This is the beginning of a series of stories, making up a large volume, or collection on the history of the Texas hill country. This collection was graciously provided to Texas-Hill-Country.com by Kenn Knopp, director of the German Heritage Foundation, retired investigative journalist.

     Dedication...
     to the intrepid men and women who founded and developed Friedrichsburg, Texas, beginning May 8, 1846
...and those who today maintain the heritage and who continue to live up to the Never-Broken Indian-Friedrichsburg Peace Treaty of May 9, 1847, celebrating the annual Lasting Friendship Inter-Tribal Pow Wow in Friedrichsburg the second weekend each May...
...and in Germany to those who risked everything by taking part in the German Unification and Democratic Revolution that began in the early 1840’s and resulted in the historic but short-livedPaulskirche Constitutional Assembly in Frankfurt-am-Main that adopted The Basic Rights of the German People on December 28, 1848, two years after Friedrichsburg, Texas was founded… ...it was in Texas that they were able to satisfy their quest for freedom and self-fulfillment, where they built their homes, raised their families, shared their talents that helped to develop a great state and nation, and where they are buried to await the resurrection and the enjoyment of the Eternal Kingdom in the perfection they always yearned for….

Introduction...

  CONSIDER THE RISKS.....
  What would make someone leave his family, friends, career, and familiar surroundings to spend three miserable months on the high seas on a ship full of sick and equally miserable strangers; and then have to walk two hundred miles in an erratic cold or heat, or both, in a land full of thousands of Indians, no troops to protect the immigrants, and receive no other welcome than the rattle of rattlesnakes and stunned herds of white tail deer, in a location where no one had yet lived (in a European or American way) or built a road suitable for a wagon?
   When time runs its course and we all get a chance to look back on our lives our regrets will not be about the risks we took and our mistakes, but those we failed to take. This collection of manuscripts is written in awe of those who came before and those who will make up, and discover, tomorrow’s stories. There were all kinds of reasons the immigrants came to America in the 1840’s and later. Most refused to speak about it after arriving, they were so preoccupied in making a living in their new land. When asking questions of the old-timers, the author would hear the familiar refrain: “It was the hope of a better life in America.” Better than what? But why don’t you even know the town you came from in Germany? “Grossvater never told us and wouldn’t talk about it.” Most questions just went unanswered.
   The author was taught to be an investigative journalist even during his high school days in Fredericksburg. This work is purposely subjective and includes personal observations, experiences, and having been born, raised, and living in Fredericksburg most of his life. His training in investigative journalism tries to respect the rules of objective reporting and documenting. He has tried to sort out what might be fairytale, substantiated fact, or fiction. This book is some of all of these and is spliced together with his and others’ experiences and opinions as well.
    The author does not pretend to be an historian in the academic sense; rather a reporter, a gatherer of the tales. As possible, every effort has also been made not to repeat already published information. But with the internet, the reopening of the libraries of East and West, and the coming down of the Berlin Wall, many new pieces of the historical jigsaw have been able to be found. The logistics of the stories centers around or tie in with Fredericksburg and follows its settlers and subsequent immigrants, some of them into the millennium year 2000. Most of all, bridges spanning back to German hometowns have tried to be constructed in hopes of reestablishing long dormant ties with relatives and friends. In the process, Fredericksburg’s sister city relationship with Montabaur, Germany, has been created, the city and area where a great many of Fredericksburg residents originated.

    FRIEDRICHSBURG OR FREDERICKSBUR?
    Actually, it’s both. The earliest maps and documents prove the city to have been named Friedrichsburg. Thanks to the research of Dorothy and John Cotter, these respected local historians were able to determine that because people were using both, in the mid-1880’s the U.S. Post Office asked the local postmaster to decide upon one or the other spelling. Instead of allowing the people to vote on their preference, the postmaster simply opted for the anglicized version, Fredericksburg. In this work I also use both but have generally used Friedrichsburg prior to the 1880’s and the anglicized version thereafter. The reader may find it either way during any timeline, just as a Friedrichsburger will talk Fritztown-German just about anytime he or she feels it’s appropriate. Just learn to live with it. Perhaps one day the citizens of Friedrichsburg can finally have an actual plebiscite and vote to restore the name of their city to its original founding name . . . and then live in the one and only Friedrichsburg in the United States. Even in Germany, only a teeny weeny village bears the name Friedrichsburg near the city of Hessisch Oldendorf. It is encouraging to note that civic leaders in Friedrichsburg are again taking up the cause of restoring the city’s name back to Friedrichsburg. We commend German heritage leaders, Randy Kunze and J. D. Lowe as well as the Sister City Verein at its November 2004 meeting, for resolving to take up the cause of restoring the city’s name back to Friedrichsburg as it was founded and spelled for almost forty years before being changed to the English spelling without a vote of the citizenry.

Volume I
Hin Nach Amerika! Off to America!
THE GERMANS OF THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY
Die Friedrichsburger Manuskripte
The Fredericksburg Manuscripts
Copyright ©1999-2010 by Kenn Knopp. All rights reserved.
Email: Kenn@GermanHeritageFoundation.com www.Texas-Hill-Country.com 

By Kenn Knopp

 Knopp, Kenn  http://www.kennknopp.com/
  Since 1956 this is a synergistic journalism and  public relations collective midrash of families, genealogy, and actual history encompassing Germany, Texas, and United States experiences.. It was begun at the University of Texas at Austin, M.A. degree program in strategic public relations in 1958 under the tutelage of Dr. Alan Scott of precious memory and has been ongoing ever since. Entitled: Protecting & Enchancing the German Heritage of Fredericksburg, Texas. The research has been bequeathed to the Special Collections Archives of Texas Tech University at Fredericksburg for the benefit and the use of all researchers. 
   This series of stories will become a regular feature of www.Texas-Hill-Country.com Online magazine with permission and all rights from Kenn Knopp, from the beginnings of the research to the end, check back regularly for the "rest of the story".

ger Manuskripte
Volume III
self-published,
Director- www.germanheritagefoundation.com
(Public Relations and Communications industry)
September 1982 — Present

Research about the Germans of the Texas Hill Country, their origins and
homeplaces, their life, times, and contribution to the United States.
Research and collections primarily at Texas Tech University at
Fredericksburg and at the author's home office at 407 Cora Street,
Fredericksburg TX 78624. email: alterstolz@gmail.com


Kenn Knopp’s Education
The University of Texas at Austin
1952 — 1956

Additional Information
Kenn Knopp’s Websites:
My Website http://www.kennknopp.com/
Kenn Knopp’s Interests:
German heritage, music and history, genealogy, spiritual retreats,
culinaria adventures, Stammtisch discussions, meditation, etc..

Kenn Knopp’s Groups:
Fredericksburg German Singers, Democratic Party, Catholic Permanent
Deacons of San Antonio Archdiocese, Old German Bakery/Restaurant Stammtisch

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