The History of The German Community in Texas



Toni Tipton-Martin explores the rich German community in Texas.

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29 Comments

  1. Of course Texans call the festival “worstfest ,” they want to desperately hide their Nazi past. It should be pronounced “verstfeft. But America’s most passive aggressive state, led by a United States Senator who allowed #45 to speak incredibly derogatorily talk about his own wife seems to be OK with that. Go back yo your adopted Home Country. The United States Of Mexico. When the going gets tough the tough get do not run, Senator.

  2. Having lived in the Texas hill country I can tell you one thing. Despite being descended from immigrants themselves the German population out here is pretty raceist and anti immigration. Go to any of the little Oktoberfest or German heritage events and prepared to be stared at like a zoo animal if you aren't white passing. There's a doctor's office in Fredericksburg that proudly displays mein Kampf right there on the waiting room table.

    I'm sure their food is fine but you won't catch me giving that community a dime of my money.

  3. It proves that so many in this country are "immigrants" and should be respectful of all others whether they are white or not. So many get upset when the signs and billboards are in a different language. That's the problem, everyone feels like they were here first and claim ownership and ostracize others. Learn your history!

    I hope you do other groups as well…there are so many.

  4. Wonderful segment!! This show hits close to home since I moved to Texas (from Yankee land) in 1975. Recently moved from H Town to a small town 1 hour east of Austin. My wife can trace her ancestry to the Wendish that settled here. German immigration is a wonderful history to know about. Mexican beers? All came from German brewmasters who emigrated.

  5. I love the “German” history in Texas but please note Germany, the German empire, didn’t exist prior to 1871 when Prussia defeated Austria.
    Prior to that time 39 sovereign German speaking states had formed a confederation only in 1817.
    Is this important?
    My ancestors came to Texas in 1835 from Bavaria, a German & Czech speaking state at that time.
    Czech & German speaking they settled in Caldwell TX a predominately Czech community with great ethnic foods.

  6. You missed one of the big reasons that so many Germans were able to immigrate to Texas. The Spanish reacted to the many Protestant immigrants coming from the United States and fealt that they were being outnumbered. So they went to Europe and encouraged would be Catholic immigrants from Germany and Bohemia to move to Texas by offering them free land. They loved the Hill Country of Central Texas. So you see many towns and cities with names from the region . You also see the influence in our food of course. Not only in our great dishes like the Chicken Fried Steak, which is an adaptation of the traditional schnitzel, the great breakfast foods of the kolache and the Klobasniky, (pronounced klo-bah-SNEEK-ee) meaning “little sausage, which was also an adaptation invented in Texas, and our great sausages made of beef and everything else you could stuff in a casing. They also influenced our beers, which brands like Shiner and Pearl, making both lagers and bock beers. We owe a great deal to those folks.

  7. I have to say, these little dips into immigration and how it shaped regional American cuisine is fascinating. I am here for it! Please more! Also, links to the mentioned recipes would be the cherry on top

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