicinity in the Hill Country
. Yet, the German settlements are not only clustered in this band or belt; they are also scattered throughout nearly all parts of the large state of Texas.
. Many, whose ancestors were Hispanicized during Spanish and/or Mexican times or who have German ancestry from Mexico, speak Spanish, and some of the descendants of Mexican Mennonites speak Plautdietsch
.
Ethnic group
An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...
category that includes residents of the state of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
with German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
ancestry who identify with the term. This identification may include cultural agreements—German language
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, German cuisine
German cuisine
German cuisine is a style of cooking derived from the nation of Germany. It has evolved as a national cuisine through centuries of social and political change with variations from region to region. The southern regions of Germany, including Bavaria and neighbouring Swabia, share many dishes....
, feasts, music, hard work, frugality, and close family ties. From their first immigration to Texas in the 1830s, the Germans tended to cluster in ethnic enclaves. A majority settled in a broad, fragmented belt across the south central part of the state, especially in the Texas Hill Country
Texas Hill Country
The Texas Hill Country is a vernacular term applied to a region of Central Texas featuring tall rugged hills consisting of thin layers of soil atop limestone or granite. It also includes the Llano Uplift and the second largest granite monadnock in the United States, Enchanted Rock, which is located...
.
History
A large portion of the early settlers were Forty-eightersForty-Eighters
The Forty-Eighters were Europeans who participated in or supported the revolutions of 1848 that swept Europe. In Germany, the Forty-Eighters favored unification of the German people, a more democratic government, and guarantees of human rights...
, who dispersed into areas of Central Texas, where, after a period of activism during the 1850s, Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, and Reconstruction, they lived in relative obscurity as teachers, civil servants, merchants, farmers, and ranchers.
German Americans were the largest group of immigrants during the 19th century, outnumbering both English and Irish immigrants, making German Americans the largest ethnic group
Ethnic group
An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
today.
The immigrants were as diverse as Germany itself, except that very few aristocrats or upper middle class businessmen arrived. For example, consider Texas, with about 20,000 German Texans in the 1850s:
The Germans who settled Texas were diverse in many ways. They included peasant farmers and intellectuals; Protestants, Catholics, Jews, and atheists; Prussians, Saxons, Hessians, and Alsatians; abolitionists and slave owners; farmers and townsfolk; frugal, honest folk. They differed in dialect, customs, and physical features. A majority had been farmers in Germany, and most arrived seeking economic opportunities. A few dissident intellectuals fleeing the 1848 revolutions sought political freedom, but few, save perhaps the WendsWendsWends is a historic name for West Slavs living near Germanic settlement areas. It does not refer to a homogeneous people, but to various peoples, tribes or groups depending on where and when it is used...
, went for religious freedom. The German settlements in Texas reflected their diversity. Even in the confined area of the Hill Country, each valley offered a different kind of German. The Llano valley had stern, teetotaling German Methodists, who renounced dancing and fraternal organizations; the Pedernales valley had fun-loving, hardworking Lutherans and Catholics who enjoyed drinking and dancing; and the Guadalupe valley had atheist Germans descended from intellectual political refugees. The scattered German ethnic islands were also diverse. These small enclaves included Lindsay in Cooke County, largely Westphalian Catholic; Waka in Ochiltree County, Midwestern Mennonite; Hurnville in Clay County, Russian German Baptist; and Lockett in Wilbarger County, Wendish Lutheran.
Early immigrants
Although there were a few Germans in Texas when the area was under SpanishSpain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
rule, the first permanent settlement of Germans was at Industry, in Austin County. It was established by Friedrich Ernst
Friedrich Diercks
Friedrich Diercks was born on June 18, 1796, at Burg Gödens near the village of Neustadtgödens. In February 1814 he joined the Oldenburg Regiment of the Duke of Oldenburg, and he remained a soldier until June 1819. In 1831, Friedrich Diercks received land at Mill Creek in Austin County and began...
and Charles Fordtran in the early 1830s, when the area was under Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
rule. Ernst wrote a letter to a friend in his native town Oldenburg, which was published in the newspaper there. His description of Texas was so influential in attracting German immigrants to that area that he is remembered as "The Father of German Immigration to Texas".
