Krause Settlement

Anhalt, twenty-eight miles west of New Braunfels in western Comal County, was settled by German pioneers in 1859 and known as Krause Settlement. The settlers united in early years for protection against Indians and reorganized in 1876 as the Germania Farmers Verein to safeguard and improve their livestock. The society grew in succeeding decades to include mutual insurance and social activities. In 1887 the verein leased land from George Krause and built a meeting hall, which they enlarged in 1896. As late as 2003, hundreds of people still gathered at the Anhalt Hall for annual spring and harvest festivals and other music events. Two explanations have been offered for the name Anhalt: one, that it derives from the German word for "stopping place" and was suggested by an early settler when a post office opened in 1879 in the Krause Store; the other, that it refers to a region of the same name in Germany. The post office closed in 1907. In the 1970s the population along Anhalt Road between Farm Road 475 and the hall was estimated at ten. No population figures were available for the community in 2000.