German Heritage Walking/Driving Tour Downtown Austin, Texas
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German Heritage Walking/Driving Tour Downtown Austin, Texas Saengerfest (statewide singing contest), Austin 1889 Willkommen! Explore Texas’ German Heritage in Austin The first concerted effort to bring German settlers to Texas came in 1831, when Johann Friedrich Ernst (aka Friedrich Dirks), from the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, received a grant of more than 4,000 acres in Stephen F. Austin’s colony. He and his family were on a ship from New York to New Orleans and planned to move to Missouri, but changed their destination when they learned of favorable conditions in Texas. Within a generation, a wide swath of the state from the coastal plain to the Hill Country included dozens of German-settled towns; later generations of Germans also settled in North Texas. Many of these place names, including New Ulm, Frelsburg, Bleiblerville, Oldenburg, Weimar, Schulenburg, Gruene, New Braunfels, Boerne, Fredericksburg and Luckenbach, still dot the map today. There are many examples of German heritage still visible on the Texas landscape, from dance halls and shooting clubs to churches and schools. This walking tour takes you through downtown Austin and the Capitol Complex area, highlighting historic German homes and businesses, some still vibrant and some long passed to modern development. The Texas Historical Commission hopes you will take this opportunity to celebrate the generations of German immigrants who have helped shape the state of Texas. Learn about other German- Texan heritage sites across the state at texashistoryapp.com Stops along the tour route. 1. Turner Hall 11. Kreisle Building 2. Bertram Store 12. J.P. Schneider Store 3. Wahrenberger House 13. F. Weigl Iron Works 4. Goodman Building 14. Hofheintz-Reissig Store 5. Mauthe-Myrick Mansion 15. Joseph and Susanna Dickinson Hannig 6. Fischer House House 7. Texas Military Institute 16. Hannig Building 8. Henry H. and Bertha Sterzing Ziller 17. German Free School House 18. Old General Land Office Building 9. Henry Hirschfeld House and Cottage 19. Scholz Garten 10. Walter Tips Building STOP 1: Turner Hall, 201 W. 18th Street (now Scottish Rite Theater) This building has a history that dates to 1872, when the Scottish Rite Society built Turner Hall. It served as a men's club and exercise facility (turnen = to do physical exercises, in German). In 1914, the Ben Hur Temple bought the building with the intention of building a training center for its members. Shortly thereafter, the Scottish Rite bodies of Austin decided that they should build a "cathedral" on the site. They bought the Ben Hur Temple for $15,000 and in 1915 the building was dedicated. The building served to state cultural events with an auditorium seating 800. A handsome pipe organ was installed, and it served the Shriners of Austin for many years. The building is unique in circa 1914 that it blends southwest mission style of architecture with Arabic accents. It is a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark (RTHL). STOP 2: The Bertram Store, 1602 Guadalupe Street (now Clay Pit Restaurant) Rudolph Bertram arrived in Austin in 1853 and began a trading post. In 1880 he began a wholesale grocery business, saloon and general store (1st floor) that served Austin for decades. Living quarters were on the second floor. During the 1880s the Treasury of the Capitol was stored in the wine cellar. The town of Bertram (Burnet County) was named for Rudolph Bertram. The building is currently the Clay Pit Restaurant. The Bertram Store Building is a City of Austin landmark and listed in the National Register of Historic Places. STOP 3: Wahrenberger House, 208 W. 14th Street Mr. Jacob Bickler's school for boys, the Texas German and English Academy, occupied the house from 1880 to 1886. Later, the Wahrenberger house was used to house female students of the German-American Ladies College (1873). It served as a boarding house and school for the young ladies for only five years. One of the descendants of Charles Klein, original owner of the property, John Wahrenberger, a skilled baker, who married Charles Klein's daughter, Caroline. He came to Texas from Switzerland in 1839. He fought the Indians and became one of the first permanent citizens of Austin. John Wahrenberger operated a bakery on Congress Avenue for years. John and Caroline Wahrenberger's daughter, Mary, received her formal education in Switzerland and returned to live in the house and raise her family with the help of her husband, H. E. Lindeman. STOP 4: Goodman Building, 202 W. 13th Street This two-story brick Victorian structure located only a block from the Capitol grounds was constructed in the 1880s or early 1890s for Joseph Goodman, who operated a grocery in the building until 1924. Jacob