The ''New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung'' is a newspaper based in

New Braunfels, Texas New Braunfels ( ) is a city in Comal and Guadalupe counties in the U.S. state of Texas known for its German Texan heritage. It is the seat of Comal County. The city covers and had a population of 90,403 as of the 2020 Census. A suburb just nor ...

, covering the

Comal County Comal County ( ) is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 161,501. Comal County is known for its rich German-Texan and European history. Its county seat is New Braunfels. ...

area of Central Texas. It publishes five days a week (excluding Sunday and Monday). It is owned by

Southern Newspapers Southern Newspapers Inc. (SNI) is a publishing holding company headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company was founded as Southern Newspapers, Inc., of Tennessee in 1967 by Carmage Walls. Its flagship paper, the ''Galveston County Daily News'' is ...

. Early

Texas German Texas German (german: Texasdeutsch) is a group of German language dialects spoken in Texas by descendants of German immigrants who settled there in the mid-19th century. These "German Texans" founded the towns of Bulverde, New Braunfels, Fred ...

settler and botanist

Ferdinand Lindheimer Ferdinand Jacob Lindheimer (May 21, 1801 – December 2, 1879) was a German Texan botanist who spent his working life on the American frontier. In 1936, Recorded Texas Historic Landmark number 1590 was placed on Lindheimer's grave. Biography Ea ...

was the first editor when the newspaper began as the weekly German-language publication ''Neu-Braunfelser Zeitung'' in 1852. The enterprise, begun to boost the reputation of the city and attract settlers, was backed by political activist

Adolph Douai Karl Daniel Adolf Douai (1819 – 1888), known to his peers as "Adolf", was a German Texan teacher as well as a socialist and abolitionist newspaper editor. Douai was driven from Texas in 1856 due to his published opposition of slavery, living out ...

. Subsequent editors throughout the 19th century included Anselm Eiband, Ernest Koebig and Ludolph LaFrentz. After the Zeitung Publishing Company formally organized to run the paper in the late 19th century, G.F. Oheim bought the property in 1899 and was editor/publisher until the time of his death in 1947. Oheim's son, Frederic, succeeded him as owner/editor and added English-language content in 1948 in response to declining numbers of German-language subscribers. In 1954, the newspaper became the ''Zeitung-Chronicle'' after merging with the ''Comal County Chronicle''. The weekly English-language ''New Braunfels Herald'' (est. 1892), under the long-time leadership of Charles Scruggs, bought the ''Zeitung-Chronicle'' in 1957 and the German-language portion was dropped. The company continued to publish both newspapers separately once a week. In 1967, the separate editions were dropped and the merged newspaper published as the English-only weekly ''Herald and Zeitung''. The name was changed to ''Herald-Zeitung'' in 1979. Taylor Communications bought the newspaper in 1980, when it became a five-day daily. They sold the ''Herald-Zeitung'' to

in 1984, and it became a morning newspaper in 1986. Charles Scruggs' son, Claude, led the paper from the time of the merger until 1986. He was followed by Susan Haire and then editor/publisher David Sullens (1991–96). Under publisher Doug Toney (1996-2012), the ''Herald-Zeitung'' won over 100 statewide awards across all departments. A serious flood damaged the company's offices, archives and Goss press in 1998, leading to a relocation of the printing facilities. A Saturday edition was added in 2000.

References

''New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung''
Handbook of Texas online
''New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung''
Texas Press Association
History of The ''Herald-Zeitung''
herald-zeitung.com
''Herald-Zeitung'' publisher Doug Toney retiring
KRGV.com

External links

* {{Authority control Daily newspapers published in Texas New Braunfels, Texas 1852 establishments in Texas Companies based in New Braunfels, Texas Publications established in 1852 German-language newspapers published in Texas