DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll give it to you straight with a little extra breath in the lungs. Way back in 1866, a German native by the name of George Herman Hauschild got married to Adele Luder, and not long after that, the two of them made their way to Victoria, Texas. Now, George Herman was born in 1839, and by the time he arrived in Victoria he had the makings of a prominent pioneer businessman about him.
He let that reputation build for a good while, and then, in 1894, he opened an opera house right here on this very ground. The theatre took up the top two floors of the building, and what a top two floors it was. Vaudeville shows, plays, silent movies, the whole parade of entertainment that could make a hardworking Texan forget his week.
But the story didn't stop with George Herman. Down on the lower floor sat Hauschild's Music Store, established in 1891, and that store belonged to H.J. Hauschild, born in 1870, who was George Herman's own son.
When the time came, H.J. stepped up and succeeded his father as manager of the opera house. Father built it, son carried it forward. Then the 1930s rolled in, and with them came something the old silent pictures simply could not fight: talking pictures.
The increasing popularity of those talkies, voices and all, proved to be more than the theatre could bear, and the curtain came down for the last time. George Herman Hauschild, gone since 1911, never saw it close. Maybe that's just as well.
What the marker says
German native George Herman Hauschild (1839-1911) came to Victoria shortly after his marriage to Adele Luder in 1866. A prominent pioneer businessman, Hauschild opened an opera house here in 1894. The theatre, which occupied the top two floors, featured Vaudeville shows, plays, and silent movies. The lower floor of the building was occupied by Hauschild's Music Store, established in 1891 by H.J. Hauschild (b. 1870), who succeeded his father as manager of the opera house. The theatre closed during the 1930s due to the increasing popularity of "talking pictures". 1984