Adelsverein

Logo of Verein zum Schutze Deutscher Einwanderer in Texas

Society for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas, better known as Adelsverein (German pronunciation: [ˈaːdəlsfɐˌʔaɪn], Nobility Society), organized on April 20, 1842, was a colonial attempt to establish a new Germany^[1] within the borders of Texas.^[2]

History

Adelsverein was organized on April 20, 1842, by twenty-one German noblemen at Biebrich on the Rhine, in the castle of the Archduke of Nassau who was named Protector of the Society.^[3] The society represented a significant effort to establish a new Germany on Texas soil through organized mass emigration.^[2] In Germany the society is commonly referred to as Mainzer Adelsverein after the city of Mainz where it was officially registered.

The Verein established the 4,428 acre Nassau Plantation, named after the Archduke of Nassau, in Fayette County, Texas on January 9, 1843 for seventy-five cents an acre. Initially, the plantation had been considered as the primary base for arriving German immigrants.^[3][4] Twenty-five slaves were bought to work on the property. When Prince Solms inspected the plantation in 1844, he recommended the Verein divest itself of the property, rather than be associated with slavery.^[5] The Vereins operated the property for five years.

Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels was appointed commissioner general by the Adelsverein in May 1844 to lead its colony in Texas. The first Adelsverein-sponsored immigrants arrived in Galveston in July 1844. They traveled from Galveston to Indianola in December 1844 and then moved inland to land grants acquired by the Adelsverein near Comal Springs. The settlement was named New Braunfels in honor of Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels.

New Braunfels was the first colony set up for German immigrants in 1845. The second colony, Fredericksburg, was established on May 8, 1846, near the Pedernales River.^[2] Fredericksburg is named after Prince Frederick of Prussia, nephew of Prussia's King Frederick William III, who was a member of the Adelsverein.

Baron Otfried Hans von Meusebach was appointed the second commissioner general of the Adelsverein in April 1845, after Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels left New Braunfels.

Between 1842 and 1845, Shelby, Texas, became a small German farming community in Austin County. In 1843, Count Ludwig Joseph von Boos-Waldeck bought a plantation in Fayette County to be used in the Adelsverein effort. Nassau Farm, a "manor house" retreat for the Society's officials, was built during this period.^[6]

In 1853, due to a large amount of debt, Adelsverein ended its colonization campaign in Texas.^[7] It was succeeded by the German Immigration Company.

Darmstadt Society of Forty

For more details on this topic, see List of Darmstadt Society of Forty.

Count Castell^[8] negotiated with the separate Darmstadt Society of Forty to colonize two hundred families on the Fisher-Miller Land Grant territory in Texas. In return, they were to receive $12,000 in money, livestock, equipment and provisions for a year. After the first year, the colonies were expected to support themselves.^[9] The colonies attempted were Castell,^[10] Leiningen, Bettina,^[11] Schoenburg and Meerholz in Llano County; Darmstädler Farm in Comal County; and Tusculum in Kendall County.^[12] Of these, only Castell survives. The colonies failed after the Adelsverein funding expired, and also due to conflict of structure and authorities. Some members moved to other Adelsverein settlements in Texas. Others moved elsewhere, or returned to Germany.

Settlements

• Castell, Texas
• Fredericksburg, Texas
• New Braunfels, Texas
• Shelby, Texas
• Sisterdale, Texas
• Nassau Plantation, Fayette County, Texas

Members

Founding members

Source:^[13]

• Archduke of Nassau
• Bernhard II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen
• Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
• Prince Frederick of Prussia
• Friedrich Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
• Carl, 3rd Prince of Leiningen
• Prince Hermann von Wied
• Prince Ferdinand von Solms-Braunfels
• Prince Franz von Collerado-Mansfield
• Prince Otto Victor von Schoenberg-Waldenburg
• Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels (Prince of Solms-Braunfels Rheingrafenstein)
• Prince Alexander von Solms-Braunfels
• Count Christian von Alt-Leiningen-Westernburg
• Count Viktor August of Leiningen-Westerburg-Alt-Leiningen
• Count Carl Frederick Christian of Castell-Castell
• Count Carl von Isenburg-Meerholz
• Count Edmund von Hatzfeld
• Count Carl William von Inn und Knyphausen-Lutelsberg
• Count Armand von Rennessee
• Count Carl von Castell
• Baron Paul Scirnay

