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Near Boerne in Kendall County, Texas — The American South (West South Central)
 

Nicolaus Zink

 
 
Nicolaus Zink Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed by James Hulse, December 16, 2021
1. Nicolaus Zink Marker
Inscription. In 1844, Bavarian-born civil engineer Nicolaus Zink (1812-1887) was selected to lead a group of German immigrants overseas to establish settlements on a Texas land grant. This colonization effort was headed by Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels and financed by a German corporation known as the Mainzer Adelsverein.

Upon arrival in Texas in late 1844, Zink realized that the grant to be settled by the colonists was in the heart of Comanche Indian Territory. He persuaded Prince Solms to settle at an alternate site, which became the town of New Braunfels. Zink's leadership in the face of unrest, disease, starvation, and monetary problems was vital to the survival of the colony. He eventually was responsible for the supervision of about one-half of the German immigrants bound for New Braunfels.

After 1847, Zink built homes in a variety of places, including Sisterdale, Comfort, and an area south of Fredericksburg. In 1868, he acquired this property and built the central portion of the limestone house southeast of this site. He later gave land for and helped engineer the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railroad bed to Kerrville. Zink lived here until his death and is buried in an unmarked grave near this site.
 
Erected 1984 by Texas Historical Commission. (Marker Number 3595.)
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Railroads & StreetcarsSettlements & Settlers. A significant historical year for this entry is 1844.
 
Location. 29° 53.398′ N, 98° 47.237′ W. Marker is near Boerne, Texas, in Kendall County. It is on Waring Walfare Road 1.8 miles north of Farm to Market Road 289, on the right when traveling north. The marker is located at the entrance to the Don Strange Ranch along the road. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 106 Waring Welfare Road, Boerne TX 78006,
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United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Hill Country and in the San Antonio Metropolitan Area. Globally, it is in North America, a Gulf of Mexico state, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain, the Republic of Texas, and one of the Confederate States of America.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 7 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Beseler Family (approx. 1.3 miles away); Rev. Andrew Jackson Potter (approx. 4.1 miles away); Waring Schoolhouse (approx. 4½ miles away); Ottmar von Behr (approx. 6.1 miles away); Brownsboro Cemetery (approx. 6.3 miles away); Brownsboro Methodist Episcopal Church (approx. 6.3 miles away); A Recovering Prairie (approx. 6.4 miles away); James Kiehl River Bend Park (approx. 6.4 miles away).
 
Also see . . .
1. Zink, Nicolaus (1812–1887).
Nicolaus Zink, whose name was given to the Zinkenburg, the first German structure in New Braunfels, was born in Bamberg, Bavaria, Germany, on February 4, 1812. A civil engineer and former Bavarian
Nicolaus Zink Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed by James Hulse, December 16, 2021
2. Nicolaus Zink Marker
army officer, he moved with his wife Louise (von Kheusser) Zink to Texas in 1844 along with other German settlers under the auspices of the Adelsverein and the leadership of Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels. From December 1844 to March 1845 Zink supervised the move of approximately half of the German immigrants bound for New Braunfels from Indianola, by way of Victoria, McCoy's Creek, and Seguin.  Source: The Handbook of Texas
(Submitted on December 19, 2021, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas.) 

2. Adelsverein.
The Adelsverein, also known as the Mainzer Verein, the Texas-Verein, and the German Emigration Company, was officially named the Verein zum Schutze deutscher Einwanderer in Texas (Society for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas). Provisionally organized on April 20, 1842, by twenty-one German noblemen at Biebrich on the Rhine, near Mainz, the society represents a significant effort to establish a new Germany on Texas soil by means of an organized mass emigration.  Source: The Handbook of Texas
(Submitted on December 19, 2021, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas.) 
 
The Nicolaus Zink Marker in front of the Don Strange Ranch image. Click for full size.
Photographed by James Hulse, December 16, 2021
3. The Nicolaus Zink Marker in front of the Don Strange Ranch
Nicolaus Zink Haus in Welfare Texas image. Click for full size.
Public Domain
4. Nicolaus Zink Haus in Welfare Texas
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on December 19, 2021. It was originally submitted on December 19, 2021, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas. This page has been viewed 671 times since then and 35 times this year. Photos:   1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on December 19, 2021, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas.
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Sep. 16, 2026