Friedrichsburg: A Novel by Friedrich Armand Strubberg (review)

First published in 1867 in Leipzig, Friedrichsburg is one of many works by the prolific and popular German writer Armand Strubberg (1806-89), or "simply Armand," as he was known by his legions of loyal readers. Armand's books appeared in numerous editions during his lifetime, and they have stayed in print ever since. Along with Karl Postl (1793-1864), Friedrich Gerstacker (1816-92), H. B. Mollhausen (1825-1905), and Karl May (1842-1912), Armand was responsible for a vast literature, in German, devoted to the American West. Though not as popular as May—a publishing industry almost to himself—Armand, like May, helped create a mythic American West in which virtuous heroes embark on thrilling adventures on the frontier. Unlike May, Armand has the distinction of basing many of his works on actual personal experiences in the New World. Friedrichsburg is a case in point. It claims our attention as an embodiment of German romanticism and Western popular literature, and thanks to James Kearney's masterful editing, as a guide to the early history of Fredericksburg, Texas.

Strubberg served as the first colonial director of Fredericksburg during its earliest years of settlement, 1846-47. Known as "Dr. Schubbert" at the time, Strubberg has been largely erased from the historical record, or, as Kearney writes, regarded as a "scoundrel, swindler, or worse" (2). Kearney's incisive introduction does much to set the record straight, and Strubberg is presented by Kearney as a more complicated figure with virtues as well as vices. In addition to the introduction, which provides the reader with the background and context needed to approach the novel, Kearney also deserves our gratitude for the ample annotations and footnotes to the text itself. These notes help to separate fact from fiction and demonstrate clearly how many of the characters and events in the novel are based on historical reality.

As to the novel itself, it is a product of its time, with purple prose, stock characters, and hairbreadth escapes from danger. But even with all its melodramatic trappings, it has its moments. Some of the most interesting characters are the American Indians: Kateumsi, the Comanche chief and arch-villain; and Youngbear, the noble Delaware brave who comes perilously close to eclipsing the novel's hero. The description of the construction of the Vereinskirche in Fredericksburg is clearly based on fact, and the accompanying festivities shed light on German customs and social life. Also notable is the account of the Mormon settlement in nearby Zodiac.

Most enjoyable are many of the descriptions of the landscape: "It was one of those beautiful, southern fall mornings where all of creation appeared refreshed and recharged . . . The lush green fields were still gilded with blossoms; the rocky hilltops still adorned with colorful flowers, shimmering like precious stones, and the forests still had not yet been robbed of their thick foliage and their mysterious dark recesses" (149-50). Texas as paradise: a new Eden! And yet how soon transformed and lost: "The road to Austin is open now, and how long will it take before settlements spring up all along it? Soon all the pretty little valleys between the hills will be fenced and cultivated" (144). If the author could see the suburban sprawl around Austin these days, I am sure he would wince. For giving us a glimpse of early Texas, he and James C. Kearney, translator, editor, and artist—his original drawings enliven the chapter headings—have earned our thanks and admiration. One hopes that this work will encourage more interest in the German contribution to Texas literature and history.