New Braunfels, Texas

Everything New Braunfels is known for

45 songs mention this city 25 artists from here

New Braunfels, Texas, a city known for its German Texan heritage and its location where the Texas Hill Country meets rolling prairie land, also has a notable connection to music. Over twenty artists call New Braunfels home, and dozens of songs mention the city. Artists like Sixpence None The Richer, known for pop, and country artists such as Josh Grider & Drew Kennedy, have roots in New Braunfels. The city is also mentioned in songs like "Screw You, We’re From Texas" by Ray Wylie Hubbard and "There's Only One S in New Braunfels" by Alex Meixner Band.

Music in New Braunfels

Songs About New Braunfels

Are You A Real Cowboy?
Amanda Kate Ferris
98%
"Have you danced down at Gruene Hall?"
Pray Your Name
Hudson Westbrook
97%
"Burning up some Gruene Hall floor"
Where There’s a Willie
Jack Ingram
97%
"There's a Gruene Hall where we can dance"
Kiss Me (Live at Gruene Hall)
Sixpence None the Richer
97%
"Gruene Hall"
Hill Country Boogaloo
Stoney LaRue
97%
"Cruise on over to Gruene Hall, baby"
Screw You, We’re From Texas
Ray Wylie Hubbard
96%
"Cause we got Stubbs, and Gruene Hall and Antone's"
Do You Love Texas?
Shooter Jennings
96%
"From Lubbock to Greune Hall"
Snake Farm
Ray Wylie Hubbard
95%
"She works down at the snake farm"
Travis County (Live at Gruene Hall)
Jack Ingram
95%
"Travis County (Live at Gruene Hall)"
Here I Come
John Baumann
94%
"Looking up at pictures of John T's and Gruene Hall"
Screw You, We’re From Texas
Josh Abbott Band
94%
"Cause we got Stubbs, and Gruene Hall, and Antone's"
Outlaw Blood
Ray Wylie Hubbard
94%
"Snake farm"
There's Only One S in New Braunfels
Alex Meixner Band
85%
are you a real cowboy
amanda kate ferris
60%
Friday Night
Wade Bowen
50%
"It's Friday night here in New Braunfels, Texas"
Texas Is My Home (Shiner Bock Mix)
Rich O’Toole
49%
"Rode down to New Braunfels tacos at Los Gallos"
fun all wrong
roger creager
45%
Lord Bury Me in Texas
Shane Smith & the Saints
45%
"We'll be stompin' to a beat at the ol' Gruene Hall"
south texas
matthew janecek
45%
Damn Strait
Scotty McCreery
40%

Showing top 20 of 45 songs

Artists From New Braunfels

S
Sixpence None The Richer
pop
J
Josh Grider & Drew Kennedy
country
T
The Statesboro Revue
americana
A
Austin Meade
country
C
Catie Offerman
country
S
Sunny Sauceda
tejano
A
Alex Meixner
polka
C
Cody Canada & The Departed
country
J
Jason Allen
country
C
Copper Chief
country
D
Dallas Burrow
country
M
Monte Good
country
M
Midnight River Choir
americana
J
Jonny Burke
country
J
Jennifer Sullivan
country
I
Isaac Jacob Band
country
A
Austin Gilliam
americana
T
Trevor Underwood
country
T
Timber Wilde
americana
M
Matt Kirk and The Güeyfarers
country

Showing top 20 of 25 artists

Rivers & Roads in Song near New Braunfels

Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near New Braunfels.

Guadalupe River 17 songs Interstate 35 43 songs Interstate 10 36 songs US Route 90 9 songs Blanco River 4 songs San Antonio River 2 songs

Musical Heritage

Gruene Hall's hidden air-cooling system RoadyGoat

1878

Gruene Hall has been open since 1878, and for almost a hundred and fifty years, staying cool inside meant ceiling fans, a couple of swamp coolers, and whatever breeze came through the open windows. Joe Ely tells it that when he played there in 1986, the stage got up around a hundred and twenty-five degrees — like the Amazon, he said. So this year they finally put in air conditioning. Quietly. The owner, Susie Molak, ran a poll first, and folks overwhelmingly told her not to touch the place. So the crew hid it — ran the ducts through the old woodwork and built a whole second roof out of pre-weathered tin, four inches above the first one, to bury the insulation. Molak drove up afterward and didn't even notice. And they'll only cool it to eighty-five. Some sweat, they decided, you keep.

