Awake: 6:36am Temp 61 sleep 6+35 during the night, heavy rain + TRW’s overnight @ Weimar, Texas.
8:05am, I call the Stephen F. Austin State Park & make reservations for (2) motorhomes for the 14th & 15th of March.
Later Kathy calls the Schulenburg Chamber of Commerce for info on the (4) painted Catholic churches in the local area, which we first read about in an article in the Jan, 2006 FMC magazine. I have liberally used much of their writing in describing these churches.
They’re called “painted churches” because of all the wonderful painting inside. They may look like typical country churches on the outside, but the interiors are mini museums of old World heritage (German & Czech) and artistry. When itinerant artists decorated these 4 turn-of-the-20th century, Gothic Revival gems, they didn’t seem to miss an inch. Endless stenciling, infill, & freehand art yielded green vines, surreal flowers, and chubby cherubs. Some painters even performed “miracles,” changing wooden columns into “marble” pillars by applying faux finishes.
We (4) leave in the Suzuki @ 10:15am, drive to Schulenburg (west on US 90…15 min) & talk with Heather @ the C. O. C. about the painted churches in this South Central Texas area. After getting a driving map for locating the churches, we waste no time in motoring to the small town of Praha (Czech for Prague). Only a few homes nearby but Saint Mary’s church still provides Saturday & Sunday Masses, as do all (4) of these churches.. Built in 1895 & using native stone brought by oxen from a nearby village, the church has stood unchanged for over 100 yrs. Painted in dreamy flora and fauna, the vaulted ceiling is the stunning masterpiece of Swiss-born Gottfried-Flury. It has never been retouched & remains in its original condition. It’s intriguing to see such wonderful artwork in a church. I took pictures.
On to High Hill, founded by Austrians & Germans in 1860. The only brick church of the (4). St Mary’s, dedicated as the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1906, is touted as one of Texas’ most ornate churches. The hand painted blue, gold, and ocher canvas ceiling, which took 5 years to complete, and the elaborate columns (painted to look like marble) simulate Old World German cathedrals. The focal point of the church is the main altar, inset with an exquisite stained-glass window depicting the Crucifixion. 18 stained-glass windows, dating to 1885, grace the walls. From perches high on column supports, statues of saints, again segregated, St. Agnes and the ladies on the left, with St. Aloysius and the gents on the right, hover over the congregation. This is an “upright” parish! St Mary’s once faced an expansion problem. To add more seating without more building, pews were shaved off a few inches and squeezed together, making way for more pews. Folks here have sat straight as arrows ever since.
It’s lunch time for us @ Frank’s Restaurant in Schulenburg; a long established family eatery. Our meals were priced right & delicious.
A side trip from the painted churches is a Model Aircraft Museum. In this town of Schulenburg, (2) brothers whose dreams of flying, slowly turned aviation thoughts into a hobby & later a successful toy business; no, they’re not Wilber & Orville. They are the Stanzel boys, Victor & Joe. Their work encompassed more than 20 patents, including one for a single-line control device that revolutionized model airplane flying. I have never visited a model airplane museum & factory before so it was of great interest to me.
Next we check out Saint John the Baptist Catholic church, in Ammannsville, Texas. Originally dedicated in 1890, it was destroyed by the hurricane of 1909. 8 years later the second church burned. Daring parishioners rushed in and rescued several of the statues from eternal doom, including the 2 angel statues standing near the entrance of the current church which was dedicated in 1919. Seating once followed an old European custom: men sat right of the center aisle and women to the left. With the exception of Christ, even the stained glass windows are segregated; men on the left, women on the right. There are no 2-faced saints here; they appear the same on the inside and the outside of the church. The rosy-pink, spacious interior (there are no center supports) is both soothing and illustrious. Its rosy walls have earned it the nickname of the “pink” church. Stenciling and infill art in predominantly rose and green are offset by the gleaming white woodwork and white altars.
We’re now on to Dubina, the first Czech settlement in Texas, 1856, where Saints Cyril and Methodius, purported to be the folksiest and merriest of the Painted Churches, was first built in 1877. The first church was also destroyed by the hurricane of 1909. Miraculously, the chandeliers and wrought-iron cross atop the steeple survived; they grace the gloriously white current church completed in1912. A ½ wall of Plexiglas prevented our entrance into the church proper; we could only look into the church from the entrance. Stenciled oak leaves with red flowers curl around window tops and arches, and stars twinkle from the ceiling. Ascending from flowers between the arches are blue and tan robed angels, except for one clothed in bright red. On the altar are revered statues of the Czech saints, Cyril (on left) and Methodius, brothers in real life, and inseparable as religious icons.
Back to our campground where wine with Triscuits, Gouda cheese & Arnolds Sourdough Pretzels await us; then @ 6:50pm, dinner of Flat steak with portabella mushrooms & a mixed salad. Grace was responsible for making this tasty treat which none of us had ever experienced before. It was great!
