Old St. Mary's Church (Die Alte Kirche)

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how Duane tells it back to you. St. Mary's Parish in Fredericksburg goes all the way back to 1846, when German settlers first put down roots in this part of the Hill Country.

They built something to worship in, as people do, and for a while a log structure served the purpose. But log structures have a way of not being enough, forever. So construction began on a proper building, something with ambition, something meant to last.

That building was completed in 1863, right in the middle of the pastorate of the Reverend Peter Baunach. Think about that year for a moment. Eighteen sixty-three.

The world outside was not quiet. And yet here in Fredericksburg, stone was being set, arches were being shaped, and a steeple was going up toward the Texas sky. The parish used Old St.

Mary's as its church for decades, until 1906, when a larger building was constructed and the congregation moved on to bigger walls. Old St. Mary's, though, did not sit idle.

It found new life as a schoolhouse, among other purposes, which is its own kind of dignity. A building that taught the faithful on Sunday and the children on weekdays, well, that building has earned its place on the land. And the building itself will tell you it means business.

Those Gothic features are not subtle. The steeple rises with intention. The windows come to a point, that classic pointed arch that pulls the eye upward whether you want it to or not.

And the stone buttresses along the walls hold the whole thing together, steady as the community that raised it. Die Alte Kirche. The old church.

Still standing in Gillespie County, still wearing every one of those years with something close to grace.

What the marker says

St. Mary's Parish dates to 1846 with the arrival of German settlers in Fredercksburg. Construction of this building, which replaced an earlier log strucuer, was completed in 1863 during the pastorate of the Rev. Peter Baunach. It served as the parish church until a larger building was constructed in 1906, after which it served a variety of purposes., including a schoolhouse. The fine Gothic features of Old St. Mary's are exhibited in its distinctive steeple, pointed-arch windows, and stone buttresses.Recorded Texas Historic Landmark-1994