German Choirs of Fredericksburg, TX

  I will keep posting songs from the last Maifest

 

 Another Herbfest did take place again... More photos from the event on our Facebook page here .

The event, hosted by the German Choirs of Fredericksburg, started at 8 AM.      More photos on our Facebook page .   The concert began at 1:30 PM.  See its highlights in our video made by Ron.

Zion Lutheran Church invited us to sing at their Sanctuary again. Last Sunday, our second concert at Zion took place. The video included below was shared by the Zion media team. Thank you guys! Songs presented during the concert: Sängergruß - singers' greeting, Abendchor, Gut Nacht, O Du schöner Westerwald, Lieder, die von Herzen kommen, Wenn die Heckenrosen wieder blühen, Die Wacht am Rhein, Lied unser Band, Das Morgenrot, Welch ein treuer Freund ist Jesus, Danke Schön und Auf Wiederseh'n.

As it has been already announced, on September 28, the German Choirs of Fredericksburg host the 2024 Sängerfest - the German Singers' League Festival. In connection to that, we are going to tell you more about the beginnings of the Texas Sängerbund and the early Sängerfest gatherings. In 1846 , the first Texas singing society was created - 8 immigrants of German background, who met under a live oak tree by the Comal River, in the colony of New Braunfels, decided to meet occasionally to sing German songs. In that way, the first German Texan singing society was created. A few years later, more singing societies came into being in the region. March 2, 1850 - Germania was founded. Around that time, the San Antonio, Sisterdale, and La Grange  singing societies were created as well.   1852 - the Deutsche Männerchor was organized in Austin.   July 4, 1853 - New Braunfel's Germania, the singers of San Antonio and Austin got together to celebrate the holiday with German son...

We are working hard getting ready for this year's Sängerfest. 

It is not known who the author of the song is.  "Horch, was kommt von draussen 'rein" was popular among students at the end of the 19th century. Many men's choruses added the song to their repertoire then. In the 20th century, other types of choirs started singing it as well.  Franz Joseph Roehl is the author of the tune musical arrangement sung by the ladies of the German Choirs of Fredericksburg.   You can read more about the song HERE .

 Our final 2023 performance was the Caroling event at the Heritage Retirement Center. It was followed by the Choir's annual Christmas gathering. See you next year!

 On December 15, the Choirs took the Christmas cheer to Knopp Retirement Center.    The Choirs also sang German Carols at the Golden Hub Community Center. We met Mr. and Mrs. Santa there!

December is the annual caroling time. The Choirs are going to sing German Christmas carols at three places. December 15 11 am - Knopp I (Healthcare & Rehab.), 11: 45 am - Golden Hub. December 21 6 pm - Heritage Assisted Living

Our words of appreciation to the guests who visited with the Choirs and listened to our songs at the annual Herbfest event. Special kudos to all of you who were able to accompany us until the very end of the fest. The videos with our Herbfest songs are available on our Facebook and Instagram accounts.  

Sunday 10/22 - The Choirs' concert at Zion Lutheran Church in Fredericksburg, TX (followed by a refreshment time organized by the church). Our thank you to Zion Lutheran Church, Fredericksburg, TX for having invited us to sing at their Sanctuary.  Coffee/tea and cookies time at Zion's Fellowship Hall Zion's IT team recorded our performance - watch the video.  Thanks a lot to the IT men!

Our big thank you to all who came to listen to our songs on Saturday during Oktoberfest. It is always nice to feel your support!

September 25  The choirs were invited to the Heritage Assisted Living in Fredericksburg, TX, by the members of its German Club. We all enjoyed the gathering and the sing-along time. Our thank you to the German Club for the invitation!      Mr. Larry Kuhlken led the Choirs' program

Saturday, September 23 - the Choirs sang at the annual Sängerfest in New Braunfels, Texas. It was fun! Next year, the event will be hosted by the German Choirs in Fredericksburg! Photo shared by Mr. Dieter K

After the summer break, the Choirs started another singing year last Thursday.  Welcome back to the new and "old" singers! We are going to participate in the 131st Texanischer Gerbirgs Sängerfest which takes place in New Braunfels, Texas, on September 23.  This year's Sängerfest venue: McKenna Events Center, Lone Star Room, 801 W San Antonio St. New Braunfels, Texas 78130. Anyhow, new songs are being practiced. In the meantime, on our blog, another song from the last Maifest: "Was noch frisch und jung an Jahren"/ Gustav Gunsenheimer.

The annual Maifest hosted by the German Choirs of Fredericksburg has been history, already. We thank all the guests who attended it. You made the event special.    The President of Hermannsöhne Gemischter Chor introduces the song "Juchhei, dich muss ich haben!". And here is the song performed by the men's choir.    "Im Wein liegt Sonnenschein" by the ladies.   More videos/songs from Maifest 2023 on our Facebook and Instagram accounts. Nowadays, the Choirs are having the usual summer break. The singers come back to the rehearsal room on August 4.

  Gemütlichkeit and the annual May performance are coming! The Choirs are working on their new repertoire. Come and listen to our new old songs!

 The song " Der fröhliche Wanderer ", known also as " Mein Vater war ein Wandersmann ", is believed to be a German folk lied, but it actually is not. Well, at least not exactly. The lyrics were written by Florenz Friedrich Sigismund (b. 1791 in Schwarzburg/d. 1877 in Blankenburg) and later adapted to more modern needs by Edith Möller. The current song tune was composed by Friedrich-Wilhelm Möller not long after WW2. In 1953/54, the song was a hit on BBC radio. "Der fröhliche Wanderer" has been translated into many languages, but we believe it sounds best in the original German version. The song is also part of the German Choirs' repertoire .