The Texas Wendish Renaissance
by Weldon Mersiovsky
The Wendish language and the knowledge of being Wendish was slowly dying in the accumulated minds of the descendants of the people who came to Texas
as Wends.
The last Wendish obituary was written by Rev. Hermann Kilian on the occasion of the death of Emma Christiana Schubert, 15 May 1906. It also happened
to be the last obituary he wrote that we have.
In the St Paul Lutheran Church, Serbin, voters meeting held on Feb. 4, 1906 the 5th item stated: "a report concerning the Wendish religious
instruction in the school was given. This instruction is ended because there are no more students who want to take part. However this instruction will
be taken up again as soon as a class of between 10-15 want to participate."
Worship services at Serbin were conducted in the Wendish language until the time of Pastor Herman Kilian’s death. As far as we know, this was the end
of the public Wendish language speaking in Serbin. From this point forward, the only Wendish language speaking was in the homes, between neighbors,
and between pastor and parishioner.
The following announcement was printed in the Giddings Deutsches Volksblatt on 29 August 1929 and undoubtedly announced at the 1929
anniversary service at Serbin.
Appeal to all Wends
And Descendants of the Wendish Colony under the leadership of the sainted Pastor Johann Kilian in the year 1854.
This appeal concerns all still living Wends and their descendants, with the cordial request to send their names and addresses to the
“Volksblatt” (German newspaper), or to Pastor A. E. Moebus, La Grange, Texas. Besides that, it would be of great interest and satisfaction
for us, if you could share certain old Wendish clothes and folk costumes that are still existing. This is in regard to a very important matter, where
we need the help of our Wendish friends and fellow citizens. Professor Engerrand from our State University has shown a great interest in writing the
story of the Wends, which would be kept for all time in the State Archives of Texas. To have such a prominent position, would bring honor to the
Wends. So Please!
As a result of this request and the cooperation received, The So-Called Wends of Germany and Their Colonies in Texas and Australia, was
written by Dr Engerrand and published in 1934 as a University of Texas Bulletin.
This was the beginning of, what I like to call, the Texas Wendish Renaissance.
At the 100th anniversary celebration of the Wendish immigration on 11 July 1954, Pastor Theodore Schmidt gave a short sermon in Wendish that was
recorded, along with the rest of the service. Pastor Arndt had been interested in preparing this tape recording for the celebration, but was unable to
get the equipment running properly and thus Pastor Walter Streicher of Winchester filled in for him unrehearsed. Mr Robert Malke of Serbin was at the
old reed organ. This was what was thought to be the final Wendish service conducted at Serbin.
In 1959 Pastor H. Biar. then in Tennessee, wrote to Rev Schmidt that he had received the copy of the centennial tape from Pastor Streicher with
instructions to deliver it to Concordia Historical Institute in St Louis and asked him if he would like to participate in the delivery presentation.
Pastor Schmidt, then in Ellsworth, Kansas, wrote that he could not make the trip. The Schmidt letter was discovered in 2014. It was then discovered
that CHI had the 60 year old tape and sent it to Concordia Seminary to get transferred to a new medium. The music is very understandable but the
spoken words are not. The documentation sent from CHI with the cd indicated that the original was in the possession of Pastor Streicher. The original
was found in the former home of Pastor Streicher, now inhabited by one of his sons. It was sent to CHI and is now at Concordia Seminary in the process
of being transferred, if possible, to a new medium.
In 1979 the Wendish community celebrated its 125th anniversary. Pastor Theodore Schmidt was again the speaker. He found the Wendish talk he gave in
1954 and used it again. This was the last Wendish sermon in Texas. The entire service was recorded and is in the process of being available to hear at
www.wendishresearch.org.
