Fredericksburg br/Gillespie County, Texas br/30 16.362' N 98 51.954' W br/412 E. Austin Street. br/br/Text: In 1845 Johan (John) Joseph Walch (1828-1914) migrated to Texas from Germany. In 1847 he settled in Fredericksburg, where he worked as a stonemason. Before Walch married Wilhelmine Gaertner in 1851, he erected a two-room limestone house on this lot. He also built a rock barn, which he later enlarged by adding a second story. One of the Walches' eleven children, Felix, remodeled the barn for use as a residence in 1904.