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History of New Braunfels

The Oldest Bakery in Texas, Still in the Family Recipes RoadyGoat

If you want to taste 19th-century New Braunfels, walk into Naegelin's at 129 South Seguin Avenue, the oldest bakery in Texas. It opened in 1868, when an Alsatian immigrant named Edouard Naegelin arrived in town as a teenager with little more than a sack of flour to his name. He started baking, and the operation moved into its current spot around 1870, where it has been turning out bread, kolaches, strudel, and German pastries continuously ever since. The building itself is a piece of history, originally built in the German fachwerk style of timber framing filled with masonry, later covered over to protect the old walls. What is remarkable is how little has changed: the bakery still leans on recipes that go back to its earliest days, and ownership has passed down through a small number of local families rather than to any chain. More than a century and a half of New Braunfels has bought morning kolaches over this same counter. Pull in early, because the cases empty fast. (Source: Naegelin's Bakery; Texas Hill Country.)

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The Prince Who Named a Texas Town After Home RoadyGoat

The town around you owes its name and its existence to a German nobleman who didn't stay long. Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels arrived in Texas in 1844 as the first commissioner-general of the Adelsverein, a society of German aristocrats organizing the largest planned migration of German settlers to America. After immigrants landed at the coast and waited out a miserable winter, Prince Carl bought land where the Comal and Guadalupe rivers meet and, on March 21, 1845, established a settlement here as a way station toward a distant land grant. He named it New Braunfels after Braunfels, the seat of his family's principality back in Germany. The prince was a romantic figure, fond of uniforms and ceremony, but a poor administrator, and he sailed home before the year was out, leaving John O. Meusebach to clean up the finances. What he left behind grew into the county seat of Comal County and the cultural heart of German Texas, a place where the language, food, and music of the old country took root and never fully let go. (Source: Handbook of Texas; City of New Braunfels history.)

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How One Family Turned a River Into a Factory Town RoadyGoat

The clear water flowing through Landa Park once ran one of the busiest industrial operations in Central Texas. In 1859 Joseph Landa, a German-Jewish immigrant, bought the land around Comal Springs and harnessed the constant flow of the Comal River, the most reliable water power for miles. Over the following decades he and his son Harry built an empire on it: flour and grist mills, a cotton seed oil mill, a wool factory, an ice plant, a brewery, and in 1890 the Landa Electric Light and Power Company, which lit New Braunfels with hydroelectricity. The mills ran day and night, seven days a week, and Landa Industries became the largest employer in town. The Comal's steady, spring-fed current was the secret, never freezing, rarely flooding the works, always turning the wheels. In 1898 Harry Landa opened the grounds as a public park, drawing crowds by railroad spur to swim in the spring-fed pools. The factories are gone, but the river that powered them still runs through what is now the city's beloved Landa Park. (Source: Handbook of Texas; Sophienburg Museum.)

