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, physician Ferdinand Ludwig Von Herff first came to Texas in 1847. By the 1860s he had set up 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.