These first immigrants settled in Austin, Colorado, Fayette, and Washington counties. Among the communities in that area considered German towns were Mill Creek, Biegel, La Grange
La Grange, Texas
La Grange is a city in Fayette County, Texas, near the Colorado River. The population was 4,478 at the 2000 census. The 2006 estimated population was 4,645. But a 2010 census estimated that the city had a population of 4,923...
, Fayetteville
Fayetteville, Texas
Fayetteville is a city in Fayette County, Texas, roughly halfway between Austin and Houston. The population was 261 at the 2000 census.The town is about twelve miles east of La Grange and U.S. Highway 77; it is about twelve miles north of Borden and Interstate 10.-History:Fayetteville's first...
, Cat Spring, Bellville
Bellville, Texas
Bellville is a city in and the county seat of Austin County, Texas, United States, located in the southeastern part of the state. The population was 3,794 at the 2000 census. Bellville was named for Thomas Bell, one of Stephen F. Austin's earliest colonists, after he and his brother James Bell...
, Frelsburg, New Ulm
New Ulm, Texas
New Ulm, Texas is an unincorporated community in Austin County, Texas, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had an estimated population of 650 in 2000...
, Bernardo, Shelby
Shelby, Texas
Shelby is an unincorporated town in Austin County, Texas, United States. Shelby was settled in the early 1840s. The community was named for David Shelby, one of the first settlers in the area. Most of the early residents were members of Adelsverein, and for a time the community was identified with...
, Ross Prairie, Millheim, Shiner, West, New Braunfels, Luckenbach, Gruene, Fredericksburg, Groesbeck, Boerne, Schulenburg, Weimar, Muenster, and Berlin. Some of the names are German and some are English because some of these were originally settled and named by Anglo-Americans from the United States. Others were settled by German immigrants and some were founded by Germans.
Farming
The Germans that established themselves in Texas and became the largest European community to do so in 19th Century Texas. The Germans were regarded as superior farmers by their American counterparts. There had long been a popular belief in the United States that farmers of German origin were superior to the native inhabitants as tillers of the soil. The Germans were regarded as thrifty and industrious people, rapidly accumulating property and adding to the productive wealth of the country.1840s
In the 1840s, the social, economic, and technological conditions in Germany, coupled with the availability of lands in frontier Texas, created an ideal climate for an influx of immigrants. In 1842, a group of German noblemen formed the Verein zum Schutz deutscher Einwanderer in Texas (English: Group for the Protection of German immigrants in Texas), called the Verein or the Adelsverein, to secure land in Texas for immigrants. The Verein obtained a grant of 3800000 acres (15,378.1 km²) in west-central Texas from Henry Fisher and Burchard MillerBurchard Miller
Burchard Miller, was one of the many persons interested in the 1840s in securing land grants from the Republic of Texas for colonization enterprises...
, thus known as the Fisher-Miller Land Grant
Fisher-Miller Land Grant
The Fisher-Miller Land Grant was part of an early colonization effort of the Republic of Texas. Its 3,878,000 acres covered between the Llano River and Colorado River. Originally granted to Henry Francis Fisher and Burchard Miller, the grant was sold to the German colonization company of Adelsverein...
. Prospective settlers were promised 320 acres (1.3 km²) of land for a married man or 160 acre (0.6474976 km²) for a single man, plus transportation across the ocean and to the land; a house, household furnishings, utensils, and farming equipment; churches, hospitals, roads and general provisions for their welfare.
Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels
Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels
Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels , was a German prince and military officer in both the Austrian army and in the cavalry of the Grand Duchy of Hesse. As Commissioner General of the Adelsverein, he spearheaded the establishment of colonies of German immigrants in Texas...
preceded the group to prepare for the arrival of the colonists. He realized that the huge land grant could not be settled immediately because it was too far from the coast and from existing settlements for transportation and supply, and so he established the town of New Braunfels as a way station to the Fisher-Miller lands. Prince Carl returned to his homeland, and was succeeded by Baron Ottfried Hans von Meusebach, who discarded his title upon arrival in Texas, and became known as John O. Meusebach
John O. Meusebach
John O. Meusebach , born Baron Otfried Hans von Meusebach, was at first a Prussian bureaucrat, later an American farmer and politician who served in the Texas Senate, District 22.-Early years:John O...
. When it became evident that large numbers of expected settlers could not be located at New Braunfels, Meusebach laid out another settlement and named it Fredericksburg
Fredericksburg
Fredericksburg may refer to a location in the United States:*Fredericksburg, California*Fredericksburg, Indiana*Fredericksburg, Iowa*Fredericksburg, Ohio*Fredericksburg, Pennsylvania , various places*Fredericksburg, Texas...
. About this time, it became clear that the grant of land was not suitable for settlement: the soil was not fertile enough for farming, and large numbers of Comanche Indians inhabited the area.
In the meantime, thousands of immigrants were en route to their promised lands when the war between the United States and Mexico broke out. Due to the war, all means of transportation were needed by the Army, which left thousands of German immigrants stranded on the Texas Coast. Many perished from exposure to the elements and disease, but some made the long overland trip, even on foot, to New Braunfels and to Fredericksburg. Some remained in the coastal towns and in the earlier-established settlements.
About this time, the Adelsverein, always underfunded, was bankrupt. When Texas became part of the United States, the state government awarded certificates of land to immigrants due lands in the Fisher Miller Grant. The treaties that Meusebach made with the Comanches opened the land for future settlement. Other German settlements in this part of the Texas Hill Country include Boerne
Boerne, Texas
Boerne is a city in the Hill Country of Texas in the United States. It is the county seat of Kendall County. Boerne was named in honor of Ludwig Börne, a Jewish German author and publicist, and its population was 10, 471 in the 2010 census. The city is noted for the landmark U.S. Supreme Court...
, Comfort
Comfort, Texas
Comfort is a census-designated place in Kendall County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,363 at the 2010 census. It is part of the San Antonio Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
, Kerrville
Kerrville, Texas
Kerrville is a city in Kerr County, Texas, United States. The population was 20,425 at the 2000 census. In 2009, the population was 22,826...
, Castell
Castell, Texas
Castell is a small unincorporated riverside town in Llano County, Texas, United States. Located in the heart of the Texas Hill Country, its northern border is formed by the Llano River. Designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1964, Marker number 9440....
, Hilda, and Luckenbach
Luckenbach, Texas
Luckenbach is an unincorporated community thirteen miles from Fredericksburg in southeastern Gillespie County, Texas, United States, part of the Texas Hill Country. It consists of between South Grape Creek and Snail Creek, just south of U.S. Highway 290 on the south side of Farm to Market Road...
.
Meanwhile, the European revolutions of 1848 brought talented and well-educated Germans to Texas; these are known as the "Forty-Eighters". Some of these gathered in "Latin Settlements" to pursue common interests in music, literature, philosophy, and theoretical politics. Such settlements included Latium
Latium, Texas
Latium , is an unincorporated community in Washington County, Texas, United States. It is one of five Latin Settlements founded by German Texan political refugees in Texas after 1848....
, Bettina across the Llano River from Castell, and Sisterdale in Kendall County
Kendall County, Texas
Kendall County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2008 census, its population was 32,886. Its seat is Boerne....
. Most of these settlements did not last long, and the Forty-Eighters moved into the larger cities, notably San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
, Houston, and Galveston
Galveston, Texas
Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...
. Each of these had a population that was about one-third German.
