New Braunfels, Texas

New Braunfels ⁱ/ˌnjuː ˈbrɔːnfəlz/ is a city in Comal and Guadalupe counties in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the seat of Comal County and is a principal city of the San Antonio-New Braunfels Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city's population was 57,740 at the 2010 census, with an estimated population of 66,394 in 2014.

History

New Braunfels was established in 1845 by Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels, Commissioner General of the Adelsverein, also known as the Noblemen's Society (in German: Mainzer Adelsverein). Prince Solms named the settlement in honor of his home of Solms-Braunfels, Germany.

The Adelsverein organized hundreds of people in Germany to settle in Texas. Immigrants from Germany began arriving at Galveston in July 1844. Most then traveled by ship to Indianola in December 1844, and began the overland journey to the Fisher-Miller land grant purchased by Prince Solms. At the urging of John Coffee Hays, who realized the settlers would not have time to build homes and plant crops further inland before winter, and as the German settlers were traveling inland along the Guadalupe River, they stopped near the Comal Springs. Prince Solms bought two leagues of land from Rafael Garza and Maria Antonio Veramendi Garza for $1,111.00.