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Immigrant Henry Doering established
his general store in 1882, and in 1886
the community was named Walburg
after his birthplace in Germany. This
store now houses the Walburg German
Restaurant, host of the annual Wurstfest
celebration.
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE TEXAS STATE ARCHIVES
self-described “free thinkers” established negotiated a peace treaty guaranteeing from Deutschland, while hundreds in
communities such as Castell, Schoenburg, mutual respect and traffic between Ger- the Hill Country spoke a unique dialect
Comfort and Meerholz. Advocating democ- man settlers and the Penateka Comanche. known as Texas German. Of the state’s
racy, freedom from religion, liberal arts It remains the only Native American trea- 34 newspapers circulating daily in 1890,
and intellectual discourse, this group built ty in United States history never broken 18 were German-language publications.
free schools, became master woodwork- by either side. Texas-German culture was at its zenith
ers and published numerous independent – a dominant, commanding force in a fast-
newspapers. Along with representatives By the 1880 census, over 40,000 Ger- growing, increasingly wealthy state.
of the Adelsverein, this group successfully mans were living in Texas. A full one-
third of San Antonio’s population hailed Time, however, ultimately took its toll.
The flood of immigrants seen in the 1800s
slowed to a trickle. The German who had
merely been unpopular during the Civil
War became “the enemy” in World War I.
Laws were passed mandating all schools
be taught in English. Many Schmidts be-
came Smiths. In this violent, paranoid
environment, many of Texas’ Germans
scrambled to appear more Texan than
German. WWII poured more fuel onto
this nationalist fire, with groups like the
KKK militantly monitoring citizens for
“100% Americanism.” Communities as-
similated and each generation became
further removed from their German-born
forefathers. Fortunately, a number of
groups have popped up throughout Cen-
tral Texas dedicated to preserving and
perpetuating German culture – including
one group right here in Sun City Texas.
The German Club of Sun City Texas has
been dedicated to sharing and celebrating
German culture for the past five years.
The group began organically, with resi-
Continued on the next page
ONLINE: SCTEXAS.ORG Established in 1875 and rebuilt in 1928,
services at Pflugerville’s Immanuel
Evangelical Lutheran Church were held
exclusively in German until the 1940s.
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