Post-Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
disrupted travel, shipping, commerce, and communication, so that immigration from Europe was brought to a halt. Following the Civil War, Germans again came to Texas. In fact, more Germans came after the Civil War, from 1865 to 1880, than came in the entire 30-odd years of immigration before the war. But, the story of their immigration has not been remembered with the romance and flair of the Adelsverein
Adelsverein
Society for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas, better known as Adelsverein , organized on April 20, 1842, was a colonial attempt to establish a new Germany within the borders of Texas.-History:...
settlers, the ones who came with the Prince, the ones who suffered such tragedy in establishing their settlements.
These later immigrants generally came in smaller groups and had a tendency to settle in areas where other Germans were already active or to displace the previous Anglo-American population. In some cases, later immigrants from other European countries in turn displaced the earlier German settlers. But, German settlers also established new settlements as railroad lands were sold and as large, old plantations and ranches were broken up for farmlands. By this time, overseas, as well as overland, transportation had been improved, with railroads advancing from the coast toward the developed areas of the state. German settlers of this period were not only the poor and deprived peasants, but also members of the craftsman, merchant and professional classes.
Later German immigrants settled in New Baden
New Baden, Texas
New Baden is an unincorporated community in Robertson County, Texas, United States. New Baden is located on U.S. Route 79 east of Franklin.-History:...
, Anderson
Anderson, Texas
Anderson is a city in Grimes County, Texas, United States. The population was 280 in 2009. It is the county seat. The city and its surroundings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Anderson Historic District.-Geography:...
, Pflugerville
Pflugerville, Texas
Pflugerville is a city in Travis and Williamson counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 16,335 at the 2000 census. A July 1, 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimate placed the population at 39,653...
, Dessau, Westphalia
Westphalia, Texas
Westphalia is a small unincorporated German community in Falls County, Texas, United States located 35 miles south of Waco on state highway 320. Westphalia has a strong Catholic background. The Church of the Visitation was, until recently, the largest wooden church west of the Mississippi River...
, McGregor
McGregor, Texas
McGregor is a city in Coryell and McLennan Counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 4,727 at the 2000 census.McGregor lies in two counties as well as two metropolitan areas...
, Coryell, Thorndale
Thorndale, Texas
Thorndale is a city in Milam and Williamson counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 1,278 at the 2000 census; it was 1,316 in the 2007 census estimate.-Geography:...
, Copperas Cove
Copperas Cove, Texas
Copperas Cove is a city located in central Texas at the southern corner of Coryell County, with city limits extending into neighboring Bell and Lampasas Counties. Founded in 1879 as a small ranching and farming community, today the city is the largest in Coryell County, with more than 30,000...
, The Grove
The Grove, Texas
The Grove is an unincorporated community in Coryell County, Texas, United States. It is located some sixteen miles southeast of Gatesville, Texas in the eastern portion of the county.The Grove is located on Texas State Highway 36....
, Womack, Tours, and Malone
Malone, Texas
Malone is a town in Hill County in Central Texas. The population was 278 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Malone is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all of it land....
, all in Central Texas; from Rosenberg
Rosenberg, Texas
Rosenberg is a city located in the U.S. state of Texas within Fort Bend County and is part of the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. The population was 31,676 at the 2010 census...
to Damon
Damon, Texas
Damon is a census-designated place in Brazoria County, Texas, United States. The population was 535 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Damon is located at ....
in East Bernard, Schulenburg
Schulenburg, Texas
Schulenburg is a city in Fayette County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,699 at the 2000 census.Known for its German culture, Schulenburg is home of the Texas Polka Music Museum.-Geography:Schulenburg is located at ....
, Weimar
Weimar, Texas
Weimar is a city in Colorado County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,981 at the 2000 census.In 1873 the town was founded as Jackson, but subsequently called Weimar in tribute to the German city of Weimar....
, Yorktown
Yorktown, Texas
Yorktown is a city in DeWitt County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,271 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Yorktown is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....
, Meyersville
Meyersville, Texas
Meyersville is an unincorporated community in DeWitt County, Texas, United States.The Meyersville Independent School District serves area students in grades kindergarten through eight. Ninth through twelfth grade students attend Cuero High School in the Cuero Independent School District....
