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Eben-Ezer
Evangelical Lutheran Church and cemetery
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, August 2006 |
History in a Pecan
Shell
Berlin
was a German settlement that had its beginnings in the late 1840s when Valentin
Hoffmann bought a plot of land here. Hoffman, had emigrated from Germany two years
previously. Hoffman had 3 of his sons serve in the Confederate Army and after
the war, two of them open a cotton gin / gristmill here.
The Reverend
Johann G. Ebinger, held the first Luteran services in Washington County on Christmas
Eve, 1854.
In 1849 Ludwig Lehmann donated land for a permanent church
and school. The first log church was erected in the mid 1850s, followed by a simple
frame building. A more substantial church was finished in 1880. The community
was scattered around a common school and remained so until it merged with the
Brenham ISD in the mid 1950s.
Due to the proximity to Brenham,
population figures were included with that town. Today Berlin consists of the
church, parsonage, and cemetery. The nearby communities of Mill Creek and Zionsville
share a fire department, and the fire building is used for homecomings and community
meetings.
A historical marker for Eben-Ezer Lutheran Church was erected
in the mid 1970s. |
Historical
Marker TextEben-Ezer
Evangelical Lutheran ChurchSpiritual
center of the Berlin community, which was settled by Germans in 1847. On a missionary
visit, Dec. 24, 1854, The Rev. Johann Ebinger (1828-1908) of Harris County held
earliest Lutheran service in Washington County. On July 1, 1855, he founded Eben-Ezer
Church with William C. Bohne, F. H. Ehlert, F. F. Spreen and others as trustees.
Ludwig C. Lehmann (1794-1855) donated 11-acre church site. Landowners gave post
oak logs, renters gave labor for building first church, incorporating a parsonage.
The early pastors taught school in that first church building. |
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