Prince Carl is the founder of New Braunfels. He is an aristocrat that was . tasked with finding suitable land for Adelsverein company to give to the settlers that had paid either the $120 fee or the $240 fee. Upon Arrival at the land that would become the city we know today he reported that the land was Fertile with grass as tall as Stirrups. What he did not know was that that grass masked a thin layer of soil which at first could seem fertile but upon closer inspection a layer of limestone lay beneath. This layer of limestone would be the only thing left after the settlers cleared the grass in order to start farming which left the thin layer of soil exposed. This layer of soil was quickly washed away by rain which made farming impossible. Prince Carl’s lack of awareness would result in the first years of the New Braunfels Settlers being some of their worst. Upon the Founding and establishment of New Braunfels he would serve as commissioner general all the way up until he got tired of it because of his incompetence and resigned. That is the best thing he did for New Braunfels it turns out. This is because his replacement John O. Meusebach would not only later bail the Prince out from debtors prison after he tried to flee back to germany instead of pay off american debts but he also straighten out the finances of the colony and also redirected some settlers to more suitable swaths of land.

Sources:

Sikes, William Henry. “The Malcontents of the Old World: German Revolutionaries in Early Texas (1842-1865).” WesScholar, Apr. 2015, wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/etd_hon_theses/1408/.