DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll pass it along just as it reads. Now, some stories start with a single spark, and the story of Friedens Church is one of 'em. It grew — and that word grown is exactly right — it grew out of mission work.
Two men doing the walking and the talking: the Reverend J. A. Kypfer and the Reverend T.
G. Muelder. Between the two of them, they laid the groundwork for something that would outlast both their boots.
The organizing happened on January 18th, out at Frankfort School in Dietz. Not a grand hall, not a cathedral — a schoolhouse. That's where it began.
Then, come March 1st, 1896, the congregation was constituted proper, this time near Barbarossa, over at Specht's School. Two schoolhouses, two dates — and a church taking shape between them. When they got down to business, they needed men to hold things together.
J. C. Hermann stepped up as president.
J. R. Feigerle took the secretary's chair.
And J. C. Stautzenberger — now there's a name that commands a treasurer's desk — handled the finances.
The design of the building itself fell to Jacob Kiefer, and construction went up in 1904. Modified Gothic architecture, the marker says, and you can picture it — those clean upward lines reaching toward something higher than the Texas Hill Country sky. The church was dedicated on March 25th, 1905, during the pastorate of the Reverend C.
R. Hempel. That dedication day had to feel like the finish line and the starting line all at once.
Down at the base of the marker, there's one more thing worth saying slow: this marker stands in memory of Herbert H. Schriewer, given by Mrs. Herbert Schriewer and their children.
Every church has its pillars. Some are stone. Some are people.
This one made sure you'd know the difference.
What the marker says
Outgrowth of mission work by the Rev. J. A. Kypfer and the Rev. T. G. Muelder. Organized on Jan. 18, at Frankfort School, Dietz, and constituted March 1, 1896, near Barbarossa, at Specht's School. J. C. Hermann was president; J. R. Feigerle, secretary; and J. C. Stautzenberger, treasurer. Designed by Jacob Kiefer; built in 1904, church was dedicated on March 25, 1905, during pastorate of the Rev. C. R. Hempel. Modified Gothic architecture. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1970 Incise in base: Marker in memory of Herbert H. Schriewer given by Mrs. Herbert Schriewer and children.