Der Stadt Friedhof
{{Short description|Historic cemetery in Fredericksburg, Gillespie County, Texas}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox cemetery
| name =Der Stadt Friedhof
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| established =1846
| country =United States
| location =on Barons Creek, corner of E. Schubert and Lee Streets
Fredericksburg, Texas
| coordinates = {{Coord|30|16|16|N|98|51|42|W|display=inline, title}}
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| graves =5000+plus
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| findagraveid =422870
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{{Location map | Texas|relief=yes
| coordinates = {{Coord|30|16|16|N|98|51|42|W}}
| label = Der Stadt Friedhof
| position = right
| mark = Blue_pog.svg
| marksize = 5
| width = 230
| float = right
| caption = Der Stadt Friedhof, Fredericksburg, Texas
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Der Stadt Friedhof (the town cemetery) is a pioneer cemetery established in 1846 along Barons Creek on the corner of East Schubert Street and Lee Street, in Fredericksburg, Texas. It is the oldest known cemetery within Fredericksburg and is the final resting place for many of the original German colonists who arrived when John O. Meusebach opened up the area to settlement.
Background
When Herman Wilke laid out the town, a plot of land was set aside for the cemetery.Morgenthaler (2007) p.58 The various denominations who worshiped in the Vereins Kirche were responsible for cemetery maintenance. In 1860, the Catholics broke away and started their own church, establishing their own cemetery, now known as the Old Pioneer Cemetery.{{cite web|title=Der Friedhof Cemetery Records 1846–1996|url=http://www.txgenweb2.org/txgillespie/dsf.htm|publisher=Gillespie County Historical Society|accessdate=8 February 2011|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100629112351/http://www.txgenweb2.org/txgillespie/dsf.htm|archivedate=29 June 2010}} In 1991 the three churches overseeing cemetery maintenance, plot sales and burials formed a 501c13 Cemetery Nonprofit Corporation called, Der Stadtische Friedhof Fredericksburg Inc. (IRS EIN 74-2610012). The churches were Bethany Lutheran, Holy Ghost Lutheran, and Zion Lutheran.Hafertepe (2015) p. 219 There are upwards of 5,000 graves in Der Stadt Friedhof, not all of them currently marked, many unidentifiable due to the passage of time. Some of the graves had only wooden markers which rotted in time, and some graves were obliterated whenever Barons Creek overflowed its banks. During cholera epidemics many people were buried in mass graves. The oldest readable grave marker is dated 1849. Many of the tombstones are written in German.{{cite book|last=Unruh|first=Leon|title=Final Destinations: A Travel Guide for Remarkable Cemeteries in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana|publisher=University of North Texas Press|year=2000|isbn=978-1-57441-085-3|pages=84, 85, 86, 87, 88|chapter=Straight and Narrow is the Path in Fredericksburg}} Rather than being grouped in family plots, the deceased have been buried in chronological order according to when they died. Section C is an exception where African America families were buried in family plots. Several of these African Americans were once slaves {{Cite web|title=TSHA {{!}} Gillespie County|url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/gillespie-county|access-date=2021-10-05|website=www.tshaonline.org}} in Gillespie County.
The graves in Der Stadt Friedhof are noted for their artistic carvings and sculptures. What is possibly the last known work of sculptor Elisabet Ney, that of a tousled haired cherub resting over a grave and known as the 1906 Schnerr Memorial, can be found at Der Stadt Friedhof.{{cite web |title=Der Stadt Friedhof Cemetery-Fredericksburg, Texas {{!}} Collectors Weekly |url=https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/208277-der-stadt-friedhof-cemetery-fredericksbu |website=www.collectorsweekly.com |access-date=11 May 2021}}{{cite web |title=Der Stadt Friedhof Cemetery |url=https://txhillcountrytrail.com/plan-your-adventure/historic-sites-and-cities/sites/der-stadt-friedhof-cemetery |website=Hill Country Trail Region |access-date=11 May 2021 |language=en}}
On May 5, 2000, the State of Texas recognized Der Stadt Friedhof as a State Historical Cemetery.{{cite web|title=Details – Der Stadt Friedhof Cemetery – Atlas Number 7171000105 – Atlas: Texas Historical Commission|url=https://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/Details/7171000105|website=atlas.thc.state.tx.us|publisher=Texas State Historical Commission|accessdate=August 31, 2017|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170901064052/https://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/Details/7171000105|archivedate=September 1, 2017}}
Notable burials in Der Stadt Friedhof
