History shapes Saxon Lutheran Fall Festival

FROHNA, Mo. -- At Saturday's Saxon Lutheran Memorial Fall Festival, thousands of visitors can see how their ancestors made apple butter, hewed logs, made soap, split rails and did the other work required of early 19th century settlers.

Crafts demonstrators are in period costumes, and this year, the apple butter can be spread on bread baked in the memorial's new outdoor oven.

The oven is the newest addition to the memorial's growing assemblage of buildings and tools that illuminate the history of the immigrants who fled the German state of Saxony and in 1839 established seven colonies in Perry County that became the cradle of the Lutheran Church -- Missouri Synod, which now has 3 million members worldwide.

Outdoor ovens were used in the 1800s because wood-fired ovens created too much heat indoors, says Bill Bock, a volunteer who acquired the plans from Germany and helped build the oven. The temperature gauge is the oven's only modern touch. At that, says baker Ruby Hafner, "the tricky part is getting the heat right."

Hafner lives on the 30-acre property with her daughter, memorial curator Sarah Swinney. Hafner's father-in-law was the late Rev. Gustav Hafner, longtime minister of Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna.

The festival will offer 30 exhibitors in period dress in addition to a variety of foods, including bratwurst, pork burgers, German potato salad and home made pies. Hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tours of the memorial's many log cabins and the 30-acre grounds will be provided.

The Zenon River Brigade of pioneer re-enactors will have an encampment. The day will include German music by the Saxony Hills Band.

Swinney says the memorial and the festival are not intended just for Lutherans, but for anyone who is interested in the region's history.

"It is symbolic of the commitment they had to make," she said of the memorial. "This is not a place for worship."

Most visitors to the festival come from outside the immediate area, she said, including busloads from St. Louis.

The grounds of the memorial include a statue of C.F.W. Walther, who accompanied the Saxons in their journey from Germany. Walther subsequently was assigned to Trinity Lutheran Church in St. Louis, where in 1844 he published the first issue of "Der Lutheraner," a publication that led to the formation of the Missouri Synod in 1847. He served as the Synod's first president from 1847-1850, and was president again from 1864-1878.

All the cabins at the memorial date to the same time period as the memorial.Want to go?

What: Saxon Luthern Memorial Fall Festival

Where: Frohna, Mo.

When: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 13

Admission: Freewill offering accepted

sblackwell@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182