Did you know that there was a large wave of German immigrants to Texas in the nineteenth century? In San Antonio, there is evidence all around of that presence--we're staying at the Menger Hotel, for example, established in 1859.
Yesterday, my husband and I drove 20 miles north to New Braunfels, on the advice of our new friend Lori, in search of more German influence. There we saw several houses built by German settlers, including this small stucco and stone cottage built by botanist/ soldier/newspaper editor Ferdinand Lindheimer (1801- 1879.) I sat on the ground in the lovely spring garden and sketched his tiny house. (As always, click on sketch for bigger image.)
Afterwards we had lunch at Oma's House, a restaurant run by descendants of the original settlers of New Braunfels. The menu there gives new meaning to the concept of fusion cuisine, with its German nachos (filled with sausage and cheese) and its German egg rolls (filled with sausage and cheese,) recipes devised by the owner's German-turned-Texan grandmother. Mustard takes the place of tomato-based or soy sauces.
(I don't know why the text is underlined and hotlinked. I've tried and tried to eliminate this but have been unsuccessful. I'm tired and I'll deal with this tomorrow.) Lots more San Antonio sketches to come!
Another fabulous post!
Place, art, and history all woven together!
Am loving seeing bits of Central Texas through your eyes/heart/mind. Looks like a Texas Mountain Laurel (Sophora secundiflora) in front of the Lindheimer house.
I can't begin to count the plants in Texas whose botanical names contain Lindheimer's, but these links will give you some idea of the man's amazing and prolific life:
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/LL/fli4.html
He's part of the botanical endowment of this place, represented in grasses, shrubs, flowers, vines, cactus -- http://www.nativesoftexas.com/catalog.html --
and trees -- http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/ornamentals/natives/celtislindheimeri.htm.
Posted by: Lori Witzel | March 21, 2007 at 07:09 AM
Your sketches are beautiful, Laura, as is all the rest on your blog. It is pure joy seeing your work.
Ronell
Posted by: Ronell | March 21, 2007 at 04:36 AM