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New Braunfels, TX

1845

New Braunfels, the county seat of Comal County, is at the confluence of the Guadalupe and Comal rivers and the intersection of Interstate Highway 35 and Farm Road 725, thirty miles northeast of San Antonio and forty-five miles southwest of Austin near the southeastern border of the county. It was founded on March 21, 1845, when, under the auspices of the Adelsverein , Nicolaus Zink led a German immigrant wagontrain up the Guadalupe River to the ford of the San Antonio-Nacogdoches road. They made camp at a site on Comal Creek (now Dry Comal Creek) chosen by Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels , the first commissioner general of the Adelsverein, and promptly organized to receive later arrivals. Zink platted preliminary town and farm lots and supervised construction of a primitive stockade, the Zinkenburg , to protect the immigrants against allegedly cannibalistic Indians. Within weeks Prince Solms had laid the cornerstone for a more permanent fort and headquarters for the immigrant association, the Sophienburg (now the Sophienburg Museum ), made provision for supplying the burgeoning settlement through its first summer on the frontier, and handed leadership of the colony over to John O. Meusebach . By summer the settlers numbered between 300 and 400, and the community had been incorporated under the name of Prince Solms's estate on the Lahn River in western Germany, Braunfels. From 1846 until the 1880s a number of Hispanics and Lipan Indians moved into New Braunfels each spring during sheep-shearing season. Taking advantage of the reliable water power afforded by Comal Springs and the community's position on the road between Austin and San Antonio, the settlers wasted little time establishing the supply and processing businesses-stores, millworks, and craft shops-that soon made New Braunfels the commercial center of a growing agricultural area. Many immigrants brought artisanal skills as well as business acumen to their new home. Within a decade of its founding New Braunfels had emerged as a manufacturing center supplying wagons, farm implements, leather goods, furniture, and clothing for pioneers settling the hills of Central Texas. The town also figured as an important market for the expanding agricultural frontier. Its markets supplied places as close as Bastrop and Victoria and as far away as New Orleans, New York, and the Nassau province of Germany. It is reported that in 1850 New Braunfels was the fourth largest town in Texas. The community's social and cultural development proceeded with its economic progress. Independent Evangelical Protestant, Lutheran, Methodist, and Catholic congregations were formed in the early years of settlement and undertook the construction of permanent church buildings. Blacks formed Baptist and Methodist churches in the late 1860s. The initial church school gave way to a city school, then to a district system that in 1858 was incorporated with the New Braunfels Academy . Citizens voted unanimously to impose a tax for the support of a public school eighteen years before the Constitution of 1876 provided for such local taxation throughout Texas. New Braunfels, Galveston, and Fredricksburg were among the first Texas towns to collect taxes to support schools. Catholics established schools in the 1860s under the direction of the Sisters of Divine Providence ; Black schools were formed during Reconstruction , and schools for Hispanics appeared early in the twentieth century. In the decades before 1990 the New Braunfels Independent School District supported five schools. A gregarious lot, the Germans of New Braunfels also organized the Germania Singing Society, the Schuetzen Verein, a shooting club, and one of the early Turnvereins or athletic clubs. All of these served to maintain the ethnic and cultural identity of the original settlers for later generations. The Neu Braunfelser Zeitung , which issued its first edition in 1852, was published continuously in German until 1957; it later merged with the En

