2024-03-24 06:13:02
The state of Texas
Grandiose landscapes, cacti, prairies, deserts, pastures, with historic oil derricks in between. Anyone looking for Wild West romance will find it well preserved in Texas. With strange customs such as the homage to firearms, which are often carried in public here.
But also with nice customs like old-fashioned southern politeness. Everyone says “Yes, Ma’am” or “Yes, Sir”, every woman is called “Lady”. “Everything is bigger in Texas,” it is said, and this applies not only to the area of the second largest state (after Alaska), but also to the warmth of the “Friendly State,” as it is nicknamed – the name “Texas” comes from Word for “friend” from the indigenous language Caddo.
Texas also holds many surprises. For example, the beaches of the Texas Riviera, which stretches over 560 kilometers on the Gulf of Mexico. Or bold architecture in Texas’ largest cities of Dallas, Houston, Fort Worth, Austin and San Antonio, where visitors will find plenty of culture, chic shops and fine dining.
Source: Infographic WELT
In these metropolises, elections are traditionally democratic. Donald Trump had no chance here (as well as in the Hispanic south on the border with Mexico), but the majority of Texans have voted staunchly Republican for decades.
The capital Austin is famous for its music and festival scene. Austin Pride, for example, is one of the most popular and largest queer festivals in the USA. On nearby Lake Travis, Hippie Hollow is one of the few public beaches where nude bathing is permitted.
Visiting the cowboys on a ranch
Here they are, the original cowboys in jeans and boots with a Stetson on their heads. And cowgirls. Their outfit is not folklore, they live from hard work on the ranch – and anyone who wants can be there as a guest. For example in Bandera. The 900-person town is called the “Cowboy Capital of the World”, the cowboy capital of the world.
A cowboy knows how to throw the lasso
Quelle: Getty Images
Many ranches are still in operation today where the cattle drives along the Great Western Cattle Trail once started. In town, there are tethering posts for horses in front of the shops, and riders and carriages are as much a part of the street scene as Harleys or pick-up trucks. In the evenings you can dance to live country music in the “Honkytonk”. Dude ranches like this „Dixie Dude Ranch“ or „Rancho Cortez“ offer horse rides and guests can even learn how to throw a lasso.
Cattle’s horns continue to grow throughout their lives
It is colorful, massive – and has extremely long horns. The Texas Longhorn is the state’s most impressive symbolic animal. Cattle of this type have horns with a span of a good 2.50 meters that continue to grow throughout their life.
The Texas Longhorn impresses with its horns
Quelle: Getty Images/Grant Faint
According to the Guinness Book of Records, a bull named “Poncho Via” has the longest “handlebar”: a wingspan of almost 3.24 meters, measured in 2019. The breed is descended from cattle that were brought to America by the Spanish around 1500 .
Sculptures in the open air
Texas surprises with interesting works of art, including many outdoor sculptures. The giant eyeball in Dallas, known as the “Giant Eyeball,” is bizarre. The artist Tony Tasset created the almost ten-meter-high image of his own eye in 2007 from fiberglass, synthetic resin and steel.
The artist Tony Tasset created the “Giant Eyeball” sculpture in Dallas
Those: imago
An attraction in Houston is the Cullen Sculpture Garden with masterpieces from the 20th and 21st centuries, such as Louise Bourgeois, Henri Matisse, Auguste Rodin and David Smith. The sculpture garden is part of the Museum of Fine Arts, one of the largest art museums in the USA with over 65,000 works.
At the Hanna Springs Sculpture Garden in Lampasas, visitors can even simply purchase the works of art on display, provided they have enough space and money. Sold pieces are replaced with new sculptures.
These butterflies flutter from Canada to Mexico
The butterflies of the American Monarch genus flutter 4,000 kilometers back and forth between Canada and Mexico, in summer and winter. During this natural spectacle, the butterflies fly over the country in huge swarms.
The American Monarch lays its eggs in Texas
Quelle: Getty Images
A main route runs through Texas, and because it lays its eggs there in the spring, it is considered the official Texas insect. It has been on the red list as critically endangered since 2022, and larvae can no longer find enough food.
The quote
“Let’s buy some sausage!”
A few “German phrases” are a must at the Wurstfest, which has been celebrated in New Braunfels every fall since 1961 – for ten days, with beer, brass music, dancing in dirndls and lederhosen, schnitzel and, of course, bratwurst. In true style with a German menu and language exercises wurstfest.com (November 1st to 10th, 2024). The place was founded in 1845 by Carl Prinz zu Solms-Braunfels. “Texas-Carl” had bought land there for German settlers.
Bizarre, record-breaking, typical: You can find further parts of our regional studies series here.
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