Hermann Seele (pronounced so that it rhymes with "really") was born to a devout Protestant family in Hildesheim, northern Germany, in 1823. He immigrated to Texas in the fall of 1843 when he was barely 20 years old. He landed in Galveston and began working for a Swiss-German family that he had met on his voyage across the Atlantic. The following spring he moved to New Braunfels, taking about a month to walk the distance from the Texas coast. There he became an important figure in the development of the town, serving as its first school teacher and in various political and community posts until his death in 1902. An elementary school in New Braunfels bears his name.
CTK member Ted Gish, former professor of German at the University of Houston translated the diary Seele kept in his adult life. Below is an excerpt from the diary, which was published in 1995. He writes of his first Christmas in Galveston, shortly after he arrived in this country. The sentiments Seele expresses are timeless. He experiences the universal joy of the season, but he reminds us how lonely people sometimes feel in the midst of very joyous occasions and also of how important the church can be in helping to salve that loneliness. Gretchen Miertschin
It's Christmas Eve! Rejoice in the Lord, all ye men!. . . . Here Christmas Eve should be Pentecost, since the Episcopal church was decorated with elegant garlands, and the shrubbery and meadows are bursting forth in green. The sun rose in a clear sky as I washed myself this morning in the stream. The loud crowing of the roosters, mixed in with the song of other birds, resounded over to me. It was a beautiful, fresh morning. Dew lay like raindrops on blades of grass, reflecting the sun in a colorful shimmer! I kept thinking about my loved ones throughout the morning when I was to be busy with my household chores. When I sat down at noontime to a good meal, oh, I thought how the church at home must look, how the children in all the houses are solemnly stepping up to the glittering Christmas trees, . . . .and how they are thinking about me at home! I wish I could be with them only for an hour, I am so alone here. . . . I went to the Catholic Church and after listening to a German sermon, I prayed to the Heavenly Father for myself and my loved ones. . . . Then I was at home until supper time. At seven I went to Christ Church. The Methodist preacher [frightened me] as he shouted out loud. In the illuminated Episcopal Church with its festive wreaths, the beautiful singing of an experienced choir inspired in me a personal devotion. It was the music of last year's Christmas Eve mass, Gloria in excelsis deo . . . I had the Christmas mood when, walking along with the crowd on the way home, I saw a Christmas tree. I just had to step through the gate in the garden and look through the shutters at the happy faces of little children and all the wonderful gifts piled up. At home nothing was laid out for me.