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St. Bernard German Catholic Church
– Akron’s first
German church
The construction
of the Ohio and Erie Canal employed many Irish
immigrants to the Akron area, and as a result,
the only Catholic Church in Akron was
predominantly Irish. In the fall of 1861 a
meeting of 46 of Akron’s German-American
Catholics met for the purpose of establishing a
German Catholic Parish and formed the St.
Peter’s Bau Verein Society (Bau Verein is
German for Building Association). The
group began with a meager $2.75 in their
building fund.
Because most of
the German Akronites at the time were Bavarians,
the members wrote to King Louis of Bavaria about
the plans for the German Church, and they
received a gift of $500, which enabled them to
purchase the land for the new church. In less
than one year, the Society laid the cornerstone
for the new church, an event which was witnessed
by seven thousand people.
Father Luhr, who
was among the founders, announced a fund-raising
incentive that would enable the person making
the largest donation would have the privilege of
naming the new church. The person who earned
that right was his niece, Bernadine Luhr, who
donated $100, and named the church after her
patron saint, St. Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux.
In 1862, Father
Henry Thiele became pastor of the 120-member
congregation of German-speaking families now in
the parish, and they worshipped in a church
building which was later sold to a Slovak church
upon the opening of their new church.
Although the
largest donation except for that of King Louis
was only $100, this congregation raised $160,000
for the construction of the church and because
there was never a mortgage or any debt, the
church building was allowed to be consecrated,
rather than simply a dedication ceremony. By
Canon law, there were also special requirements
for the altar, which had to tie into the
foundation of the church, and which must be
constructed of stone and marble. St. Bernard
was one of only nine Ohio churches to meet the
strict Canon law for consecration.
The completed
building was an architectural jewel, and
surpassed all expectations. The Akron Beacon
Journal called it an inspiration, not only to
Catholics, but to all religions, and an ornament
to the City. The magnificent building was
constructed of 125 train-carloads of stone from
the nearby Peninsula Quarry. The
German-Romanesque church with baroque influences
had stained glass windows imported from Germany,
twin spires, rounded apses, and a double
gallery. Father John Baptist Braun, the pastor
at the time, worked with architect W.P. Ginther,
to model the church after the great cathedrals
in the Rhineland region of Europe.
When the church
opened its doors to the public for the first
time on the evening of October 8, 1905 with a
non-denominational concert to showcase the
massive pipe organ. Also presented was the
Akron Liedertafel, a German singing group and
other local musicians and singers, and the
sold-out crowd was very impressed with the
musical program, as well as the architectural
splendor.
The keynote
address at the concert was delivered by Mr. P.E.
Werner, a German non-Catholic. In his remarks,
which were delivered both in German and English,
he praised Father Broun and the parishioners and
their dedication to build such a magnificent
structure without incurring debt, and he is
quoted in the church’s Centennial brochure: “It
is not the money of millionaires that has made
the erection of this church possible,” Werner
said. “What wonderful devotion to religion,
what wonderful devotion to their faith, what
wonderful sacrifice of material means have the
members of this congregation demonstrated in
making the erection of this structure possible,”
he added. The first mass was celebrated on
Sunday, October 15, 1905.
Despite the low
income bracket of most of the congregants, St.
Bernard’s Parish established a tradition of many
different social service programs to serve the
poor and help those in crisis. Many more German
families were to emigrate to the area, and after
the 1880’s, the face of the immigrants changed
from Western Europeans to also include
German-speaking immigrants from the Eastern
European, Slavic countries & Poland. In the
post-World War II period, English Classes were
offered to mostly German-speaking displaced
immigrants who flocked to the area for good jobs
to be had.
Now, over 100
years later, the church and the original pipe
organ are still in use, and in 1989, St. Bernard
Church was placed on the National Register of
Historic Places by the National Park Service of
the U.S. Department of the Interior. |
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