Day 14 – Are We in Germany?

We happened to drive down a highway that went through the busy town of Fredericksburg, Texas, and wondered if we had been transported to Europe? The structure of the buildings and many of the decorations had an appearance that didn’t match up with the typical western pattern.

In 1846 some German autocrats bought a portion of Texas and sold plots to German citizens who wanted to start a new life in America. These settlers had many hardships in their adopted land, but eventually established a community that still has a large population of citizens with German heritage.

The Fredericksburg Pioneer Museum has a large number of authentic structures from different time periods of the town. You can wander through these buildings which are filled with artifacts. A unique feature of this museum was that when you enter a building, a sound recording describing the structure begins to play. Interestingly, the narrator in many cases was a direct descendent of the original owner.


One thing that caught our eye was the structure of the first buildings. There wasn’t a lot of large timber in the area, so the wood structures were built with smaller trees which had gaps. The gaps were filled with stone and mortar.




The town still promotes the German heritage which includes a brewery and many eateries that have German cuisine.  We ate at one such establishment, but I had to Google what the menu items were before making a selection. For example, I ordered a meal featuring zwietenschnitzel.



You could easily spend several days in this friendly little town. However, if you do, be sure to stop into the chocolate shop. I swear I gained five pounds just inhaling the aroma as we walked through the door.

Gute Reise! (Happy Travels)

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