DUANE
Duane's take
The way this story's been told along the trail, it comes straight from the official marker — and here's how Duane's got it. Now, most folks who shaped the Texas Hill Country came and stayed. Ottmar von Behr came, shaped it, and then the road home took everything.
That's the kind of story that deserves a long, slow telling around a good fire. Ottmar von Behr was a son of nobility in Germany. Think about that for a second.
Titles. Prestige. The kind of recognition most men spend a lifetime chasing.
And Ottmar walked away from it — to farm. To raise sheep. In Texas.
He'd toured America in 1846, and whatever he saw out here lit something in him, because he sat down and wrote an immigrant's guide, suggesting the life of a Texas farmer to his countrymen back home. He had influence on German immigration before he ever moved himself. He was already helping shape the wave before he joined it.
Then in 1848, he brought his family to Texas and settled in the Guadalupe Valley, out by the Old Pinta Trail. He was the second regional pioneer to settle that valley — and that second-settler status would matter. It put him on the record for what would become Blanco County in 1858, and Kendall County in 1862.
Now, Ottmar wasn't alone out there. The Sisterdale Region wasn't a platted town, wasn't laid out with neat little lots on a surveyor's map. It was a series of large farms populated by German immigrants who had left behind prestigious recognition back home — men with professional credentials and degrees — all of them trading titles for soil and freedom.
They brought with them a distinguished collection of books and a passion for intellectual freedom. That passion, those books, those neighbors — they led to the creation of what became known as a Latin Colony. Picture it: farmers with libraries, out on the Texas frontier.
And Ottmar was right in the middle of all of it, because the man had a gift for people. He was known for his social skills, for hosting visitors, guests, and travelers. His farm wasn't just a homestead — it was a gathering place.
But here's where the story gets interesting, and a little strange. The name Sisterdale? Ottmar had a hand in that too.
He suggested changing what had been called the Sisty's Creeks to Sister Creeks. And then he did something that put the place on the map in the most practical way possible — he petitioned for a post office in 1851 and was appointed its first postmaster. Same year, 1851, he was elected justice of the peace.
In the span of a year, the man named the creeks, secured the post office, and took a seat on the bench. Seven years. That's all Ottmar von Behr lived in Sisterdale.
Seven years. By 1855, he had returned to Germany. And while he was gone, his neighbors drew up the Sisterdale Petition to create a new county.
They needed a signature from Ottmar — but Ottmar wasn't there. So his wife, Louise Behr, signed for him. He never came back.
Ottmar von Behr died on his return trip back to America. A son of German nobility who gave up prestige to farm, who helped write the guide that brought others to Texas, who named the creeks, built the post office, kept the peace, hosted the travelers, and signed his name to a community — gone on the journey home, before he could see what had become of the place he'd helped build. Seven years.
And Sisterdale still carries the name he put on the map.
What the marker says
Ottmar Von Behr had an influence on German immigration before bringing his family to Texas in 1848. Having toured America in 1846, he published an imigrant's guide, suggesting the life of a Texas farmer. Although Ottmar was a son of nobility in Germany, he left to farm and raise sheep in Texas. German immigrants were moving to Texas with professional credentials and degrees to seek new freedoms. Ottmar and his neighbors brought with them a distinguished collection of books and a passion for intellectual freedom, attributes that led to the creation of a Latin Colony. The Sisterdale Region was not a platted community, but a series of large farms populated by German immigrants who left behind prestigious recognition in Germany to take up farming. Ottmar was the second regional pioneer to settle in Guadalupe Valley by the Old Pinta Trail. Thus, his entry in 1848 gave him second settler status in future Blanco County (1858) and Kendall County (1862). Ottmar was also responsible for the naming of Sisterdale. He suggested changing the Sisty's Creeks to Sister Creeks and put Sisterdale on the map when he petitioned for a post office in 1851 and was appointed first postmaster. He was elected justice of the peace in 1851. Ottmar was known for his social skills, hosting visitors, guests and travelers. Ottmar had returned to Germany in 1855 when the Sisterdale Petition was signed to create a new county so his wife, Louise Behr, signed for him. Ottmar never returned to Texas; he died on his return trip back to America. Ottmar only lived in Sisterdale for seven years, but he left a lasting legacy.