DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, there's a house sitting in New Braunfels that's got more chapters to it than most folks realize just walking by. Let me take you back to the beginning.
Frederick Hofheinz — German native — came to the New Braunfels area in 1852, part of that great wave of families planting roots in the Texas Hill Country. He didn't stay put right away, though. He drifted out to Kendall County, settled in, and wed a woman named Emilie Wilke.
And if you thought that was going to be a quiet life on the land, well — Frederick had other ideas. The man rose to become Grand Lodge president of the Texas Sons of Hermann, and if that wasn't enough, he ran for Texas lieutenant governor. Lieutenant governor.
That's a man with ambition written somewhere deep in his constitution. Then, in 1905, Frederick and Emilie made their move to New Braunfels. And the very next year, they built this house.
Now when I say they built a house, I want you to picture what they built — a Queen Anne, with a central tower rising up above the porch, spindled friezework accenting the whole thing like the house was dressed for an occasion and knew it. The kind of place that announces itself. The story didn't stop with Frederick and Emilie, though.
The house passed through other hands — Charles Knibbe owned it, and then Bruno and Elizabeth Schoenfeld. And when World War II came around, the house was converted to apartments. But here's what gets you — through all of it, the ownership changes, the conversion, the decades rolling by — the house held on to most of its original Queen Anne detailing.
That central tower is still standing. The spindled friezework is still there. Some things, it turns out, just refuse to let go of what they were built to be.
What the marker says
The Hofheinz House German Native Frederick Hofheinz came to the New Braunfels area with his family in 1852. He later settled In Kendall County and wed Emilie Wilke. He served as Grand Lodge president of the Texas Sons Of Hermann and ran for Texas lieutenant governor before moving to New Braunfels In 1905.The couple built this home the next year. Converted to apartments during World War II, the house was also owned by Charles Knibbe and Bruno and Elizabeth Schoenfeld. It retains much of its original Queen Anne detailing, including a central tower above a porch accented with spindled friezework. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2002