ALTENBURG CHURCH CELEBRATES 150 YEARS

Leonard Kuehnert, president of the Perry County Lutheran Historical Society, points to photos of some of the founding fathers of the log cabin college, or seminary, which was built in 1839 upon arrival of the Saxons in Altenburg.

Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg on June 3 marked the 150th anniversary of the founding of the first church building that served the Altenburg congregation from 1845 to 1867.

Church members and the public attended a rededication ceremony in the present church building, dedicated on Reformation Day in 1867, which stands near the first church. The first church building is now a spectacular museum, and it served as a school house from 1867 to 1969.

Leonard Kuehnert, president of the Perry County Lutheran Historical Society, said the first Trinity Lutheran Church of Altenburg was the first of six congregations established in the spring of 1839 by immigrants from the Saxony region of Germany.

The other congregations are located at Wittenberg, Frohna, Dresden, Seelitz and Johannisberg. A seventh congregation took root at Paitzdorf, now called Uniontown.

The congregations at Seelitz and Dresden merged with the Altenburg church during their first two years in Perry County.

Some 700 Lutherans under the leadership of Rev. Martin Stephan came to America to escape religious oppression by the government in Germany. One of the five ships involved, the Amalia, was lost at sea and all 55 passengers perished.

Kuehnert calls the immigrants a "protest group" that arrived to bring the church of Dr. Martin Luther to the New World.

They brought with them a chest filled with 122,000 German thaler -- money -- which at the time was the equivalent of $88,000 in gold.

"They used the money to pay for their voyage, supplies and rent in St. Louis during the winter months, and for the land they bought in Perry County," said Kuehnert, who traces his roots five generations to one of the original immigrant families on his father's side.

The chest is on display in the nearby log seminary, which was built in 1839 under the leadership of Dr. C. F. W. Walther. It first opened as a Christian liberal arts school with seven or 11 students, depending on reports, and would become integral to the development of what would, in 1847, become the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.

The log cabin seminary, which is now a museum, was the first Lutheran seminary west of the Mississippi.

"They taught the Bible languages there," said Kuehnert, standing inside the two-story, 21-by-16-foot structure. "Those languages were Latin, Greek and Hebrew.

"And they taught German, French and English ... also, world history, church history, geography, math, grammar and homiletics, which is the art of sermon delivery."

Kuehnert said that in 1910 the Perry County Lutheran Historical Society was organized in order to preserve the seminary. It was moved to its present location in 1912 and in 1915 a protective canopy was built.

As a museum, it boasts a Bible printed in Nuremberg in 1736 --Bible belonged to the Darmstaedt family. The chest that contained the "thaler" dates to 1839 Dresden.

There are photos of many of the early pastors and teachers of the seminary, and there is a chandelier made of wood, it may have been used in the first church.

"This is also the building in which the so-called Altenburg debate took place," said Kuehnert. "Shortly after arriving here the leader of the Saxons, Rev. Stephan, was exposed as a false leader.

"He had been teaching some things not in harmony with Scripture, he used some of the treasury money selfishly and he was accused of adultery.

"He was excommunicated from the church and exiled from the colony. But the people had put so much faith in him that they were confused for the next two years."

The confusion ended, said Kuehnert, when Dr. Walther arrived and in April 1841 debated with a Dr. Marbach, a lawyer, the writings of Martin Luther.

"With the settlers all around and listening, Walther proved they were indeed a church," said Kuehnert. "And this is the grass-roots of the 2.7 million member Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Several thousand people visit here every year."

The first church

The first church building of Trinity was dedicated on Pentecost in 1845 and was used for worship until 1867 when the present church was built.

The first church building served as a school for the upper grades for 102 years until 1969 when the present school was opened.

The bell in the church, which still rings, was cast in Spain in 1761 and brought from Germany in 1839. The conventions of the old Western District of the church were held in the building in 1855 and 1857. Included in the district was all the area west of the Mississippi. People came to the conventions, which lasted three or four days, by boat, wagon and train.

The Western District was organized in 1854 and Rev. G.A. Schieferdecker, pastor of Trinity, was elected the first president.

The building now serves as a museum and on display are many Bibles, other books, old photos and furnishings.

The present church

The present church building, dedicated on Reformation Day in 1867, served as convention headquarters for the Western District on nine occasions.

The pulpit, altar and baptismal font are the original furnishings -- they date to 1867. The beautiful crucifix on the altar was crafted in Oberammergau, Germany, and arrived with the Saxons in 1839.

The Saxons also brought the baptismal tray and pitcher, which are also on display in the church.

Perhaps the most beautiful and intriguing work of art in the church is a gold and silver chalice.

"It was made in 1707 of gold and silver and brought here by the Saxons," said Kuehnert, of the delicate-looking chalice. "A nobleman gave it to his bride and she donated it as a communion chalice..

"It's a lost art ... hand-hammered. There's three cherubs on the handle. We keep it in the Bank of Altenburg and bring it out for special occasions."

Engraved on the chalice are Polish words that translate: "Sophia Opchkowas, coupled to Oliver Gafchasky in the Church of the Army, A.D. 1707, 23 March."

The log cabin college

The log cabin college, or seminary, was built in 1839, soon after the arrival of the Saxons. Under the leadership of Dr. C.F.W. Walther, it opened Dec. 9 of that year as a Christian school.

Pastors and teachers were educated there and they became the backbone of the new church body. In 1849 the college, where such subjects as Greek, Hebrew, Latin, math and geography were taught, was transferred to St. Louis where it is now called the Concordia Lutheran Seminary.

The state Historical Society has placed an historic marker near the building, which stands well-preserved in the church park, near the two church buildings.

The building has been turned into a fabulous museum. Photos of some of the early pastors adorn the hand-hewed log walls and there are period furnishings and Bibles. A display case holds wooden shoes -- called clogs, and other artifacts of the era.

The present Trinity Lutheran Church, the old church/school and the log cabin seminary in Altenburg are listed in the "Missouri Catalogue of Historic Sites." The seminary is also listed in the "National Register of Historic Places."