Marker #1268 - 1982. Dr. Ferdinand Ludwig Von Herff, Nov. 29, 1820-May 18, 1912, the son of a prominent German family and a veteran of the Prussian army, first came to Texas in 1847. By the 1860s he had set up a physician's practice in San Antonio, where he was an active civic leader. His medical innovations made him a prominent physician in the southwest. Dr. Herff and his wife, Mathilde, (1823-1910) owned a ranch at this site and through their interest in the area led in the development of Boerne. Local residents honored their many contributions with a monument here on Malakopf Mountain, a site favored by the Herffs.
"After seventy years of weather exposure and vandalism, the original rock obelisk had deteriorated to the extent that doctors John B. and Ferdinand Peter Herff, grandsons of Ferdinand Ludwig Von Herff, had it completely rebuilt with limestone blocks in 1952." - [quoted from Garland Perry, "Our Heritage" series]. The Texas Historical Commission honored Dr. Herff by designating this monument with a Texas Historical Marker in 1982. (On Malakopf Mountain, 1.5 mile NE of Boerne Via FM 474 and Kennon Ranch Road.)
The monument is on a hill overlooking Boerne across Hwy 474 from Spring Creek Road exit. The trees are too high to see the monument from FM 474 but If one turns right on Spring Creek Road, and then turns around at the first house, and then stops about 50 yards or so down road, now facing FM 474, you can see where it is with the naked eye. Binoculars are helpful.
Photo Credit: Dietert Historical Archives -
Patrick Heath Public Library (Boerne)