High temp=? Lights out: 12:21am
Awake: 6:36am Temp 61 sleep 6+35 during the night, heavy rain + TRW’s overnight @ Weimar, Texas.
8:05am, I call the Stephen F. Austin State Park & make reservations for (2) motorhomes for the 14th & 15th of March.
Later Kathy calls the Schulenburg Chamber of Commerce for info on the (4) painted Catholic churches in the local area, which we first read about in an article in the Jan, 2006 FMC magazine. I have liberally used much of their writing in describing these churches.
They’re called “painted churches” because of all the wonderful painting inside. They may look like typical country churches on the outside, but the interiors are mini museums of old World heritage (German & Czech) and artistry. When itinerant artists decorated these 4 turn-of-the-20th century, Gothic Revival gems, they didn’t seem to miss an inch. Endless stenciling, infill, & freehand art yielded green vines, surreal flowers, and chubby cherubs. Some painters even performed “miracles,” changing wooden columns into “marble” pillars by applying faux finishes.
We (4) leave in the Suzuki @ 10:15am, drive to Schulenburg (west on US 90…15 min) & talk with Heather @ the C. O. C. about the painted churches in this South Central Texas area. After getting a driving map for locating the churches, we waste no time in motoring to the small town of Praha (Czech for Prague). Only a few homes nearby but Saint Mary’s church still provides Saturday & Sunday Masses, as do all (4) of these churches.. Built in 1895 & using native stone brought by oxen from a nearby village, the church has stood unchanged for over 100 yrs. Painted in dreamy flora and fauna, the vaulted ceiling is the stunning masterpiece of Swiss-born Gottfried-Flury. It has never been retouched & remains in its original condition. It’s intriguing to see such wonderful artwork in a church. I took pictures.
On to High Hill, founded by Austrians & Germans in 1860. The only brick church of the (4). St Mary’s, dedicated as the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1906, is touted as one of Texas’ most ornate churches. The hand painted blue, gold, and ocher canvas ceiling, which took 5 years to complete, and the elaborate columns (painted to look like marble) simulate Old World German cathedrals. The focal point of the church is the main altar, inset with an exquisite stained-glass window depicting the Crucifixion. 18 stained-glass windows, dating to 1885, grace the walls. From perches high on column supports, statues of saints, again segregated, St. Agnes and the ladies on the left, with St. Aloysius and the gents on the right, hover over the congregation. This is an “upright” parish! St Mary’s once faced an expansion problem. To add more seating without more building, pews were shaved off a few inches and squeezed together, making way for more pews. Folks here have sat straight as arrows ever since.
It’s lunch time for us @ Frank’s in Schulenburg; a long established family restaurant. Our meals were priced right & delicious.
A side trip from the painted churches is a Model Aircraft Museum. In this town of Schulenburg, (2) brothers whose dreams of flying, slowly turned aviation thoughts into a hobby & later a successful toy business; no, they’re not Wilber & Orville. They are the Stanzel boys, Victor & Joe. Their work encompassed more than 20 patents, including one for a single-line control device that revolutionized model airplane flying. I have never visited a model airplane museum & factory before so it was of great interest to me.
Next we check out Saint John the Baptist Catholic church, in Ammannsville, Texas. Originally dedicated in 1890, it was destroyed by the hurricane of 1909. 8 years later the second church burned. Daring parishioners rushed in and rescued several of the statues from eternal doom, including the 2 angel statues standing near the entrance of the current church which was dedicated in 1919. Seating once followed an old European custom: men sat right of the center aisle and women to the left. With the exception of Christ, even the stained glass windows are segregated; men on the left, women on the right. There are no 2-faced saints here; they appear the same on the inside and the outside of the church. The rosy-pink, spacious interior (there are no center supports) is both soothing and illustrious. Its rosy walls have earned it the nickname of the “pink” church. Stenciling and infill art in predominantly rose and green are offset by the gleaming white woodwork and white altars.
We’re now on to Dubina, the first Czech settlement in Texas, 1856, where Saints Cyril and Methodius, purported to be the folksiest and merriest of the Painted Churches, was first built in 1877. The first church was also destroyed by the hurricane of 1909. Miraculously, the chandeliers and wrought-iron cross atop the steeple survived; they grace the gloriously white current church completed in1912. A ½ wall of Plexiglas prevented our entrance into the church proper; we could only look into the church from the entrance. Stenciled oak leaves with red flowers curl around window tops and arches, and stars twinkle from the ceiling. Ascending from flowers between the arches are blue and tan robed angels, except for one clothed in bright red. On the altar are revered statues of the Czech saints, Cyril (on left) and Methodius, brothers in real life, and inseparable as religious icons.
Back to our campground where wine with Triscuits, Gouda cheese & Arnolds Sourdough Pretzels await us; then @ 6:50pm, dinner of Flat steak with portabella mushrooms & a mixed salad. Grace was responsible for making this tasty treat which none of us had ever experienced before. It was great!
High temp=? Lights out: 12:21am
