In The Heart Of Texas But Not Yet At Home

The Texas Hill Country from 1847 – 1865 …
In search of political and personal freedom, self-determination and their
own land, thousands of Germans start to settle in the wilderness of
Southwest Texas.
Among these settlers are the Hessians Karl Engelbach and his son
Johann, forced to flee their native country in 1844.
Although the work of cultivating the new land is very difficult, the
Germans do well at first. With the help and support of their new friends,
the Comanches, they manage to change the former wilderness of the
Texas Hill Country. Their cities of Fredericksburg, New-Braunfels,
Boerne and Comfort become centers of civilization, culture, prosperity
and freedom.
But after the secession of Texas from the United States and the onset
of the Civil War, all their earlier work and hardships may have been in
vain. They seem to be losing what they have gained. Mostly Union
supporters, the Engelbachs and their compatriots in the Texas Hill
Country want to stay true to the Union. But during Civil War times they
have to ask themselves whether the price they must pay for their loyalty
to the Union is really worth it. How can the Texan Germans endure
through this dilemma?
Barbara Ortwein’s story is a thrilling continuation of the first book
of her Texas saga, Between Worlds, Never to Return. The main topic
of her sequel is the integration of the Germans in Texas, especially at
the frontier in today’s Fredericksburg and its surroundings. After intensive
research, the author manages to combine the story of her fictional
characters Karl and Johann Engelbach with the real story of the
Germans who settled in the Texas Hill Country.
Her plot clarifies why the integration of the Germans in Texas was first
successful, but then seemed to go terribly wrong during the American
Civil War.