The US state of Texas is located in the south-central United States. Coming in second, Texas is smaller at 695,621 km² than Alaska, which is way ahead at 1,717,854 km². Texas also has to fit when it comes to population figures, with around 25 million fewer people living here than in California, which holds first place in the USA with 37 million inhabitants. But Texas can still claim one superlative for itself, with 254 it has the most counties in the USA. The capital of Texas is Austin.

The US state of Texas

Austin, capital of Texas

The neighboring states of Texas border Oklahoma and Arkansas to the north, Louisiana to the east, New Mexico to the west, and Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico to the south.

Texas can be divided into three regions :

The first region starts from the lagoon-rich coast and extends up to 100 kilometers inland as a relatively flat area, which is partly very fertile and excellently suited for the cultivation of cotton, sugar cane and partly also rice.

Rodeos are popular in the cowboy state of Texas

Behind it rises a hilly country, up to 320km wide, which encompasses the entire north-east of the state and is mostly covered by prairies.

Texas is also known for its cattle farming and cowboy life.

The northwestern part of the national territory is mountain and highland and consists in part of a 1,300 meter high, desert-like sandstone plateau (Llano Estacado).

The north, also called the Texas Panhandle, is very fertile and is still used for cattle breeding today. Texas producers’ beef continues to be some of the best in the world, coming in just behind its Argentinian counterpart for us.

Oil production in Texas

Oil was mined throughout the south and west until the early 1980s.

You can still see the remains of the many small winding towers there today.

When it comes to rivers, Texas is well endowed:

The Red River separates the state from Oklahoma and Arkansas, the Sabine from Louisiana, and the Rio Grande from Mexico.

Other major and well-known rivers in the area include the Colorado River, the Pecos River, and the Brazos River.

Two great national parks can be found in the beautiful landscape of Texas. On the one hand there is the Big Bend National Park and on the other hand the Guadalupe Mountains National Park.

Traveling in Big Bend National Park

Big Bend National Park is located in southern Texas and is characterized by a desert-like landscape.

Various types of cacti are typical plants that you can find here.

In addition, there are almost extinct and very unusual animal species, such as the donkey rabbit or the roadrunner. Mule deer can also be seen.

Guadalupe Mountains National Park includes part of the Guadalupe Mountains and is located in western Texas. The national park is also home to the state’s highest point, Guadalupe Peak, at 2,667 m. The mountains are surrounded by deserts, making this landscape a fascinating contrast.

Immigrants with a German background have had a significant impact on Texas. Caroline Ernst and her family were the first German settlers. Organized German immigration began in the 1830s in 1834 and is largely due to the Giessen Emigration Society and the Association for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas, also known as the Mainzer Adelsverein. After the March Revolution of 1848, some of the Forty-Eighters followed .

Typical South German shutters

At the beginning of the 20th century, about 100,000 Texans were German speakers.

Most settled in central Texas in the so-called Texas Hill Country, the German Hills in the area of ​​Austin and San Antonio.

Early settlements were the Latin Settlements, founded by German emigrants.

The German-English mixed dialect is also called Texas German .

In New Braunfels, about 40 miles south of the capital Austin, the Wurstfest is celebrated every year. Founded in 1872 by Henry D. Gruene, Gruene is home to the oldest surviving dance hall in Texas, the Gruene Hall. It is now a historic venue for live music and dance events.

Also near Fredericksburg, founded in 1846 and named “Friedrichsburg” in honor of Prince Friedrich of Prussia, another member of the Mainzer Adelsverein, is a German colony. The local chamber of commerce greets visitors on the Internet with “Welcome”, and some restaurant menus are bilingual.

Rough customs in Texas

• Previously the hang knot was used.
• Texas ranks first in the United States for the number of executions carried out.
• Since 1976, 482 people have been executed in Texas, accounting for a third of all executions in the United States.
• Physical punishment of students with the so-called paddle is permitted.
• Texas consistently ranks among the top five US states where most paddling is practiced.

Largest cities in Texas

The largest cities in Texas with their population (rounded).

• Houston 2,100,000
• San Antonio 1,300,000
• Dallas 1,200,000
• Austin* 790,000
• Fort Worth 741,000

Climate and weather conditions

The climate here is considered to be quite healthy compared to the other southern states of the USA. Located on the border of the dry west coast climate and the humid east coast climate, Texas has very hot and humid summers in the east, with equally warm nights. The west, on the other hand, is quite dry with sometimes quite high temperatures in the afternoon. Temperatures throughout the summer can exceed 40 degrees Celsius during the day throughout Texas.

The winter, on the other hand, is quite severe, at least in the northern part, and very heavy snowstorms, the so-called blizzards, can also occur there. In the south, the winter is usually mild, snowfall is very little, only in some places snowstorms, hurricanes or even tornadoes can occur locally.

Contrary to what might have been expected, a particularly large number of storms are registered in spring and well into summer. This is also the time of the dreaded tornadoes that can occasionally hit the Dallas and Panhandle area very severely. On television and on local radio, warnings are usually given of the approaching dangers with a certain amount of advance notice. A siren is used to warn of tornadoes in the towns, and then people in Texas look for a place in the basement of their house, or in the mostly centrally located evacuation zones they go to a so-called storm shelter.