Museum News! April Happenings

APRIL CALENDAR

1, 15 & 29 - Conversational German Series

3 & 4- First Weekend Living History and Friday Public Program

Through April- Temporary Exhibit- Roots to Remedies

Vereins Kirche Museum Closed Through April 11

Save the dates!

May 1- Founders Day Luncheon

May 1-2- Founders Day Weekend

June 5 & 6- First Weekend Living History

Flora Wertheim Scholarship Now Accepting Submissions

Applications for the Flora Wertheim Scholarship are now being accepted. Eligible applicants are Gillespie County resident high school seniors entering freshman level classes at any accredited college in the current or upcoming school year.

The award is $3,000. Applications are due Friday, April 3, 2026.

REQUIREMENTS: Essays may be about the general sweep of Fredericksburg history, or they may be more specific about a key aspect of the founding, growth, and development of the town. They must be between 1,000 – 1,500 words, 12-point Times New Roman font and double-spaced.

The scholarship winner will be required to read their essay at the Founders Day Luncheon on May, 1, 2026. More information can be found here. The application can be downloaded from the site as well.

The Friday Public Program is slated for Friday, April 3.

The program is titled Easter Fires of Fredericksburg and will feature historian Glen Treibs and past and current members of the Gillespie County Fair & Festivals Association (GCFFA.)

Treibs will present on the history of the Easter Fires story and other Easter traditions in Fredericksburg. A panel of speakers from the GCFFA will talk about the beloved Easter Fires pageant, and the upcoming pageant slated for 2026.

The presentation will be held on Friday, April 3 from 3-5 p.m. in the Gillespie County Historical Society Sanctuary. Doors open at 3 p.m.and the program will begin at 3:30 p.m. It will also be available on live stream here.

Watch the live stream here

First Weekend at the Museum

Come Share Our Story!

2026 First Weekend Living History is here! We are excited for another great slate of living history activities for all ages! Find the full schedule here.

Saturday, April 4

Pioneer Museum open 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Temporary Exhibit located in the Pioneer Museum Store- Roots to Remedies
Spinner Demonstration
Handwerker Demonstration
Blacksmithing Demonstration
Frontier History Company Interpretive Living Historians
Family activity: Easter Fires Coloring Page
Museum scavenger hunt
Frontier History Company Live Firearm Exhibitions at 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m., and 3:30 p.m.

PLUS....

Historic Jail, 117 W. San Antonio St. with Interpretive Living Historians 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Shopping in the Museum Store – 10% off Book of the Month

Roots to Remedies

Healing Herbs and Native Plants in Pioneer Medicine in Fredericksburg

Roots to Remedies shares how native plants were used to treat various ailments in the early pioneer days as well as how those plants can be identified and used today. The exhibit is put on through a partnership with the Fredericksburg Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas. Admission to this exhibit is complimentary and is located in the Damach-Besier building, the entrance to the Pioneer Museum.

The exhibit concludes at the end of April.

Artifact of the Month

Easter Fires

Ceramic Egg

This hand painted ceramic egg was produced by Kott’s Pots, operated by George and Edna Kott at 247 W. Main Street in Fredericksburg. Made to commemorate the 1951 Easter Fires a local tradition of lighting hilltop bonfires on Easter weekend.

The egg will be displayed in the back part of the Kammlah House.

10% off all month long!

John O. Meusebach: German Colonizer in Texas

"John O. Meusebach: German Colonizer of Texas,” is the Book of the Month for April. Irene Marschall King presents the full sweep of Meusebach's vigorous life: Meusebach as the young liberal in Germany, as the colonizer in the 1840s, as a Texas senator and, later, an observer of the Civil War, and as a Texan who devoted his later years to bringing the Texas soil to fruition—all set against a background of the immigration movement and frontier life.

Rich in historic detail, King's story recounts the founding of Fredericksburg, the crippling effect of the Mexican War upon the mass of immigrants huddled in illness on the coast, the signing of the Indian Treaty, which opened to settlement over three million acres of land, and the final collapse of the Society for the Protection of German Immigrants.

Also depicted is the colonists' influence on the land, including the story of the "Easter Fires" that blaze on the hills surrounding Fredericksburg.

The book is 10% off all month long and can be purchased during regular museum hours, Monday- Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. or online at pioneermuseum.org.

Merchandise Spotlight

Bluebonnet Texas

Ornament

If you drive down any Texas highway in springtime, you are bound to see people taking pictures among the bluebonnets that blanket the landscape. It’s practically a requirement for Texas citizenship. So if you love Texas and you love our state flower, you’re gonna love our Bluebonnet Texas Ornament. Size: 4"

This item is made in Austin, Texas.

Find it in the Museum Store or online here.

NOW HIRING!

Docent- Click here for more

Learn About All Museum Events Here

Pioneer Museum | PioneerMuseum.org