Willkommen to New Braunfels
By Fred Afflerbach
Winter, spring, summer or fall — you can always celebrate the spirit of Oktoberfest in New Braunfels. Although the official 2019 Oktoberfest runs from mid-September through the first week of October, there is plenty of German beer, sausage and oompah music year round at Krause’s Biergarten and Café. Visitors may want to stay late and book a room at one of the city’s many comfortable and quaint lodges.
Just a short walk from Krause’s, you can delve into the history of New Braunfels at the Sophienburg Museum and Archives. By watching a short documentary and viewing numerous exhibits with authentic artifacts, you will learn why and how German immigrants left their homeland to settle in the Texas frontier 170 years ago.
Although sampling German beer and sausage may sound like an adults-only party, New Braunfels is surprisingly kid friendly. While in town for the day or weekend, bring the youngsters over to Landa Park and let them run, climb and jump on four playscapes, enjoy a round of miniature golf and ride the small-scale train.
Krause’s Biergarten and Cafe
Back in 1938, Gene Krause opened Gene’s Place, a bar on the downtown plaza. Today, with a café, beer hall and beer garden, Krause’s can accommodate 700 folks. But it’s the cavern-like beer hall with rows of community seating, decorated with banners honoring original German immigrants to New Braunfels, that captures the essence of the original Hofbrauhouse in Munich. “Some people call it the airplane hanger. Some people call it the Quonset Hut. It has that style of metal work,” owner Ron Snider explains. “This place fills up, elbow to elbow, table to table. New Braunfels is the most German city in Texas.”
Krause’s serves 70 beers on tap, including some rare German imports and favorites from local and regional microbrewers. Among 11 sausage flavors, Krause’s serves one with a Texas twist — Jackalope. It’s made from 80 percent antelope and 20 percent rabbit. Krause’s chefs also bake their own bread and grind their own hamburger.
For the health conscious, they blend fresh fruit and vegetables into juices, and serve a vegan superfood salad. And be sure to browse Krause’s farmer’s market Saturday mornings next to the beer hall.
While planning your trip to New Braunfels, check Krause’s online calendar so you don’t miss events such as the beer stein-holding contest, called Masskrugstemmen. Men and women contestants hold at arms length a full beer stein, weighing 5.3 pounds, for as long as possible. Although it sounds like fun, don’t even dream of winning unless you can last at least 20 minutes. And the kicker: no drinking on the job.
IF YOU GO: 148 S. Castell Ave., New Braunfels. 830-625-2807 | KrausesCafe.com
Sophienburg Museum and Archives
Why would someone spend their life savings on a two-month, one-way cruise in cramped conditions, with food on the menu such as green peas, cross the Atlantic only to be greeted with a harsh overland voyage by ox and wagon?
The short answer: New Braunfels. But a fascinating, more in-depth explanation is readily available at the Sophienburg Museum and Archives, just a few blocks off the town square. Inside the museum, you can spend a day in the life of a circa 1840s German immigrant. Displays feature authentic tools, furniture and musical instruments that were brought over from Germany by people escaping life with little professional or social mobility.
Sophienburg is named in honor of a German princess, Sophie of Solm-Solm, who, ironically, never set foot in North America. Her fiancé, Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels, sailed to America in 1844 with the mission of founding a German community. He selected a hilltop near present-day downtown New Braunfels and named it Sophienburg.
But when he returned to Germany, she refused to leave. Prince Carl stayed home and married her, never returning to Texas. Executive director Tara Kohlenberg says the museum is a great conduit to understanding how New Braunfels came to be. “This is where New Braunfels came from. People today come to New Braunfels because it’s a really cool place. This is how it got to be a really cool place.”
IF YOU GO: Admission: $8 adults; $4 ages 12-18; $2 ages 6-12 and free under age 6.
401 W. Cole St., New Braunfels.
Open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday
830-629-1572 | Sophienburg.com
Landa Park
If you’re lucky and look with a keen eye, you may see a remarkable bit of acting at Landa Park. This stagecraft comes not from an actor at the amphitheater but from a bird called a killdeer. The killdeer is known for a stunt in which it limps along, feigning a broken wing, to lure predators away from its nest. This sort of natural treat, and many others, make a side trip to this shady haven a breath of fresh air.
Bring your lunch, or cook out on an open grill. Kick back in the shadow of a centuries-old oak tree. Listen to the soft gurgling of Comal Springs, the largest in the Southwest, as it courses through the park. Toss a Frisbee in the air. Take a hike on the Walking Arboretum Tour where “a living library” of 80 tree species is identified. Especially for the kids, Landa Park’s miniature golf course is open year-round. The miniature train runs weekends through fall and winter, full time in summer.
Back in the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration set up camp for two years and built retaining walls, concession stands and the Landa Haus, which is a special event center used today. That rustic style of architecture, using native building materials such as cedar and limestone, permeates the park, adding to its beauty.
IF YOU GO: 164 Landa Park Dr., New Braunfels. 830-221-4350 | NBTexas.org/156/Landa-Park
Prince Solms Inn
The Prince Solms Inn balances the charm and history of an historic, 120-year-old hotel with 21st century comfort. Relax on the upstairs deck overlooking downtown with your favorite libation or step outside to stroll in the heart of downtown, where restaurants and bars abound.
IF YOU GO: 295 E. San Antonio St., New Braunfels. 830-312-5387 | PrinceSolmsInn.com
