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Overview

This large Franciscan church, dedicated to Saint Joseph, husband of the Virgin Mary, operated from 1903 until its destruction by fire in 1983. Its design and interior appointments were produced largely by German craftsmen and clergy, many of whom fled the oppressive rule of Kaiser Wilhelm I and his policy chief, Otto von Bismarck in the 1860s and 1870s. Erected on a grand scale, the Saint Joseph's Church complex also contains a monastery for Franciscan monks.

Building History

Groundbreaking ceremonies occurred in 1901 with construction concluding on the Feast Day of Saint Joseph, 05/03/1903. The church had German Catholic monks and craftsmen designing its frescoes, furnishings and exterior envelope. Many of these men fled to the US in the 1860s and 1870s following Kaiser Wilhelm I's ascension to power on 01/02/1861 and his 09/23/1862 appointment of Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898) to be his Minister President and Foreign Minister. Bismarck sought to unify Germany's patchwork of duchies into a strong union, centralized under Prussian control. He, particularly, saw Germany's Catholic population as a potential threat to the Protestant Hohenzollerns, fearing that German Catholics would remain loyal to the Papacy and might sympathize with neighboring Catholic nations, most critically France and the remnants of the Holy Roman Empire. On 07/18/1870, the First Vatican Council issued its statement on Papal Infallibility, a stand that triggered responses from the leading Protestant nations of Europe, Great Britain and the Prussia. Bismarck began his kulturkampf, in 1871, triggering official repression of Catholic clergy, denying them the right to discuss politics in their sermons.

Both of Saint Joseph's architects were German Franciscan monks, Ven. Bro. Adrian Wewer, OFM, (1836-1914), and Ven. Bro.Leonard Darscheidt, OFM,who, in the mid-1890s, resided at St. Joseph's Friary, in Omaha, NE. Wewer,born in Westhphalia, transferred from the Franciscan Monastery of Wiedenbrück to the new Diocese of Alton, IL, in 1862. He spent much of his life in Omaha, but traveled widely building. As Provincial Architect for the Franciscan Order, he become very active designing in excess of 100 churches, concentrated primarily in IL, MO, and NE. Darscheidt worked closely with Wewer as a designer and construction supervisor. Before Saint Joseph's Church in Los Angeles, They worked together on Saint Joseph's Catholic Church (1896) in South Omaha, NE, serving its immigrant population of German Catholics, andSt. Michael's Catholic Church, (1899-1901) Tarnov, NE.

Demolition

Due to defective wiring underneath its floors, Saint Joseph's Church burned down on 09/04/1983.