 The largest of these secondary settlements was Fredericksburg, to the northwest of New Braunfels.New Braunfels thrived, and by 1850, it was the fourth-largest city in Texas, with 1,723 people, following only Galveston, San Antonio, and Houston in population.In 1852, the "Zeitung" newspaper was established, edited by German Texan botanist Ferdinand Lindheimer.