GERMAN

GERMAN-TEXANS AND THE LLANO ESTACADO CONNECTION

An exhibit in 11 panels fabricated in
September 1999, SWC-Traveling in
Texas 2000, Traveling in Germany, 2003
Fabricated by Lyn Stoll

To view more panels:
Click on images below to enlarge

The great interest in Texas throughout Germany in the nineteenth
century and the resulting migrations of Germans to Texas are
something of a lost chapter of history today in Germany. In Texas,
on the other hand, fourth and fifth generation German-Texans are
entering the twenty-first century with renewed devotion to the
ocumentation of their family stories. In all corners of the Lone Star
State, one finds active members of the German-Texan Heritage
Society, which is elegantly headquartered in Austin’s Old German
Free School Building. Older classics of German-Texan history are
being reissued and new research is producing articles and
documents which protect endangered details of this history from the
ravages of time.

It is the purpose of this exhibit to offer the public an overview of
some of the major topics in German-Texan history, but with a
special spin: each panel presents materials which have a connection
to the area of Northwest Texas called the Llano Estacado. Texas Tech
University in Lubbock, Texas, although only 76 years old, has
substantial research materials concerning German settlement of Texas.
Information, materials, and staff expertise for this exhibit came from
the Southwest Center for German Studies, the Southwest Collection/
Special Collections Library, the National Ranching Heritage Center
and the Texas Tech Museum.

After the official opening at Texas Tech University on the occasion of the International Karl May Symposium
(September 7 - 12, 2000), the exhibit begins its tour of Texas at the annual meeting of the German Heritage Society
in Galveston. It is hoped that viewers throughout the state will be encouraged to follow suit and create panels
documenting their own German-Texan history. The result could be a 50-panel exhibit which would tour other of the
United States and certainly the Federal Republic of Germany, where seven major venues are already identified.