, Deutschburg, Ganado
Ganado, Texas
Ganado is a city in Jackson County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,915 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Ganado is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....
, Vatmann, Woodsboro
Woodsboro, Texas
Woodsboro is a town in Refugio County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,685 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Woodsboro is located at ....
, Tivoli
Tivoli, Texas
Tivoli is an unincorporated community in Refugio County, Texas, United States. It takes its name from the town of Tivoli in the Lazio region of central Italy.The Austwell-Tivoli Independent School District serves area students.-External links:...
, between Tynan
Tynan, Texas
Tynan is a census-designated place in Bee County, Texas, United States. The population was 301 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Tynan is located at ....
and Skidmore
Skidmore, Texas
Skidmore is a census-designated place in Bee County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,013 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Skidmore is located at ....
, in Orange Grove
Orange Grove, Texas
Orange Grove is a city in Jim Wells County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,288 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Orange Grove is located at ....
, Violet
Violet, Texas
Violet is a small unincorporated community with a population of around 40 in Nueces County, Texas, United States. It lies along State Highway 44 between the cities of Corpus Christi and Robstown....
, and Fashing, all in Southeast Texas
Southeast Texas
Southeast Texas is a subregion of East Texas located in the southeast corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The subregion is geographically centered around the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown and Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan areas...
or near the Coastal Bend.
Not all the German settlers came directly from Germany; they also migrated from other parts of Texas, from other parts of the United States, and neighboring Mexico those from the latter left during Mexican Revolution
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution was a major armed struggle that started in 1910, with an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio Díaz. The Revolution was characterized by several socialist, liberal, anarchist, populist, and agrarianist movements. Over time the Revolution...
and include Mennonites. Some such settlements include Muenster
Muenster, Texas
Muenster is a city in Cooke County, Texas, United States, along U.S. Route 82. The population was 1,556 at the 2000 census.-History:In 1887 the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad constructed a line from Gainesville to Henrietta that passed through the site that would become Muenster...
, Lindsay
Lindsay, Texas
Lindsay, Texas may refer to:*Lindsay, Cooke County, Texas*Lindsay, Reeves County, Texas...
, Pilot Point
Pilot Point, Texas
Pilot Point is a city in Denton County, Texas, United States. The population was 3,538 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Pilot Point is located at ....
, Mount Carmel, Fulda, Olfen, Windthorst
Windthorst, Texas
Windthorst is a town in Archer and Clay counties in the U.S. state of Texas. It is part of the Wichita Falls, Texas Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 440 at the 2000 census. The town is named for Ludwig Windthorst, a Catholic statesman in Germany.Windthorst is the home of the St...
, Rhineland
Rhineland, Texas
Rhineland is an unincorporated community in Knox County, Texas, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had an estimated population of 100.-Geography:Rhineland is located at...
, Nazareth
Nazareth, Texas
Nazareth is a city in Castro County, Texas, United States. The population was 356 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Nazareth is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land.-History:...
, Umbarger
Umbarger, Texas
Umbarger is an unincorporated community in Randall County, Texas, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had an estimated population of 327 in 2000. The community is part of the Amarillo, Texas Metropolitan Statistical Area....
, Slaton
Slaton, Texas
Slaton is a city in Lubbock County, Texas, United States. The population was 6,109 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Lubbock Metropolitan Statistical Area.Slaton is named for Lubbock rancher and banker O.L. Slaton, Sr...
, and Scotland
Scotland, Texas
Scotland is a city in Archer County in the U.S. state of Texas. It is part of the Wichita Falls, Texas Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 438 at the 2000 census. The town is named for its founder, Henry J. Scott....
. (In spite of its name, Scotland was a German settlement; it was a secondary settlement of Windthorst
Windthorst, Texas
Windthorst is a town in Archer and Clay counties in the U.S. state of Texas. It is part of the Wichita Falls, Texas Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 440 at the 2000 census. The town is named for Ludwig Windthorst, a Catholic statesman in Germany.Windthorst is the home of the St...
