Johann Michael Jahn

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Johann Michael Jahn, out there in Comal County. Now settle in, because this is one of those stories where a man shows up with nothing but skill in his hands and leaves something that outlasts him by generations. Johann Michael Jahn came to New Braunfels in 1845, one of the colonists who made the crossing with the German Emigration Company.

He put down roots, and in 1850 he married Anna Klein Bellmer. And then he got to work. Jahn was what the Germans called a Tischlermeister, a master craftsman, and he established a business making fine hand-crafted furniture.

Not rough-hewn, get-the-job-done furniture. Fine work. The kind you pass down.

While he was at it, he also stepped into public life, and was elected one of the first aldermen of the city. A man building a community from the inside and the outside at the same time. Jahn died in 1883, born back in 1816, and you might think that's where the story closes.

But here's the part worth foreshadowing a little. His son and his grandson picked up right where he left off, kept the business going, and in 1910 built the very building this marker stands beside. The company kept running all the way into the 1930s.

Three generations, one name, one craft. And the furniture Jahn made with his own hands, well, it didn't stay in storage. His works have been displayed locally and at the Witte Museum in San Antonio.

A Tischlermeister's legacy, still on display more than a century after the man first set foot in New Braunfels.

What the marker says

Johann Michael Jahn (1816-1883) came to New Braunfels in 1845 as a colonist with the German Emigration Company. He married Anna Klein Bellmer in 1850. A "Tischlermeister" or master craftsman, Jahn established a business making fine hand-crafted furniture. Active in civic affairs, he was elected one of the first alderman of the city. After Jahn's death, his son and grandson operated the business, and built this building in 1910. The company continued until the 1930s. Jahn's works have been displayed locally and at the Witte Museum in San Antonio. (1997)