Cross Mountain

Born in Hildesheim in 1818, Ferdinand von Roemer studied law at Gottingen and earned a doctorate in paleontology in Berlin in 1842. From November 1845 to May 1847 he explored Texas from Galveston west to New Braunfels and Fredericksburg and north to Waco. His book Texas (1849) described German immigration and the land, and The Cretaceous Formations of Texas (1852) was the first monograph on Texas geology. He later taught at Bonn and Breslau, won the Geological Society of London's Murchison medal in 1885 and published more than 350 works.

What the plaque says

Cross Mountain This marl and limestone hill, elevation 1,915 feet, was an Indian signal point, advancing news of the intrusions of white settlers. The hill was first recorded and described by the German geologist, Dr. Ferdinand Roemer in 1847. A timber cross found on the hilltop the same year suggests that Spanish missionaries recognized it as a landmark on the path from San Antonio to Mission San Saba. John Christian Durst (1825-1898), arriving with his family in 1847 from Germany, received a town lot and 10 acres of land, including this hill. On finding the cross, he named it "Kreuzberg," or Cross Mountain. The Easter fires on Cross Mountain and the surrounding hills recall a German tradition of burning the old growth to make way for the new, and also commemorate the 1847 treaty made by John O. Meusebach and the settlers to establish peace with the Comanche nation. In 1849, a Bohemian priest, Father George Menzel, erected a more substantial cross as a symbol of redemption and civilization. Easter Sunrise Services were held on the mountain for many years prior to 1941. In 1946 the Very Rev. F. X. Wolf threw the switch to illuminate the permanent cross of metal and concrete built by St. Mary's Catholic Church. (1976)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Vereins Kirche and Main Street — 1.3 mi
  The octagonal Society Church on Fredericksburg's market square, rebuilt in stone in the 1930s, beside a main street laid out like a Rhine village.
• National Museum of the Pacific War — 1.5 mi
  A museum of the war in the Pacific in Chester Nimitz's hometown, dedicated at his request to the two million who served with him, with a garden given by Japan.
• Fort Martin Scott — 3.4 mi
  An army post of 1848 on Barons Creek beside the German town, where soldiers kept the peace of a Comanche trade and paid the merchants in hard cash.
• Luckenbach — 10 mi
  A store, saloon and dance hall on Grape Creek that a humorist bought in 1971, declared a free state of mind, and turned into a pilgrimage for Texas music.

More markers nearby

• Jacob Neffendorf — 0.4 mi
• Fredericksburg Social Turn Verein — 1.1 mi
• Gun Cap Factory — 1.2 mi
• Bethany Lutheran Church — 1.2 mi