What to See in New Braunfels, United States: Free Audio Guide

New Braunfels is a Texas city shaped by German-Texan heritage, historic architecture, and the Guadalupe River. The best things to do in New Braunfels include exploring downtown landmarks, discovering the story of its early settlers, and visiting historic places in and around Gruene. Neywo has a free audio guide for New Braunfels with 9 narrated places, available in 11 languages.

What to See in New Braunfels

Brauntex Theatre

The Brauntex Theatre is a former movie palace in downtown New Braunfels that now operates as a performing arts theater. Built in 1942, its late Art Deco design gives it a distinctive place among the city’s landmarks. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and remains one of the most recognizable pieces of downtown architecture.

Comal County Courthouse

The Comal County Courthouse is a Romanesque Revival landmark designed by James Riely Gordon and completed in 1898 by Fischer and Lamie. Its three-story structure is crowned by a prominent corniced stone tower.

The present courthouse replaced an earlier building completed around 1860. After decades of change, it was restored to its original appearance in 2013. The restoration included removing two additions and repairing or reproducing features such as paint, tile, doors, and furniture. The courthouse is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

First Protestant Church

At the corner of Seguin and West Coll Streets, First Protestant Church connects New Braunfels with its early history. The church was built in 1875 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. Its long presence in the city makes it an important stop when exploring the historic center.

Sophienburg Museum and Archives

The Sophienburg Museum and Archives preserves the story of New Braunfels’ German-Texan heritage through a collection of artifacts and local records. Residents established the institution in 1933 as both a museum and a library. The library later became the city’s archive, giving the site a dual role in preserving objects and documents from the area’s past.

Faust Street Bridge

Faust Street Bridge is a historic structure in the New Braunfels area of Comal County. It offers another point of connection with the city’s built heritage and is worth including when looking beyond the central downtown landmarks.

Church Hill School Building

The Church Hill School Building dates from 1870, when it opened as the first school in the area. Pastors from St. Martin’s Evangelical Lutheran Church held day school there for many years. The building served the farm communities of Hortontown and Neigborsville, reflecting the role of education in the daily life of the surrounding settlements.

Gruene

Gruene is a former town that is now a neighborhood within New Braunfels. Its German-Texan heritage, historic buildings, and location beside the Guadalupe River give it a character distinct from the city center.

German farmers established Gruene in the 1840s, and the community later became an important cotton-producing center along the Guadalupe River. A visit to Gruene adds a broader view of the area’s history, showing how early settlement, agriculture, and the river shaped this part of Texas.

H. D. Gruene Mercantile

H. D. Gruene Mercantile is a historic commercial building in Gruene and part of the neighborhood’s preserved architectural character. It has been a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark since 1987 and belongs to the Gruene Historic District, which has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since April 21, 1975.

Cypress Bend Park

Cypress Bend Park is a green open space near New Braunfels in Comal County. Its landscape is defined by a broad valley and mostly level ground, with grassland extending through the surrounding area. The park provides a change of setting from the historic buildings and streets of downtown.

Explore New Braunfels with a Free Audio Guide

A New Braunfels self-guided walking tour makes it easy to connect several of the city’s historic landmarks in one route. Neywo’s walking tour, German Texas: Downtown New Braunfels, covers 1.35 km in 39 minutes and includes 4 narrated stops: Brauntex Theatre, Comal County Courthouse, First Protestant Church, and Sophienburg Museum and Archives.

Download Neywo and explore New Braunfels with a free audio guide. The city has 1 walking tour, with stories that play as you reach each place, at your own pace, with no group and no schedule. You can also use the app while discovering other destinations in Texas, including nearby San Antonio.