‍

Early Modernist Roots in New Braunfels
The building legacy of New Braunfels includes a number of commercial structures lining San Antonio Street but few free-standing buildings. The Dittlinger Office Building, located across the street from the Rolling Mills is an important structure linking the city of New Braunfels to German industrial and Modernist design of the early 20th century.

‍

Dittlinger Family
Nicolas Dittlinger and his brother Peter were among the many emigrants from Germany who escaped the 1848 revolution, coming to the US. The brothers settled in Cape Girardeau, Missouri where they founded a brewery, a flourishing mercantile business, and where they also manufactured lime, used in the preparation of cane sugar. Nicolas joined the Union army during the Civil War and afterwards settled in New Braunfels to recuperate from tuberculosis. He opened a brewery but unfortunately died from TB in 1866. Upon his death his widow and their children returned to her native home in Cologne. Hippolyt Dittlinger, son of Nicolas and born in New Braunfels in 1861, grew up and completed his education in Cologne. He returned to New Braunfels around 1880, where he soon opened a mercantile store, lime plant, cotton gin, feed and flour mills incorporated as Dittlinger Roller Mills.

‍

Cologne Germany and the Deutscher Werkbund
Hippolyt Dittlinger was educated and lived in Cologne, Germany. From his life experience there and from the legacy of his father’s mercantile and lime businesses in Cape Girardeau, Nicolas’ business enterprises in New Braunfels were very successful. In 1904 Hippolyt with his family traveled to Germany and while there he recognized the importance of lime and concrete as building materials. Returning to New Braunfels, where limestone deposits are abundant, he opened a lime plant in 1907. Coincidentally to his visit to Germany, Cologne was a creative center of modern design, soon to be recognized as a model city for the 20th century Modernist movement. The architects and designers of this innovative movement espoused thoughtful use of materials and functionality, features which were promoted by the Deutscher Werkbund or German Work Federation that linked art, craftsmanship, and industrial production. The Deutscher Werkbund was officially founded in Munich in 1907 with a dozen architects and entrepreneurs including Walter Gropius, Peter Behrens, Hermann Muthesius, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.  During the late 19th century, German products had been widely regarded as inferior to those from England and other European manufacturing countries. The Deutscher Werkbund was established to raise standards for German manufactured products and architecture.

‍

Werkbund Exhibition
The emphasis on high-quality standards was successful and in 1914 Cologne hosted the Werkbund Exhibition which showcased German design to over one million visitors. One of the main structures was the Werkbund Ausstellung, made of concrete and glass, designed by Walter Gropius as the model factory complex which is today recognized as one of the most important early Modernist industrial structures created for the exhibition. After the war, Gropius founded the Bauhaus with a renowned faculty including Paul Klee, Josef Albers, Wassily Kandinsky, and others. The Bauhaus movement highlighted quality and beauty through well-designed industrially manufactured materials.

‍

German Modernist Influences on New Braunfels Architecture
Hippolyt Dittlinger was fascinated with the historical background and practicality of concrete and his home in New Braunfels included a concrete two-story outbuilding behind his classically inspired Italianate brick mansion designed by J. Wahrenberger, of Austin, Texas and completed in 1910. This beautiful house and its outbuilding still stand on Magazine Avenue between Coll and Butcher Streets. He also constructed an impressive contemporary concrete office building on San Antonio Street, across from his Rolling Mills plant.

The Dittlinger Office Building draws from the spare, practical designs of the Werkbund and in particular from the works of Peter Behrens. The connection between Dittlinger and the designs of the Werkbund architects — and, in general, the early Modernist roots in Cologne — is present in the Dittlinger Office Building. Although the architect of the Dittlinger Office Building is unknown, the inspiration for the design has clear German Modernist roots likely seen by Hippolyt Dittlinger when on trips to Germany, whether in Cologne or other “Werkbund” cities.

These influences are not unique to the Dittlinger Office Building in New Braunfels. Modernist designs and remnants of design elements are scattered throughout the city, most probably as a direct connection from communications between New Braunfels citizens and their family and business associates in Germany.

‍

Importance of the Dittlinger Building
The Dittlinger Building is important because it reflects the cultural connections between the citizens of New Braunfels and cities such as Cologne in Germany during the formative years of the Modernist movement. The early German settlers to New Braunfels in the mid-19th century focused primarily on survival: their early structures were practical, with few architectural embellishments, as was common with most frontier settlements. With growing prosperity, German communities in America had greater resources available for incorporating the latest design elements into local architecture. Many of their early 20th century structures mirrored trends seen throughout the United States, but some, like the Dittlinger Building, drew inspiration from European design sources, particularly Cologne.  

‍

‍
Preservation Recommendation for the Dittlinger Building
Of utmost importance to the architectural integrity of the Dittlinger Building is maintaining its exterior appearance. To safeguard the historical and architectural significance of the Dittlinger Building, it is recommended that all preservation and renovation work prioritize the protection of its original exterior design, particularly the highly visible front and side elevations facing San Antonio Street. Any required modern interventions, including life-safety improvements, mechanical systems, or ADA-compliant features, should be sensitively designed and placed at the rear or less visible portions of the building to minimize visual impact. Restoration efforts should use materials and techniques that are compatible with the building’s original construction, ensuring that the Dittlinger Building continues to convey its important connection to early 20th-century German Modernist influences in New Braunfels.

A fortunate design element of the adaptive use of the building is the sunken garden in the front, which exposes the rusticated block supports. Any future additional mechanical or other features should be located so these do not impinge on the success of this adaptation.

‍