Wends of Texas
14 comments
·January 8, 2025pavel_lishin
_bin_
Yep, I grew up in Texas and tons of German-Czech influence. Hruska's beats on kolaches for my money, if it's on your way :)
There are also some hidden historic dance halls that are great if you can make it by. I know one dates to 1912 and a buddy's family refurbished it last year; lovely place.
MandieD
Just before New Years, we were headed to The Woodlands from my hometown in Bell County, and passed through Zabcikville. I decided to get a hostess gift for the high school friend we were visiting, so dropped into Green's Sausage House for a dozen kolaches. I figured I'd be out about $30-40, given how expensive everything else had gotten both where I live now and where I grew up.
It was still $16.
The cottage cheese and the peaches and cream are the best two, in my opinion, followed closely by the cream cheese and the apricot.
If you're eating lunch behind the wheel, their sausage and sauerkraut "kolaches" (more like sausage rolls, but made from the same dough as the sweet kolaches) are an excellent option. One is a heavy snack, two are a solid meal.
Discovering that there were kolaches over the border in Czechia after moving to Central Bavaria: happiness!
Discovering that those are more like what Americans would call a danish than a Central Texas kolache: heartbreaking.
dylan604
Gruene Hall is the classic example. If you’re into red dirt and have not made the pilgrimage, then you’re just doing it wrong
Javalicious
A few years ago we did a road trip through that part of Texas, looking at the "painted churches" (https://thedaytripper.com/the-painted-churches-road-trip/ - there are other itineraries). This article sparked that memory, as one of the painted churches is actually a Wendish church.
And yes, there's a painted church in Shiner as well! :-)
chachacharge
Plenty of Swedes also. Creating churches and schools. German/Swede congregations helped each other. Later it was the Irish who renovated, buying up old neighborhoods, creating today's hospitals and universities.
inglor_cz
The explosion in West, Texas in 2013 attracted a lot of attention in Czechia and I believe also some charitative help.
willf
My wife is a Wend, and so we visited this area in Texas. One of the things I found interesting was that there was a local paper that printed articles in German, English, and Wendish (Sorbian) – there’s a link in the Wiki article. The church we visited was so beautiful.
Boogie_Man
Try to make me go to church with the Calvinists I'll flee the country too
timeon
But why to most Calvinists influenced country?
Boogie_Man
Probably because Texas had just recently become a state at that point and because of the Adelsverein and/or the number of ethnic Germans already there.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adelsverein https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Germans
Das Yehaw
croisillon
it would be funny if they had Umgebindehäuser in Texas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_Lusatian_house
bad_haircut72
Stop in at some of the antique shops in New Braunfels & you can find all Nazi medals the germans brought with em in their last wave!
arschfick
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There are so many people who came to Texas from that part of Europe. German names are everywhere!
Shiner Bock, brewed by the Spoetzl brewery, also started by German immigrants, brewing the kind of beer they were used to.
And of course between Dallas and Texas, you have the Czech Stop in West, Texas (which is not in west Texas) which is a great place to stop for some kolaches on the rip.