New Braunfels City Map Poster

About New Braunfels

The city is named for Braunfels, in Germany. The community's name was originally "Braunfels", but it was misspelled as "Brunnenfels" on a postal stationery and the error stuck. The area around New Braunfels was part of traditional homeland of the Karankawa Indians, who had been living there since before European settlement began in Texas. Spanish explorers reached the area early during their colonization of Texas; they established Catholic missions to serve local Indians and Spaniards from Mexico City after 1690. In 1824, Erath designed his first platted town below San Antonio Falls (present-day Main Plaza) at Comal Springs because he believed that artesian springs here were connected with those at Comal Creek near Sisterdale (in present day Kendall County). He gave this town the German title "Neu-Braunfel". After Stephen F.