Walzem Chapel

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Deep in what was once the Mission Valley Settlement, in Comal County, there stands a chapel made of limestone — walls still standing after more than a century and a half, long after everything else has come and gone. Just the walls.

But sometimes that's enough. The story starts, as so many Texas stories do, with people crossing an ocean lookin' for something better. In the mid-1800s, German immigrants came to Texas under the auspices of the Adelsverein — that's a German colonization society — searchin' for freedom and economic opportunity.

Among them came Johann Joseph Walzem and his wife Anna Gertruda. They settled in the Mission Valley Settlement in the 1850s and built themselves a home. Now, Johann wasn't just any settler.

The man was a stone mason — and a good one. He's been credited with building several houses in the Mission Valley Settlement. In a remote country where the wilderness was right outside your door, that was no small thing.

The Walzems were, by all accounts, important members of the community in the early days of New Braunfels' development. A family that put down roots and then helped build the place around those roots. But here's where the legend comes in — and every good story's got one.

After working for several years, Mr. Walzem visited his homeland. Made the trip back across the Atlantic, back to Germany, and then — safely — returned to Texas.

And what did he do upon returning? He built a chapel. Not because anyone told him to.

Not as a business transaction. But in thanksgiving for a safe trip. Now the marker is careful to call that a legend, so we'll honor that.

But I'll tell you — there's something about a stone mason building a chapel with his own hands, on his own land, in thanks for safe passage, that sounds less like myth and more like a man who knew exactly how fragile a long journey could be. Johann and his sons did the work themselves. They quarried limestone locally, cut it themselves, mixed mortar from a local kiln, and raised those walls on a one-acre plot at the north end of their original 160-acre tract.

The chapel is also known as St. John Chapel — though over the years it picked up another name it was never meant to have. Folks started calling it Walzem Mission, on account of its location in the community.

The marker is plain about it: that name is a mistake. At the top of the entrance to the chapel, there is a stone marked with a single year: 1870. That's the completion date.

The very next year — 1871 — Johann Walzem gave the land and the chapel to the Right Reverend Bishop C.M. Dubois of the Catholic Church. He built it, and then he gave it away.

Eventually it was purchased by a developer, and today the homeowners of the subdivision are the ones who care for the chapel and the property. What remains are the stone walls — just the walls. But they were made to last.

Limestone, locally quarried, cut by a stone mason and his sons, in what was then a remote and isolated stretch of Texas frontier. And they have lasted. More than 150 years of weather and change and hands passing from one to the next, and those walls are still there.

The marker says it plainly: the stone walls are all that remain, but a reminder of the challenges and isolation of the early frontier still lingers. Sometimes what a man leaves behind says more about him than any biography could. Johann Joseph Walzem came to Texas looking for freedom and opportunity.

He quarried his own stone, built his neighbors' houses, raised a chapel with his sons, and then handed it over. Just the walls now. But they're still standin'.

What the marker says

Located in the Mission Valley Settlement, Walzem Chapel was built to serve Catholics in this once remote area. In the mid-1800s, German immigrants came to Texas under the auspices of the Adelsverein in search of freedom and economic opportunity. Johann Joseph and Anna Gertruda Walzem settled in the Mission Valley Settlement in the 1850s and built a home. Mr. Walzem was a stone mason and has been credited with building several houses in the Mission Valley Settlement. Walzem and his family were important members of the community in the early days of New Braunfels’ development. Johann and his sons built the chapel (also known as St. John Chapel) located on an acre plot in the north end of their original 160 acre tract. Legend has it that after working for several years, Mr. Walzem visited his homeland and upon returning to Texas, built the chapel in thanksgiving for a safe trip. The chapel is also mistakenly referred to as “Walzem Mission,” due to its location in the community. A stone at the top of the entrance to the chapel is marked “1870,” indicating the completion date. The walls were made of limestone locally quarried and cut by Johann and his sons with mortar from a local kiln, demonstrating pioneers’ ability to survive in the wilderness. Johann gave the land and chapel to the Right Reverend Bishop C.M. Dubois of the Catholic Church in 1871 and it eventually was purchased by a developer. The homeowners of the subdivision now care for the chapel and property. While the stone walls of the chapel are all that remain, a reminder of the challenges and isolation of the early frontier still linger.