Haag Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way out in the hills southwest of New Braunfels, there's a quiet piece of ground that holds a whole lot of history. It belongs to the Haag family, and the story of how it came to be starts a long, long way from Texas.

Three brothers made that journey: Friedrich, also known as Jakob, Peter, also known as Johann, and Mathias, sometimes recorded as Mathuas. The Haag brothers, with their families in tow, set out from the Kingdom of Württemberg, Germany, on what the marker calls a long and dangerous voyage. You can imagine what that meant.

An ocean crossing in those days was no small thing, and these families made it. They arrived and, in the 1840s and 1850s, they purchased land in those rolling hills southwest of New Braunfels. The place came to be known as the Haag Settlement.

Three brothers, three families, one hillside. They were putting down roots they intended to keep. And when the time came, as it always does, they made a place for their dead to rest.

The graves in Haag Cemetery date back to 1879, arranged in careful rows, oriented east and west, with the burials facing east. That's not by accident. That's intention, that's tradition, that's the old world carried into the new.

The headstones are cut from granite, marble, or limestone, and they're inscribed in German, reflecting the heritage these families crossed an ocean to preserve. Surrounding it all is a hand-stacked stone fence, built with what the marker plainly calls much care. Every stone placed by hand.

When you think about who stacked that fence, and why, you start to understand what a cemetery like this really is. It isn't just a burial ground. It's a declaration.

These people came from Württemberg, survived a dangerous voyage, bought land in a new country, built a settlement in the hills, and then, with granite and limestone and their own two hands, they said: we were here, we are still here, and we will be remembered. The marker calls this place a monument standing in loving memory of the Haag family. Out in those hills southwest of New Braunfels, I'd say it still is.

What the marker says

The Haag Cemetery was established for the families of the Haag Brothers: Friedrich (Jakob), Peter (Johann) and Mathias (Mathuas). Emigrating on a long and dangerous voyage from the kingdom of Wurttemberg, Germany, the families purchased land in the 1840s and 1850s and settled in the hills southwest of New Braunfels called the Haag Settlement. Reflecting the families" heritage, the cemetery headstones of granite, marble, or limestone are inscribed in German. The graves, dating back to 1879, are arranged in rows, oriented east and west with the burials facing east and surrounded by a hand-stacked stone fence. Constructed with much care, the cemetery stands in loving memory of the Haag Family. HISTORIC TEXAS CEMETERY - 2016