GERMAN TRADITIONS

Fredericksburg and Gillespie County residents still honor many traditions that were held over from the original settlers. German was the primary language of the Fredericksburg area until the 1940’s.

The Schuetzenfest, or target shooting festival, is a tradition brought over from Germany in 1846. The Schuetzenfest was a highlight of early life and provided a means of recreation and fellowship. The original competitions were between men of the community and then between other communities. The Schuetzenfest always took place on the full moon nearest the first of August each year. The winner of the competition is crowned as Schuetzenkoenig (shooting king). Many members of the original families still compete in these competitions.

Another tradition that continues to this day is the Saengerfests, or singing festivals. These are celebrations of a German singing tradition. The members of the singing clubs meet weekly to share camaraderie as well as practice traditional German songs. The Saengerfest tradition in Fredericksburg dates back to 1891.

Traditions such as wurst (sausage) making and wine making still continue. The original settlers used the native mustang grapes to produce wine. Many families still gather in the winter to make sausage.

Daryl Whitworth, Fredericksburg Visitors Bureau

THE FRIENDLIEST STREETS

Here’s an interesting fact about Fredericksburg: Even our street names are friendly.

If you start at the Marktplatz and go East along Main Street, take the first letter of each intersecting street and they will spell out ALL WELCOME

• Adams

• Llano

• Lincoln

• Washington

• Elk

• Lee

• Columbus

• Olive

• Mesquite

• Eagle

Then, if you start at the Marktplatz and go West along Main Street, take the first letter of each intersecting street and they will spell out COME BACK

• Crockett

• Orange

• Milam

• Edison

• Bowie

• Acorn

• Cherry

• Kay

Daryl Whitworth, Fredericksburg Visitors Bureau

The FREDERICKSBURG MAIBAUM
Marktplatz (Downtown Fredericksburg – 100 W. Main)

Maibaums (Maypoles) are erected in Bavarian villages for festivals and are later used as frameworks for symbols of the villages' histories or points of interest. The Fredericksburg Maibaum was erected in 1991 to symbolize the history of Fredericksburg, which was founded in May 1846.

The bottom symbols portray the March 2, 1847, peace negotiations between Comanche Indian tribes and the German pioneers. A group of settlers, led by John 0. Meusebach, traveled north, deep into Indian territory, and met with fifteen to twenty Comanche chiefs. The agreement they reached allowed the Fredericksburg colonists to develop their settlement in peace.

The cowboy and dancers on the second level portray the settlers working and celebrating.
The third level represents the grapes and peaches which have contributed so abundantly to the local economy.

The next level shows the importance of hunting deer, turkey and other wild game in the development of the colony as well as its importance in the area's present day economy.

Also playing a major role in Fredericksburg's past and present are cattle, sheep and goats which find plentiful grazing in the area.

The ship and oxcart on the next level portray the transportation of the pioneers in arriving at this colony. Most came by ship from Germany to Indianola, a port on Matagorda Bay, and then by oxcart overland to Fredericksburg.

The settlers established a unique community in Fredericksburg as symbolized by the Sunday Houses which dot the city and the historic Nimitz Hotel which serves today as the Admiral Nimitz Museum, key element of the National Museum of the Pacific War.

Two of the community's most-recognized features today are the replica of the Vereins Kirche, the first church, and the cross atop Cross Mountain. These symbolize the devotion of the early settlers to the Christian faith.

The twelve tree branches at the top of the Maibaum are modeled after the burr oak, a species that is notable for its stately height and durable, useful wood. The trunk and branches are wrought iron and the leaves are copper with a natural patina.

The Fredericksburg Maibaum was contributed to the community by the Pedernales Creative Arts Alliance, a local organization devoted to fostering the arts in this area. The Alliance annually produces the Oktoberfest, a family festival, on the first weekend in October.

Daryl Whitworth, Fredericksburg Visitors Bureau

Other Interesting Facts

Fredericksburg (German: Friedrichsburg) was founded in 1846 by Baron Otfried Hans von Meusebach, new Commissioner General of the "Society for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas", also known as the "Noblemen's Society" (in German: Mainzer Adelsverein), and named in honor of Prince Frederick of Prussia, nephew of Prussia's King Frederick William III, and highest ranking member of the Mainzer Adelsverein.

Baron von Meusebach renounced his noble title and became known in Texas as John O. Meusebach. Settled largely by liberal, educated Germans fleeing the failed Revolution of 1848, Gillespie County voted against secession prior to the American Civil War. Fredericksburg is also the home of the architect, Chester Nagel.

The town is also notable as the home of Texas German, a German dialect spoken by the first generations of settlers who initially refused to learn English. The German settlers of Fredericksburg acted independently of the region. They brokered a peace treaty with the Comanche tribe that has been honored for over a century and a half, making it one of the very few treaties with Native American tribes that was never broken.^[4]

Fredericksburg was an important part of the Pro-Union Texas resistance during the Civil War, facing ostracization from their neighbors who remained loyal to Texas. Its concentration of German-American settlers means that it shares many cultural characteristics with New Braunfels, another German Texan town.

Fredericksburg was the birthplace of Admiral Chester Nimitz, Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Pacific Forces in World War II. The hotel owned by Nimitz's grandfather has been converted into a museum, named the National Museum of the Pacific War honoring the men and women who served with Nimitz in the war. After the war, the Japanese government gave a Zen garden to the museum as a tribute to the Nimitz family.

The nearby much larger George Bush Gallery, which opened in 1999, is home to an I.J.N. Ko-hyoteki class midget submarine and an American B-25. The land for the Bush Gallery was bought from H-E-B Grocery. Money for the gallery was privately raised in the 1990s through the efforts of finance chairman Lee Bass and a board that included baseball star Nolan Ryan and Ernest Angelo, a former mayor of Midland. Admission tickets cover both museums.

Bush later reflected that "terrifying experiences" of war helped him to become a man: "I have often wondered why me, why was I spared when others died."^[5]

The 33rd U.S. Marine Corps Commandant, General Michael W. Hagee, graduated from Fredericksburg High School. General Hagee graduated with distinction from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1968 with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering. He also holds a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School and a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College. He is a graduate of the Command and Staff College and the U.S. Naval War College.

A fountain in the downtown plaza across from the Fredericksburg library honors civic leader Victor H. Sagebiel (1917-1977).

The first Texan officer killed in World War I was Louis John Jordan (1890-1918), a second lieutenant from Fredericksburg who was posthumously in 1924 awarded the Croix de Guerre. Private Sammy J. Vollmar (died June 1, 1967) was the first soldier from Gillespie County killed in the Vietnam War.

From Wiki with pernission