The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 106, July 2002 - April, 2003 Page: 563
675 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Oscar Wilde Lectures in Texas, z882
The Menger Hotel, San Antonio, Texas, circa 1882. Oscar Wilde stayed at the Menger dur-
ing the San Antonio portion of his lecture tour. Photograph courtesy of the University of Texas
Institute of Texan Cultures at San Antonio.
The train bearing the Apostle of Aestheticism arrived at San Antonio's
Union Depot late, but was greeted by a large crowd. The railway station
had been decorated with sunflowers, and when Wilde stepped onto the
platform there was a rush to greet him. A group of women presented him
with a basket of sunflowers and water lilies. Without delaying long, Wilde
entered a carriage and was driven to the Menger Hotel, the city's best and
most famous. He was scheduled to speak at Turner Hall on Wednesday,
June 21. The historic hotel had been opened by William A. Menger, a
German, on February 2, 1859, at 204 Alamo Plaza. It was the first brew-
ery in Texas, and its product became so popular that Menger converted
the building into a fifty-room hotel to accommodate his customers. It be-
came the favorite stopping place for cattlemen, politicians, socialites,
celebrities, and a variety of other guests. Part of the Menger's history in-
volved the Turners, German gymnasts who were followers of Friedrich
Ludwig Jahn. As early as 181 1 the Turners established athletic clubs, and
the one in San Antonio was founded in 1865. Their club building be-
came part of the Menger during an expansion in 1875, at which time the563
2003
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 106, July 2002 - April, 2003, periodical, 2003; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101223/m1/641/: accessed March 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.