Julius Berends was born on April 30, 1817 in Kyritz, Prussia, where his father served as the town mayor. He attended the Gymnasium in Greifswald on the North Sea. He studied theology in Bochum. With his partner Edward Krause, Berends opened a printing press in 1840 in Berlin.
In 1844 he formed a wokers' party with the Berlin city attorney Hedeman, who later became Mayor of Berlin. Krause and Berends printed pamphlets about national politics which brought them into direct conflict with the king. His pamphlets and his workers' party became models for revolutionaries throughout German society. At the age of 30 Berends was elected to the Berlin City Council in 1847.

 In 1848 he was elected as a representative to the Prussian National Assembly. This was one of German's first experiments with democracy. He became one of its most popular members and was elected twice.He provoked theKing of Prussia too many times with his speeches and pamphlets against the monarchy. Finally in 1850 he and 23 others were sentenced to prison. In March 1851 his home was searched and he was arrested again.

In April of that year he left Berlin and sailed to America. In 1852 Berends came to San Antonio and in 1853 he applied for citizenship which was not granted until 1861 in Bexar County, Texas.

In 1854 Berends opened San Antonio's first book store which he called "The Old Curiosity Shop" He was very successful and his store was a gathering place for German intellectuals. Berends and his friends organized the Krankenkassen Verein, the Casino Society, and the German-English School, for which he served as director for 15 years. The building still stands today as a reminder of the high educational standards of those early German immigrants. It was built by Johann Kampmann.

Berends was elected to the Texas Legislature in 1872. He sold his book store to his assistant Nic Tengg in 1874.  He got bogged down in a school controversy that depressed him so much that he decided to return to Germany in 1875. His old friend Krause had invested money for Berends for 20 years, so he was financially well taken care of. He settled in Neu Ruppin, but left there in 1886 because of failing health. He died on June 7, 1891 in Frauenfeld, Switzerland. He was 74 years old.
Julius Berends was a man who lived in the future. He brought to San Antonio a social consciouness that exists even now.

From the personal files of Mary El-Beheri, Julius Berends' biographer.