What makes New Braunfels so great?

Founded in 1845 by Prince Carl of Solm-Braunfel, the town's unique character is an outgrowth of its German heritage. Read about its history in the Handbook of Texas Online at http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/NN/hen2.html. Or take a trip to the 1800s at the Sophienburg Museum: http://www.nbtx.com/sophienburg/museum.htm.

Nestled within the city limits, Greune (http://www.gruene.net/grnhstry.htm) boasts carefully preserved historic buildings, excellent restaurants, fun shops, and Greune Hall, Texas' Oldest Dance Hall. Visit their website to see which Texas artist is playing this historic music forum: http://www.gruenehall.com/.

If you just want to have fun in a wholesome, family atmosphere, this is the city. Whether you're in the mood for Schlitterbahn (http://www.schlitterbahn.com/) or prefer the Museum of Modern Art & Music (http://www.nbmuseum.org/), New Braunfels is the place to be.

The most important thing about this city, though, is water.

The Guadalupe and Comal Rivers flow through this peaceful tourist town. Canyon Lake sits beside it. And from time to time, nature gets out of control.

How often has the Guadalupe River flooded?

The river flooded in the 1890s, the early Teens, 1932, 1952 and 1972. We had a small flood in 1987 (http://www.crh.noaa.gov/mkx/slide-show/tstm/slide14.html), a major "500 year flood" in 1998, and then another major "200 year flood" in 2002. So you might say that New Braunfels has had 700 years of flooding in four short years.

How has New Braunfels responded to this flood?

The needs are critical, and the process of meeting them never ends. The Comal County Engineer's Office provides up-to-the-minute information (http://www.cceo.org/) while the Chamber of Commerce's link "Rebuilding from the flood" offers practical do-it-yourself suggestions at http://www.nbcham.org/clean_up_tips.htm.

When do we need to worry about our city flooding?

We can check the stage of the Guadalupe at http://www.srh.noaa.gov/wgrfc/observation/NBRT2_obs.html. or the Chamber of Commerce report at http://www.nbcham.org/river_updates.htm.

Please join us in our quest to save our city from more devastating floods!

How? Great minds are undoubtedly working on this problem at this very moment. But great minds often overlook the connections that emerging minds - student minds - create. Just think: if Columbus had listened to the experts, he'd have known that you can't get from Europe to India by sailing west, and America might never have been discovered.