Fall in one of the fastest growing cities in America is... the wurst.
Or rather, it’s all about the wurst.
Wurstfest takes over the city of New Braunfels every November, a time when the town’s German past is every bit its present.
“It’s a celebration of the German culture. The name itself, Wurst, is sausage,” said Benno Engel, current Opa, past president of Wurstfest and current volunteer at the Sophienburg Museum and Archive.
The event got started in 1961 when a local meat inspector, Ed Grist, got the idea to give the 19 local sausage makers a chance to show off their product.
“And let whatever crowd came to the festival judge who was best,” said Sherman Krause, 2024 Wurstfest president and Comal County judge.
What began as a one-day event with roughly 2,000 people in attendance is today a 10-day festival that attracts more than 200,000 on the site of an old mill in Landa Park.
A city’s royal German roots
New Braunfels was founded by German royalty in 1845, the same year Texas became a state.
“Germany was kind of becoming united, and the royalty was losing their tax abilities because the taxes now went to a federal government rather than to the locals,” said Engel. “And they were trying to figure out how to continue being wealthy enough to maintain their castles.”
Prince Carl of Solms Braunfels, who was a member of a German royal society called the Adelsverein, came to Texas to start a colony.
And German settlers followed.
“Their entire belongings were kept in one sea chest. That’s all that they were allowed to bring,” said Engel.
Some of those chests are on display at the Sophienburg Museum, which tells the origin story of New Braunfels using items donated by locals who were handed down collections belonging to original settlers.
“As a matter of fact, the Sophienburg was actually where (Prince Carl) established his first home,” said Engel. “And this was supposed to be the castle because this is the highest point in old New Braunfels.”
Sophie was to be Prince Carl’s wife, but the story goes that she found out things were a bit rugged here in Texas and never made the trip, so the prince returned to Germany, but his settlement stayed.
“We kind of stuck here with our German language because we were mainly all Germans in this town,” said Engel.
“In World War II, we were no longer allowed to teach German in the high schools, for example, for several years, and the newspaper had to quit printing in German,” he added. “But up until that time, everybody at home spoke German and then learned English also.”
The Wurstfest recipe
Holding onto that German heritage is a big part of Wurstfest.
It’s not just in the beer and lederhosen. It’s in the sausage on a stick, the kartoffelpuffer (a potato pancake), the wurstentachen and more.
“Wurstentachen is a brat on a pita bread covered in sauteed onion, green peppers and sauerkraut,” said Bobby Johnson, a member of the Downtown Rotary Club of New Braunfels, which operates a booth selling Wurstentachen at the festival every year.
Johnson has worked that booth for a decade.
“It can get crazy,” he laughed. “I’ve seen it all.”
The Downtown Rotary Club is one of the more than 20 nonprofits raising money at Wurstfest, many of which use the festival as their biggest fundraiser of the year.
“One hundred percent of our money goes back into Comal County,” Johnson said.
What’s an Opa?
Every member of the Wurstfest Association is an Opa, a German word that means grandfather.
Some, however, are more fun than others, like Eric Couch. He’s the 2024 Grosse Opa of Wurstfest, a position appointed by the Wurstfest president.
“I am the Spass Meister, the fun master. My job is to make sure everybody’s experiencing fun, having a good time, and experiencing a little bit of Gemütlichkeit,” Couch said.
The giant feather in his hat sets him apart from the other opas. You’ll find him dancing among the crowds in the Wursthalle, where the family crests of each Opa line the walls.
“These are families that have been here a long time,” said Couch.
The fire
Just a few of those family crests have black markings on them today from a destructive fire that ripped through the Wurstfest grounds in 2019.
The Marktplatz, where most food vendors and souvenir shops are located and adjoined to the Wursthalle at the time, caught fire that year.
“It was combustible material that had been left close to the light,” said Couch.
Fire crews put out the flames and continued to monitor things for well into the overnight hours.
“That heat just dissipated throughout that entire thing, and about 6 on that Friday morning, the whole roof just went up in flames,” said Couch.
Then in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. It’s the only year in Wurstfest history that the event has not happened.
Today, the Marktplatz has been rebuilt, and Wurstfest kicks off like it always does.
“We will pass out the sausage and do an official biting of the sausage to open the festival, as well as the tapping of the keg,” said Couch. “Gotta have that.”
For all the food and fun, there’s deeper meaning for those who love this festival.
“My youngest daughter’s out in Utah. My brother’s out in New Hampshire. But its Wurstfest. They’re going to be here,” said Couch, as he fought back a tear or two. “It’s gotten to be a bigger celebration of family for us than Christmas.”
“You got me a little emotional because I’m very passionate about it,” he continued.
It’s a homecoming for some, a celebration of heritage for others, and a way to pass down traditions to a new generation.
“It’s a story that needs to be told because many of the children don’t understand exactly where New Braunfels came from and what it all means,” said Engel.