, established on a subdivision of the Scotland Ranch–thus the name.) Marienfeld was renamed Stanton
Stanton, Texas
Stanton is a city in and the county seat of Martin County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,556 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Stanton is located at ....
; and New Brandenburg was renamed Old Glory
Old Glory, Texas
Old Glory is an unincorporated community in Stonewall County, Texas, United States. The community has an estimated population of 100.-Geography:Old Glory is located at . It is situated immediately south of the junction of U.S...
during the World War I anti-German hysteria. These settlements are in north and northwest Texas, on the High Plains
High Plains (United States)
The High Plains are a subregion of the Great Plains mostly in the Western United States, but also partly in the Midwest states of Nebraska, Kansas, and South Dakota, generally encompassing the western part of the Great Plains before the region reaches the Rocky Mountains...
, and even into the Texas Panhandle
Texas Panhandle
The Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. The panhandle is a rectangular area bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east...
, forming a chain of "folk islands" in the cultural sea of Anglo Americans.
After 1900, German immigration to Texas decreased considerably. In times of economic downturn and worldwide wars, immigration from all countries nearly ceased. Following the World Wars, a considerable number of Germans were admitted to the United States, and many of these came to Texas, settling primarily in established cities and towns. By 1980, persons of German descent were the third largest ethnic group in Texas, exceeded only by persons claiming English-Irish and Hispanic
Tejano
Tejano or Texano is a term used to identify a Texan of Mexican heritage.Historically, the Spanish term Tejano has been used to identify different groups of people...
descent. Germans and Hispanics intermarried and mingled cultures from the time they settled during Spanish and Mexican times, and that influenced Tejano music
Tejano music
Tejano music or Tex-Mex music is the name given to various forms of folk and popular music originating among the Mexican-American populations of Central and Southern Texas...
.
A map of present-day Texas shows a "German Belt" from Houston westward to the Fredericksburg vicinity in the Hill Country
Texas Hill Country
The Texas Hill Country is a vernacular term applied to a region of Central Texas featuring tall rugged hills consisting of thin layers of soil atop limestone or granite. It also includes the Llano Uplift and the second largest granite monadnock in the United States, Enchanted Rock, which is located...
. Yet, the German settlements are not only clustered in this band or belt; they are also scattered throughout nearly all parts of the large state of Texas.
Early 20th Century to World War 1
Between the settlement of the Germans in Texas in the late 1830s and Reconstruction, Germans in Texas and the United States were a well-respected immigrant group. Their prosperous businesses and farming techniques made them valuable assets to their new country. However, with the onslaught of the Industrial Revolution, syndicalists and an even greater influx of European immigrants by the beginning of the Twentieth Century, an American Anglo-Saxon feeling of distress grew towards this group of immigrants as they were hard to assimilate. This was considered an affront to the American way of life. The clannish appearance they projected through their concentrated settlement annoyed many Texans, as did their retention of German culture. In many communities German was the language of religious, educational, and commercial affairs. As many as 75,000 to 100,000 German Texans may have still used German predominantly or exclusively in 1910, and in 1914 twenty-four German-language newspapers in Texas claimed a combined circulation of over 70,000.World War I not only intensified fears that the "melting pot" was failing, but also broadened this concern to include German Americans as a suspect ethnic group. Before the war, German Americans were one of the most respected immigrant groups in America, having achieved success in many spheres. Brewery magnate Adolf Busch, intellectual and U.S. Senator Carl Schurz, and financier John D. Rockefeller were among the German Americans who had risen to prominence in the United States. Significantly, German Americans acquired their favorable reputation despite being the ethnic group most resistant to assimilation.
Language
Most German Texans speak English; only a few of them speak a different German dialect called Texas GermanTexas German
Texas German is a dialect of the German language that is spoken by descendants of German immigrants who settled in the Texas Hill Country region in the mid-19th century. These immigrants founded the towns of New Braunfels, Fredericksburg, Boerne, Schulenburg, Weimar, Walburg, and Comfort...
