German Texan

Marker commemorating German immigration to the Texas Hill Country, located in Indianola, Texas
The Wahrenberger House in Austin served as a German-American school.[1]

German Texans are an ethnic category belonging to residents of the state of Texas who acknowledge German ancestry and self-identify with the term. 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.[2] In 1990, about three million Texans considered themselves at least part German.[3] German Texans form a subgroup of German Americans.

History

A large portion of the early settlers were Forty-Eighters, 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, doctors, civil servants, local politicians, musicians, farmers, and ranchers.[4]

The Adelsverein, or Verein zum Schutze deutscher Einwanderer in Texas (Society for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas), was a group of Germans dedicated to colonizing Texas in the 1800s.[3]

German-American cultural institutions in Texas include the Sophienburg Museum in New Braunfels, the Pioneer Museum in Fredericksburg,[5] the Witte-Schmid Haus Museum in Austin County.[6] the German-Texan Heritage Society,[7] and the Texas German Society.[8]

See also

References

Further reading

External links


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