Leadership

• Archduke of Nassau - Protector
• Carl, 3rd Prince of Leiningen^[14] - President
• Count Carl Frederick Christian of Castell-Castell^[15] - Vice President, Executive Secretary-Business Director^[16]
• Count Viktor August of Leiningen-Westerburg-Alt-Leiningen^[17][18] - Co-founder^[16]
• Count Ludwig Joseph von Boos-Waldeck^[19] - Co-Founder
• Baron August von Bibra^[20] - General Manager
• Gustav Dresel^[21] - Special Business Agent
• Philip Cappes - Special Commissioner^[22]
• Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels - First Commissioner-General
• John O. Meusebach - Second Commissioner-General
• Hermann Spiess^[23] - Third Commissioner-General

External links

• A Guide to the Solms-Braunfels Archives, 1842-1957 at UT-Austin
• August von Bibra in Handbook of Texas Online
• Article: From "The Germans: Geh Mit Ins Texas"
• Adelsverein in Handbook of Texas Online
• Immigration Contract 1845

References

1. ^ Jordan, Terry G. "Germans". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/png02. Retrieved 30 December 2010. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} Brister, Louis E. "Adelsverein". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ufa01. Retrieved 30 December 2010. 
3. ^ ^{a b} King (1967) p.33
4. ^ Garrett, Daphne Dalton. "Nassau Farm". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/acn01. Retrieved 29 December 2010. 
5. ^ Campbell, Randolph B (1991). An Empire for Slavery: The Peculiar Institution in Texas, 1821-1865. Louisiana State University Press. p. 217. ISBN 978-0-8071-1723-1. 
6. ^ Chronology of Central European Colonization in Texas
7. ^ The German Texans
8. ^ Brister, Louis E. "Count Carl of Castell-Castell". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fcaap. Retrieved 16 January 2011. 
9. ^ King (1967) p.122
10. ^ Heckert-Greene, James B. "Castell, Texas". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hnc23. Retrieved 20 January 2011. 
11. ^ Lich, Glen E. "Bettina, Texas". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hvb55. Retrieved 20January 2011. 
12. ^ Lich, Glen E. "The Forty". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/pnf02. Retrieved 20 January 2011. 
13. ^ Tiling, Moritz Philip Georg (1913). "The Society of German Noblemen". History of the German Element in Texas From 1820-1850 and Historical Sketches of the German Texas Singer's League and Houston Turnverein From 1553-1913. Tiling. 
14. ^ Brister, Louis E. "Prince Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Emich Leiningen III". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fle61. Retrieved 30 December 2010. 
15. ^ Brister, Louis E. "Count Carl of Castell-Castell". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fcaap. Retrieved 30 December 2010. 
16. ^ ^{a b} King (1967) pp.33,34
17. ^ Brister, Louis E. "Count Victor August of Leiningen-Westerburg-Alt-Leiningen". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fle60. Retrieved 30 December 2010. 
18. ^ "House of Leiningen". European Heraldry. http://www.europeanheraldry.org/house_of_leiningen.html. Retrieved 30 December 2010. 
19. ^ Brister, Louis E. "Count Ludwig Joseph von Boos-Waldeck". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fbo90. Retrieved 30 December 2010. 
20. ^ Willson, Jeanne R. "August von Bibra". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fbi27. Retrieved 30 December 2010. 
21. ^ Max, Freund. "Gustav Dresel". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fdr02. Retrieved 30 December 2010. 
22. ^ King (1967) pp.96-101
23. ^ Ragsdale, Crystal. "Hermann Spiess". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fsp11. Retrieved 30 December 2010. 

Additional sourcing

• King, Irene Marschall (1967). John O.Meusebach. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-73656-6.