. Many, whose ancestors were Hispanicized during Spanish and/or Mexican times or who have German ancestry from Mexico, speak Spanish, and some of the descendants of Mexican Mennonites speak Plautdietsch
Plautdietsch
Plautdietsch, or Mennonite Low German, was originally a Low Prussian variety of East Low German, with Dutch influence, that developed in the 16th and 17th centuries in the Vistula delta area of Royal Prussia, today Polish territory. The word is another pronunciation of Plattdeutsch, or Low German...
.
See also
- List of German Texans
- Ethnic GermanEthnic GermanEthnic Germans historically also ), also collectively referred to as the German diaspora, refers to people who are of German ethnicity. Many are not born in Europe or in the modern-day state of Germany or hold German citizenship...
- Giddings Deutsches VolksblattGiddings Deutsches VolksblattThe Giddings Deutsches Volksblatt was a trilingual German-American newspaper published in Giddings, Texas. Most of the content was in German, while many stories were in English and some short supplements were in Wendish . In early years of publication, the newspaper included a Sorbian supplement...
- German PalatinesGerman PalatinesThe German Palatines were natives of the Electoral Palatinate region of Germany, although a few had come to Germany from Switzerland, the Alsace, and probably other parts of Europe. Towards the end of the 17th century and into the 18th, the wealthy region was repeatedly invaded by French troops,...
- Pennsylvania DutchPennsylvania DutchPennsylvania Dutch refers to immigrants and their descendants from southwestern Germany and Switzerland who settled in Pennsylvania in the 17th and 18th centuries...
- History of GermanyHistory of GermanyThe concept of Germany as a distinct region in central Europe can be traced to Roman commander Julius Caesar, who referred to the unconquered area east of the Rhine as Germania, thus distinguishing it from Gaul , which he had conquered. The victory of the Germanic tribes in the Battle of the...
- German in the United StatesGerman in the United StatesAround 1.38 million Americans speak German. It is the second most spoken language in two states: North Dakota and South Dakota.In the United States, German is third in popularity after Spanish and French in terms of the number of colleges and universities offering instruction in the language.-...
- Immigration to the United StatesImmigration to the United StatesImmigration to the United States has been a major source of population growth and cultural change throughout much of the history of the United States. The economic, social, and political aspects of immigration have caused controversy regarding ethnicity, economic benefits, jobs for non-immigrants,...
- TejanoTejanoTejano or Texano is a term used to identify a Texan of Mexican heritage.Historically, the Spanish term Tejano has been used to identify different groups of people...
Further reading
- Biesele, Rudolph Leopold, The History of the German Settlements in Texas: 1831-1861. 1930, 1964. Reprint, San Marcos: German-Texan Heritage Society, 1987.
- Jordan, Terry G.Terry G. Jordan-BychkovTerry G. Jordan-Bychkov was a Professor at the Department of Geography and the Environment at University of Texas at Austin.-Early life:...
The German Settlement of Texas after 1865. Southwestern Historical Quarterly. Vol. 73, No. 2, Oct. 1969, pp. 193–212. - Jordan, Terry G.Terry G. Jordan-BychkovTerry G. Jordan-Bychkov was a Professor at the Department of Geography and the Environment at University of Texas at Austin.-Early life:...
German Seed in Texas Soil: Immigrant Farmers in Nineteenth-Century Texas. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1966, 1975, etc. - Lich, Glen E. The German Texans. San Antonio: University of Texas at San Antonio Institute of Texan Cultures, 1981; revised, 1996.
- Lonn, Ella Foreigners in the Confederacy. First published in 1940, it remains the only work on the subject, republished February 2002
- The German Texans. San Antonio: University of Texas Institute of Texan Cultures at San Antonio, 1970, 1987. (Pamphlet in the "Texians and Texans" series)