German settlements in Central Texas.
German immigration to Texas in the mid 1800s was largely the result of a combinations of sticks and carrots. The main stick was conditions in Germany during the early to mid 1800s. At the close of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, the treaty signed at the Congress of Vienna divided Napoleon’s conquered lands among victors, which were Prussia, Austria and Russia. It also set up the German Confederation, a loosely knit group of independent states governed by the Bundestag. An assembly similar to Congress, but with much less voice in each state’s government. Each state had its own laws and collected its own taxes. Only a few of the smaller states had constitutions, and even in those, the people had almost no voice in government.
German inheritance laws also fueled emigration. In some jurisdictions, land was divided among all the heirs, fragmenting it until, In some cases, a unit was not sufficient to sustain a family. In other areas, the land went to one heir who was obligated to buy out the others. Those not inheriting found it increasingly difficult to make a living.
Glowing praise Lore’s Germans to Texas.
The major carrot encouraging German immigrants to Texas was a widely circulated letter written to a friend back home in 1832 by an early German immigrant, Frederick ERNST.
In the letter, Ernst gave an eloquent and glowing description of life in the Mexican territory. Ernst wrote of his settlement on Mill Creek in Austin’s colony in present day Austin County. He described Texas as a land of mountains and valleys, woods and meadows cut through with brooks. Soil was fertile, winter’s mild, and the prices of goods were low. He listed the wild fruits and nuts hanging from trees just waiting to be picked. Peaches, mulberries, plums, persimmons, walnuts. He enumerated the wild game that could be found. Deer, bears, wild turkeys, geese, partridges, and the meadows spangled with wildflowers were described in prose that would do justice to an advertising copywriter. And he added a final sales pitch, “scarcely three months work a year. No need for money, free exercise of religion and the best markets for all products at the Mexican Harbors“. Ernst’s German friend gave the letter to a newspaper, and it was published, feeding a growing fascination with t Texas throughout Germany.