Bickler's German and English Academy, an elite preparatory school, was on the upper floor for a short time in the early 1890s. Bickler was a teacher and school administrator who was born in Sobernheim, Germany, and is buried in Oakwood Cemetery. The Cloak Room bar has operated in the basement for decades. The building is a City of Austin Landmark, Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. STOP 5: The Mauthe-Myrick Mansion, 408 West 14th Street (now Texas Cotton Ginners’ Association headquarters) Rafael Mauthe (1820-79), a German stonemason, built this house in 1877 on land purchased from the noted architect Abner Cook in 1856. Mauthe came from Sprachlingen, Wurttemberg, and settled in Austin in 1850. His wife, Mary Edwin, was Swedish. They had three sons, William, August, Henry, and daughter Matilda. Several houses were built on this property and from the census records it appears that the houses were rented out to family members on Mary's side of the family and later to local families. Much later, a boarding house for UT students was operated on the property by Mrs. N. L. Dill, originally from Goliad. In 1898 the home was sold to Anne Katherine Brown Myrick (d. 1947), the daughter of Texas Supreme Court Justice T.J. Brown, who also lived here. The ornate porch added in 1903-04, features detailing of the Greek Revival and Classical styles. The Mauthe - Myrick House is a City of Austin landmark and an RTHL. STOP 6: Fischer House, 1008 West Avenue Born in Prussia (a German kingdom), Joseph Fischer (1826–1889) built this house in 1882 with the help of his son Francis. Both were notable stonemasons, and it served as their office and residence for the family. Built in the High Victorian Italianate style, the house showcases their craftsmanship in elaborate ornamentation of brick and native limestone. It remained in the family until it was sold as part of the estate of Francis' wife Katherine in 1938. Since then, the building has been a residence, barbershop, bookstore, and office. It’s a City of Austin Historic Landmark, Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, and National Register-listed property. STOP 7: Texas Military Institute, 1111 W. 11th Street (now Castle Hill Partners, located above the Austin Graffiti Park) After the Civil War, the 5th Military District was formed in Texas and Louisiana as part of Reconstruction. The Texas Military Institute (TMI) was founded for the purpose of training young men to serve in this military district. Originally founded in Bastrop in 1868, TMI later moved to this site. When the school was opened in 1870, the original campus was 32 acres. The castle-like building was modeled after the Virginia Military Institute and West Point and contained lecture rooms. Other buildings on campus included a professors' residency, mess hall, barracks, hospital, and other outlying buildings that served the school. TMI operated for ten years, but dissolved because of the rise of public education in Texas. A few years later, Jacob Bickler moved his Texas German and English Academy to this site (1893–97). In 1890, the porch that wraps the north and east sides of the building was added. The building is currently privately owned. It’s a City of Austin Landmark and Recorded Texas Historic Landmark. STOP 8: Henry H. and Bertha Sterzing Ziller House, 1110 Blanco Street Henry Ziller (1853–1924) and Bertha Sterzing Ziller (1857–1900) were both members of families who immigrated to Austin from Germany. They married in 1876 and purchased this circa 1877 home in 1881. After about 10 years, they began making additions and modifications, including the ornate Eastlake-style ornamentation on the porches. The house is a City of Austin Landmark, Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, and National Register-listed property. STOP 9: Henry Hirshfeld House and Cottage, 303 West 9th Street Henry Hirshfeld was born in 1834 at Schneidermuche, Posen, Germany. He emigrated to the United States from Germany at the age of 15. He served in the Texas Military Brigade as a private under Gen. E. S. C. Robertson in Georgetown, Texas. By 1866, Hirshfeld was living in Austin as the proprietor of Capital Clothing Company at Sixth and Congress Avenue. He married Jennie Melasky in 1868, whose father was also in the dry goods business. A successful merchant, by 1871 he was the first vice president appointed to the new Board of Trade by Governor Davis. He was a leader in Austin’s Jewish community, a charter member of the Mason's Hill City Lodge, and a leading member of the Austin Sängerrunde. In 1873 he built a one-story limestone cottage on the lot west of this site. Because of the financial success and a growing family, they later made plans for a larger home here. Construction of this two-story brick and cut stone house began in 1885 and the family moved in a year after completion.