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Schlitterbahn

1979

Schlitterbahn Waterparks and Resorts is a private, family-owned company that operates waterparks, hotels, and associated tourist attractions in Texas and Kansas. The company’s flagship park, which opened in New Braunfels, Texas, on August 2, 1979, originated when Bob and Billye Henry bought Camp Landa, a thirteen-acre campground with about thirty screened cabins, a spring-fed pool, and recreational facilities on the Comal River in 1966. Over the next twelve years the Henry family purchased adjacent properties to grow and develop the camp, which they renamed Landa Resort, into a forty-acre riverside resort; they added new lodges, an additional river-fed pool, tennis and basketball courts, a petting zoo, nine-hole golf course, arcade, fiberglass water slides, and a concrete chute that splashed riders directly into the Comal River. Tubing—floating down the river in large rubber inner tubes—has long been a popular way to beat the summer heat in Texas, and in 1979 the Henrys decided to expand the resort’s water recreation business by constructing a family waterpark. The first element in what they called Schlitterbahn (“slippery road” in German) was a sixty-foot structure modeled on one of the towers of the Solms Castle in Braunfels, Germany, and designed to reflect New Braunfels’s German heritage. The tower, designed and built by members of the Henry family, featured four slides and a system to pump water directly from the Comal River. A year later the Henrys added a large spring-fed lagoon and an inner-tube chute. Over the next decade the Henrys added new features until their original forty-acre property was filled with rides, slides, waterways, and buildings. In 1991 they purchased a nearby twenty-five acre plot, known as Camp Warnecke, a longtime New Braunfels resort on the Comal River, on which they built two new sections of the park: Surfenburg, which featured the world’s first continuous surfing wave (the Boogie Bahn), and Blastenhoff, which featured the world’s first uphill water coaster (the Master Blaster). A fourth area of the park, Tubenbach, opened in 2011 and featured the world’s longest waterpark ride (The Falls). Schlitterbahn New Braunfels, which is open from late April until mid-September, has some 2,000 seasonal employees, and during its 2015 season attracted more than 1,000,000 visitors, making it the most popular seasonal waterpark in the United States. The park has been featured on the NBC Today show and on the Travel Channel and in 2017 was the recipient of nineteen consecutive Golden Ticket Awards from Amusement Today . Schlitterbahn’s sister company NBGS International, founded in New Braunfels in 1984, designs and builds rides for waterparks around the world. A second attraction with a Brazilian beach theme, Schlitterbahn Beach Waterpark, opened on South Padre Island in May 2001. It was the first Schlitterbahn park to feature the company’s innovative “Transportainment” river system. The “Transportainment” concept–a portmanteau of transportation and entertainment–conveys guests to each attraction on an extensive interconnected river system, thus eliminating the need to leave the water or stand in line. A 221-room beachfront resort with restaurants, retail shopping, and an indoor waterpark opened at the South Padre Island location in 2013. The Schlitterbahn Galveston Island Waterpark, a twenty-six-acre facility with more than thirty attractions, restaurants, and resort-style cabanas, opened in the spring of 2006. The park’s most notable attractions included a one-mile-long river system and Wasserfest, a 70,000-square-foot convertible indoor/outdoor area with heated rides capable of operating year-round. In 2016 Schlitterbahn Galveston Island debuted MASSIV, the world’s tallest uphill water coaster. In 2005 Schlitterbahn Waterparks and Resorts announced plans to expand its business outside of Texas. These efforts resulted in the construction of Schlitterbahn Kansas City, which opened in 2009. In addition to hav

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Gruene Hall

1878

Built in 1878, Gruene Hall is the oldest continuously operating dance hall in Texas. George Strait, Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett, and countless others have played its stage.

Historical Marker →

New Braunfels - German Immigration Wave

1845

Founded in 1845 by Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels as part of a German colonization effort. Became the staging point for one of the largest immigrant waves in Texas history.

New Braunfels

1845

Early inhabitants of this area included Karankawa, Lipan, Tonkawa and Waco Indians. Between 1844 and 1846, the Verein Zum Schutze Deutscher Einwanderer in Texas (Society for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas) sent more than 7,000 German settlers. Several hundred of them arrived in this area in 1845. Led by Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels, they founded a community here on Good Friday, March 21, of that year. Rafael L. and Maria Antonia Veramendi Garza sold the colonization society more than 1,200 acres of land for the settlers, who held a drawing for lots shortly after arriving. Briefly referred to as Comal Springs, the community was named New Braunfels for the German town of Braunfels on the Lahn River. On May 11, 1846, the Texas Legislature incorporated the city, although the charter was not ratified until the following year. By 1850, New Braunfels was reportedly the fourth largest city in Texas. Because of its temperate climate and abundant natural resources, agriculture and industry thrived. Early craftsmen included bakers, blacksmiths, butchers, button and fringe makers, cabinetmakers, carpenters, coppersmiths, locksmiths, machinists, saddlers, tailors, shoemakers, tanners, tinsmiths, turners and wagon makers. Industries included brick kilns, cotton gins, a door and blind factory, flour and grist mills, breweries, a sawmill, a soap and candle house, and a woolen mill. The city's settlers were undaunted by early hardships. Many old-world customs survive among descendants of the original colonists, and the city's heritage is reflected in its buildings, street names and institutions. (1970, 2005)

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Gebhardt, William F.

