Question: Where in Texas did German colonists establish a short-lived commune in 1847?
Answer: Llano County. A fraternity of German students recruited by Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels, former commissioner-general of the German Emigration Company, established a settlement named Bettina in the vast Fisher-Miller Land Grant in Central Texas. The commune was inspired by the writings of French philosophers Étienne Cabet and Charles Fourier and organized around the principles of “friendship, freedom, and equality.” The settlement dissolved within a year.
