Historian Reflects on 175 Years

Fredericksburg’s Historian

Treibs is Steeped in History of our Hill Country Destination Spot.

While Fredericksburg may be seen by most people as just a tourist destination now, fifth-generation native GLEN TREIBS can remember its small town history.

“What was different was that basically we knew a lot of people,” Treibs said. “When you were standing at the post office in line, you knew most of the people in line.”

He remembers a time when he and his wife would go to Andy’s Diner after church in the 1970s and would see people they knew at 10 tables.

“Now, I could be at a local restaurant and see maybe two tables where I would know people,” he said.

Treibs grew up in Fredericksburg and is the fifth generation on his land. He can recount how one of the main attractions in town at that time was the Palace Theatre on Main Street, which is now the Parts Unknown retail store.

“At that time, I would get a quarter to go to the movie,” he said. “I paid nine cents to get into the movie, I’d put a penny for candy in the candy machine, then get a nickel drink, a nickel popcorn and a nickel candy bar. For 25 cents, I could have a big night out on the town.”

He also recounted how anyone could just walk into one of the schools at any time.

“Now you have to sign in, and you have to have a badge and you probably have to be accompanied because culture has changed,” he said.

By Samuel Sutton Standard-Radio Post reporter

Changes

Treibs can remember specifically when he noticed the influx of people.

“It was 1969 when I went into the military, and I noticed a change when I came back in 1972,” he said.

He believes the town’s popularity started to increase with President Lyndon Johnson.

“Tens of thousands of people came to see the White House in Texas,” he said. “They would come through and think, ‘Oh, what a lovely German town. We’ll come live here someday.’”

He said what shocked him the most was when people would quit their jobs, leave their home and move here on a whim.

“Germans would’ve never done that,” he said, laughing.

But overall, he said he’s not against the change.

“Change has been happening since May of 1846 (when the town was founded),” he said. “I’m so glad we’re preserving our buildings now. That’s what I fought for years, too.”

Local Historian

Treibs has loved his town’s history since before he joined the Gillespie County Historical Society when he was 15 years old.

“It’s my town and it’s my people,” he said. “I was reared here and really knew a lot of people across the county.”

His love of history runs in his deep in his family. As an example, items such as kitchenware, printing blocks and a betty lamp that his family took from their home in Germany have been passed on to Treibs and kept in good shape to this day.

Treibs got into the society through the three ladies working there at the time: Esther Mueller, Emmie Detjen and Christine Brodie.

“I started working with Esther Mueller. She was my English teacher in high school and she could see that I loved all that stuff,” he said.

Since then, he’s taught Texas history at Fredericksburg Middle School, worked for Der Stadt Friedhof for over 30 years and has been involved in many other things related to Fredericksburg’s history.

“It’s been a lifetime of work preserving our history,” he said.

Over the years, people have asked Treibs if he would consider writing a book detailing his knowledge of Fredericksburg. He said while he has some family commitments keeping him busy at

Glen Treibs is well known as a wealth of information about Fredericksburg and Gillespie County. He talks about what it was like growing up here, how it’s changed into a Hill Country destination spot, and what to expect in the 175th Anniversary weekend, May 6-8, 2022.

the moment, he would like to do that some time.

175th anniversary

As part of the Steering Committee, Treibs has also played a pivotal role in setting up the 175th Anniversary festivities.

He noted the Founders Day event on May 8 was “larger than normal.”

He also wanted to stress that descendants standing there on May 8 were lucky to be there.

“Their families weren’t better, they just lucked out on everything,” he said. “There was no disease, or flood, or starvation or epidemic that hit their house or killed everybody before they had children.”

During the weekend of May 7-8, there will be an assembly at the Gillespie County Fair Grounds. People from the Comanche tribe will also be in attendance to perform a dance.

Also planned is a lunch for descendants 75 and older, Treibs said.

To stay up to date on happenings for the closing weekend, go to www.175th.org.

Standard-Radio Post file photo