1892

William F. "Willie" Gebhardt, business entrepreneur, cook, and chili powder innovator, was born in Germany on March 16, 1875. He was the son of Fredrick and Wilhelmine Gebhardt. In 1883 Gebhardt's parents immigrated to the United States and eventually settled in the German town of New Braunfels, Texas, in 1885. It was there that William, who was raised to speak German, learned to read and write English. He also met Rose Mary Kronkosky, and they married by 1895. They had three children: Stella, Benno, and Herbert. Gebhardt's passion for cooking was first ignited in 1892, when he opened a café in the back of a saloon located on the corner of West San Antonio Street and Castell Street in downtown New Braunfels. The drinking establishment was known as the Phoenix Saloon by the mid-1890s. Gebhardt owned the café for four years. During this time, he developed what became his famous chili powder, which was first called "Tampico Dust," and he flavored his stew with the spice. Enthralled by the spicy variety of Mexican cuisine, Gebhardt spent his free time traveling the thirty miles south to San Antonio to enjoy the local Mexican food. He began experimenting with grinding herbs and dried peppers, and cooking a variety of chilies for his customers. Chili was a popular dish in the area, but it was seasonally limited due to the availability of fresh peppers. He later discovered that by drying his chili peppers and grinding them into a flavored powder, he could keep the powder fresh for several months. Having learned that, historically, American Indian groups had used ancho peppers for seasoning foods, he began importing ancho peppers by the wagonload from San Luis Potosí, Mexico. Thus he stored enough peppers to last for the entire year. Gebhardt spent years developing a recipe to grind chilies into a piquant powder known as chili powder. In 1896 Gebhardt peddled bottles of his concoction and called it Gebhardt's Eagle Brand Chili Powder. He registered the Eagle Brand name and trademarked his Eagle Chili Powder. In 1898 he moved to San Antonio and opened a factory on West Commerce Street. The 1900 census listed the family in San Antonio, and Gebhardt was listed as a "Chili Powder Manufacturer." He soon secured financial backing from his brother-in-law Albert Kronkosky. Gebhardt initially sold his powder in Texas, but his success with his product allowed him to take credit as the first entrepreneur to market his chili powder on a large scale. In 1908 his company published a cookbook, Mexican Cooking , in an effort to introduce and educate the American public about Mexican food. It was one of the first cookbooks to focus on Mexican-American cooking and spurred several later editions. Gebhardt received his butcher's license in 1911. This additional qualification enabled his company-renamed to Gebhardt's Chili Powder Company-to grow and diversify its products by first selling canned chili and later canned tamales. Over the years, Gebhardt's company expanded exponentially and sold products in most of the United States as well as London, South Africa, and Canada. Profits reached almost $1 million by 1915, and Gebhardt was producing 18,000 bottles of chili powder a day. A feature in the August 3, 1924, edition of the San Antonio Light lauded the company's success: "This growth has brought the factory up from a practically unknown concern in 1900 to its present place as the largest manufacturers of chili products exclusively in the world." At its height, Gebhardt products were sold across the United States as well as in nineteen other countries across the globe. From what started as a simple desire to learn to cook Mexican food, Gebhardt built an international business, later known as Gebhardt Mexican Foods Company , with commercial products that had never been sold in grocery stores before. William F. Gebhardt retired from business in 1936. He died at Baptist Memorial Hospital in San Antonio on June 11, 1956. He was buried at St. Mary's Cemetery

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Things to Do in New Braunfels

historical 3.9 mi away
Gruene Hall

Gruene Hall opened in 1878 and has never closed its doors making it the oldest continuously operating dance hall in Texas. The wooden floor is scuffed smooth…
nature 1.0 mi away
Comal Springs

Comal Springs in New Braunfels is the largest spring system in Texas -- more than two hundred and fifty individual vents pouring out three hundred million…
historical 2.7 mi away
Where George Strait Got His Start

Before George Strait was the King of Country he was a young singer playing regular gigs at Gruene Hall in the 1970s and 80s. The tiny dance hall with no air…
historical 2.7 mi away
Gruene Hall

Texas' oldest dance hall (1878). Still hosts live music every night.
quirky 2.7 mi away
The Kayaker Who Saved a Ghost Town

In 1974 developers had plans to bulldoze what was left of Gruene and build suburban homes. Then a University of Texas architecture student named Chip Kaufman…
historical 2.8 mi away
The Oldest Dance Hall in Texas

