Privatbesitz von Aldina de Zavala (Texas) Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels (1812-1875), circa 1840s
On this date in 1844, Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels, the youngest son of Prince Friedrich Wilhelm, arrived in San Antonio to negotiate the purchase of 75,276 acres of land for German settlement and colonization.
The young prince was celebrated for his good looks and affable personality. Trilingual and with a military background, the well-connected adventurer set off for the New World, inspired by a colorful novel, titled The Cabin Book: Sketches of Life in Texas, and penned by the famed Austrian-American priest turned journalist, Charles Sealsfield. Sealsfield was the pseudonym of Karl Anton Post, who was wanted by Austrian authorities for his pro-democratic writings and travelogues.
|Gero von Wilpert: Deutsche Literatur in Bildern Karl Anton Post, famously known as Charles Sealsfield, 1864|
Sealsfield exalted America and the Western frontier as a beacon of freedom and liberty, in contrast to Western Europe’s (and more specifically Austria and Germany’s) patrician and socially stratified societies. Prince Carl was captivated by Sealsfield’s rendering of Texas, as well as William Kennedy’s geography of Texas and G. A. Scherpf’s guide to Texas for immigrants.
In 1842, the Prince had joined 21 noblemen in forming a society named Adelverein. The society hoped to promote and realize German expansion in Texas.
Prince Carl and his fellow members in Adelverein worked diligently to promote acceptance and funding of the group in Germany. Historians Glen E. Lich and Günter Moltmann remark that the prince “worked tirelessly … lobby[ing] his many relatives, [and] traveled incognito through France and Belgium to the Isle of Wight, where he may have met with Prince Albert, and, along with other members, secured the covert support of England, France, and Belgium for the Texas colonial project, which was at once philanthropic, mercantile, and political.”
The Adelverein Society appointed Carl its commissioner-general in 1844. That same year, the society sent the prince to the United States. The prince and his retinue arrived in Galveston on July 1, 1844.
Upon arrival, the prince wrote a letter in which he described himself as the leader of a great German migration westward to “the new Fatherland on the other side of the ocean.” He took great pride in his expedition, telling his fellow society members “The eyes of all Germany, no, the eyes of all Europe are fixed on us and our undertaking: German princes, counts, and noblemen … are bringing new crowns to old glory while at the same time insuring immeasurable riches for their children and grandchildren.”
The prince traveled throughout the Republic of Texas, looking for land to purchase. Fearful the British might try to expand in the Lone Star Republic, Prince Carl began negotiations to purchase land in San Antonio.
San Antonio later became home to one of the largest and most politically active communities of German immigrants in the United States.
Source: The Handbook of Texas Online