Museums

Elisabet Ney Museum

National, State, and Local Historic Landmark

304 E. 44th Street
Austin, TX 78751
(512) 458-2255

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Former studio and portrait collection created by famed German sculptress, Elisabet Ney (1833 – 1907).

Museum of Texas Handmade Furniture

Located in Heritage Village

1370 Church Hill Drive
New Braunfels, TX 78130
(830) 629-6504

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The Museum of Texas Handmade Furniture exhibits a collection of over seventy pieces of Texas Biedermeier furniture (circa 1845 to 1880), including prominent local German cabinetmakers Johann Jahn, Franz Stauzenberger, and Heinrich Scholl, Jr. The museum also features a large collection of English ironstone, handmade quilts, and period accessories.

Texas Polka Music Museum

625 N. Main
Schulenburg, TX 78956
(979) 589-2600

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The Texas Polka Music Museum, Inc. preserves the history and legacy of polka music in Texas by honoring Texas polka bands and musicians of Czech, German, and Polish ancestry.  Texas polka DJs are also honored for their contribution to preserving polka music.

Texas Wendish Heritage Museum

1011 County Road 212
Giddings, Texas 78942
(979) 366-2441

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The Texas Wendish Heritage Museum preserves the history of the Texas Wends (Slavic immigrants from Lusatia, an area in eastern Germany).  Today the Wends of Lusatia are called Sorbs.

The Sophienburg Museum & Archives

401 W. Coll Street
New Braunfels, TX 78130
(830) 629-1572

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Discover the unique history of New Braunfels by visiting The Sophienburg Museum. Find out what led Prince Carl and his group of German colonists to Texas.  Follow them as they cross the Atlantic Ocean and make their way into New Braunfels.

The Archives is one of the largest repositories of information that chronicles the German immigration movement to Texas.  Its extensive collection includes German immigrant ship records to recent history, newspapers from 1852 to present, a map collection (1844 to present), original written records, government and church records, over 1 million photographic images, a rare books collection, and an extensive audio library.