Gruene Hall was built in 1878 by a German cotton farmer named Henry D. Gruene and it has never stopped hosting dances. That makes it the oldest continuously…
nature 13.3 mi away
Bracken Cave

The largest bat colony on earth lives in this single sinkhole outside San Antonio -- somewhere between fifteen and twenty million Mexican free-tailed bats…
historical 16.1 mi away
Devil's Backbone Tavern

Perched on the haunted limestone ridge that gives the road its name, Devil's Backbone Tavern is one of the great Texas Hill Country dive bars. The first stone…
day trip
Day Trip to New Braunfels 🐊 (FULL EPISODE) S7 E10

Featured on The Daytripper — a full-episode local travel guide.

Sports in New Braunfels

🏆 STATE CHAMPIONS Class 5A · Football · 2024–2025

Smithson Valley — UIL 5A Football State Champions — 2 titles

Most recent: 28-6 over Frisco Lone Star · 2025 5A Division 1 final

Smithson Valley High School, located in New Braunfels, Texas, has established itself as a formidable presence in Class 5A football. The Rangers have secured two UIL 5A Division 1 State Championships. Their consistent performance reflects a strong program within the competitive landscape of Texas high school sports.

The community of New Braunfels has rallied behind their team, celebrating these significant achievements. These titles represent hard-fought seasons and dedicated effort on the field, bringing pride to the school and its supporters.

State titles
2 (2024–2025)
Most recent
2025, 28-6
Class
5A
The moment

In 2025, Smithson Valley High School claimed the 5A Division 1 State Championship by defeating Frisco Lone Star 28-6.

Sources: UIL State Championship Archives · SI High School (ScoreBook Live)
⭐ HOMETOWN LEGENDS Class 5A · Baseball

New Braunfels — New Braunfels — a college & pro athletic pipeline

5 alumni who reached major-college or pro sports

New Braunfels High School, a Class 5A school, has a history of producing athletes who have gone on to significant careers in major college and professional sports. The Unicorns' alumni include individuals who have made their mark in various fields. Among them are Nell Fortner, a U.S. Olympic and college Women's Basketball coach, and Geoff Hangartner, a former American football guard. These individuals represent a tradition of athletic pursuit.

The school's baseball program has also seen alumni reach the professional ranks. Bryce Miller, a professional baseball pitcher, and Jordan Westburg, a professional baseball infielder, both came through New Braunfels. Additionally, Terry Tausch, a former NFL guard, is another notable athlete from the Unicorns' past who played at the professional level.

Pro/D1 alumni
5
Class
5A
Founded
1845
Key Players
  • Nell Fortner — , U.S. Olympic and college Women's Basketball coach
  • Geoff Hangartner — , former American football guard
  • Bryce Miller — (2017), professional baseball pitcher
  • Terry Tausch — , former NFL guard
  • Jordan Westburg — (2017), professional baseball infielder
The moment

Nell Fortner went on to become a U.S. Olympic and college Women's Basketball coach.

Sources: Wikipedia · SI High School (ScoreBook Live)
🏆 STATE CHAMPIONS Class 4A · Volleyball · 2023

Davenport — 2023 UIL 4A Volleyball State Champions

Most recent: 2023 4A

Davenport High School, nestled in the scenic Texas Hill Country just outside New Braunfels, stands as a Class 4A powerhouse, particularly on the volleyball court. The Wolves have established a strong tradition, bringing pride and excitement to their community through their consistent performance and dedication to the sport.

The Davenport volleyball program reached the pinnacle of high school sports in Texas, securing a UIL 4A State Championship in 2023. This significant achievement highlights the team's hard work and commitment, cementing their place among the state's elite volleyball programs and bringing a state title home to New Braunfels.

State titles
2023
Most recent
2023
Class
4A
The moment

The Davenport High School volleyball team captured the UIL 4A State Championship in 2023.

Sources: UIL State Championship Archives · SI High School (ScoreBook Live)

Everything Near New Braunfels

607 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the nearest 200 are listed here — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.

Explore New Braunfels on the Map
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