Bettina (Texas)
Bettina ( Texas , USA ) was a small German settlement on the north bank of the Llano River in the west of Llano County , which only existed for a few months in 1847 . It has been one of the historical monuments (Historical Marker) of the state of Texas since 1964 .
founding
The forties , a group of 40 young, mostly students and young intellectuals from Hessen-Darmstadt as well as the university towns of Gießen and Heidelberg , who came to Texas on the initiative and with the support of the Mainz Aristocracy Association , founded an independent group in 1847 on the north bank of the Llano River , politically free settlement based on the ideals of the young communism .
The forties were in the time of political upheaval in Germany (see Frankfurter Wachensturm or March Revolution ) the group of revolutionaries and freethinkers of that also Karl Marx had found (1818-1883) his ideological roots, and therefore wanted there - completely detached from political restrictions and requirements - living as free citizens in a free country according to the motto of friendship, freedom, equality . The settlement was named after the liberal writer Bettina von Arnim (1785-1859), who was celebrated in these circles at the time .
It was the fifth German Latin Settlement of the aristocratic society in Texas after John O. Meusebach (1812-1897), the general secretary of the aristocratic society in Texas, had concluded his famous peace treaty with the Comanches in the spring of 1847 .
The botanist Ferdinand Lindheimer (1801–1879), the doctor Ferdinand von Herff (1820–1912), the engineer Gustav Schleicher (1823–1879), Jakob Küchler , Christoph Flach , Johannes Hörner , Louis Reinhardt and belonged to this group of settlers in the forties Friedrich Schenk. Some of the Bettina settlers, including some artisans, mechanics and farmers, actually worked hard to build their commune , but most, the intellectual adventurers, had never before learned to actually work for their daily bread . It was not until later in life that some of them - some of them their descendants - did a lot for their new home in Texas.
Downfall
Back then, these intellectuals preferred to hunt, hold persistent philosophical discussions or stick to the Latin quotes “Bibe, post mortem nulla voluptas - drink, after death there is no pleasure” or “ Carpe diem , quam minimum credula postero! - Seize the day, don't trust the next “(from: Horace 's Oden ). This explains that the utopian settlement of Bettina only lasted a few months.
There was tension, the group of settlers broke up, with most moving to San Antonio , Austin, and New Braunfels , where they pursued a career more in keeping with their academic background. The Bettina settlement fell apart. It was added to the list of Texan monuments (Historical Marker) in 1964.
reception
The Bettina settlement plays an important role in the 2016 novel Selbst by the author Thomas Meinecke .
literature
- Hartmut Heinemann: "Where the star in the blue field announces a new world." The emigration of the forties from Darmstadt to Texas in 1847 and their communist colony Bettina , in: Archive for Hessian History and Archeology, Issue 52, Historischer Verein für Hessen eV (Ed.), Darmstadt 1994
- Louis Reinhardt: The Communistic Colony of Bettina , in: Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 3, 1899.
Web links
Coordinates: 30 ° 42 ′ 6.5 ″ N , 98 ° 57 ′ 29.5 ″ W.