- Joseph Wilson Baines (1846–1906)[https://books.google.com/books?id=aEm6BwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Der+Stadt+Friedhof%22+joseph+baines&pg=PA245 A Guide to the Historic Buildings of Fredericksburg and Gillespie County] Grandfather of Lyndon Baines Johnson{{cite book|last=Woods|first=Randall Bennett|title=Lyndon Baines Johnson|year=2006|publisher=Free Press|isbn=978-0-684-83458-0|pages=[https://archive.org/details/lbj00rand/page/16 16, 17]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/lbj00rand/page/16}}
- Ruth Ament Huffman Baines (1854–1936) Grandmother of Lyndon Baines Johnson
- Amanda Julia Estill (1882–1965) Educator, writer, and folklorist{{cite web |title=TSHA {{!}} Estill, Amanda Julia |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/estill-amanda-julia |website=www.tshaonline.org |access-date=11 May 2021}}
- Lieutenant Louis J. Jordan (1890–1918) First Texan killed in World War I. Football player for the Texas Longhorns. The Louis Jordan Post of the American Legion in Fredericksburg is named in his honor.{{cite web |title=TSHA {{!}} Jordan, Louis John |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/jordan-louis-john |website=www.tshaonline.org |access-date=11 May 2021}}
- Hugo Emil Klaerner (1908–1982) Chicago White Sox pitcher{{cite web|title=Baseball-Hugo Emil Klaerner|url=http://www.txgenweb2.org/txgillespie/AlthausRe/BaseballHugoEKlaerner.html|publisher=Tex Gen Web|accessdate=8 February 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110916000902/http://www.txgenweb2.org/txgillespie/AlthausRe/BaseballHugoEKlaerner.html|archivedate=16 September 2011}}{{cite news|title=Facts and Rumors from Major-Minor League Ball Marts|newspaper=The Lewiston Daily Sun|date=8 February 2011}}
- Lisette Mueller (1852–1944) German Texas midwife who delivered Chester Nimitz{{Cite journal|last=Huston|first=Kathleen A.|date=2021|title=German Midwives of Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Texas: Women's Work, Culture, and Fighting "Death in the Room"|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/786702|journal=Southwestern Historical Quarterly|volume=124|issue=4|pages=412–435|doi=10.1353/swh.2021.0027|s2cid=234264076|issn=1558-9560|url-access=subscription}}
- John Peter Tatsch (1822–1907) Master cabinet maker. Tatsch's work is prized by collectors of Texas primitive furniture. His home is listed in the Historic American Buildings Survey of the United States Department of the Interior and its plans placed in the Library of Congress{{cite web|title=THC-John Peter Tatsch|url=http://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/viewform.asp?atlas_num=5171010121&site_name=Tatsch%2C%20John%20Peter&class=5000|work=Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks|publisher=Texas Historical Commission|accessdate=28 February 2011|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930193431/http://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/viewform.asp?atlas_num=5171010121&site_name=Tatsch%2C%20John%20Peter&class=5000|archivedate=30 September 2015}}{{cite web |title=TSHA {{!}} Tatsch, John Peter |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/tatsch-john-peter |website=www.tshaonline.org |access-date=11 May 2021}}
=Signers of petition to create Gillespie County buried in Der Stadt Friedhof=
- Louis (Ludwig) Martin (1820–1864) (First sheriff of Gillespie County){{cite web |title=TSHA {{!}} Martin, Louis |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/martin-louis |website=www.tshaonline.org |access-date=11 May 2021}}
- Charles Henry Nimitz (1826–1911) (Grandfather of Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz){{cite web |title=TSHA {{!}} Nimitz, Charles Henry |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/nimitz-charles-henry |website=www.tshaonline.org |access-date=11 May 2021}}
See also
Further reading
- {{cite book|last1=Hafertepe|first1=Kenneth|title=A Guide to the Historic Buildings of Fredericksburg and Gillespie County|publisher=Texas A & M University Press|date=2015|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/book/39548|via=Project MUSE|url-access=subscription |isbn=978-1-62349-273-1|oclc=905970019|pages=162, 217–21, 232}}
- {{cite web |title=Der Stadt Friedhof Cemetery |url=https://txhillcountrytrail.com/plan-your-adventure/historic-sites-and-cities/sites/der-stadt-friedhof-cemetery |website=Hill Country Trail Region |publisher=Texas Historical Commission}}
- {{cite web |title=Der Stadt Friedhof Cemetery-Fredericksburg, Texas {{!}} Collectors Weekly |url=https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/208277-der-stadt-friedhof-cemetery-fredericksbu |publisher=Collectors Weekly Magazine}}
Notes
{{Reflist|colwidth=20em}}
References
- {{cite book|first=Jefferson|last=Morgenthaler|title=The German Settlement of the Texas Hill Country|year=2007|publisher=Mockingbird Books|isbn=978-1-932801-09-5}}
External links
- [http://www.pioneermuseum.net/ Pioneer Museum, Fredericksburg, Texas]
- {{Find a Grave cemetery}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Der Stadt Friedhof}}
Category:German-American history
Category:German-American culture in Texas
Category:Protected areas of Gillespie County, Texas