Matt Vest '08 - I left Wabash early Tuesday morning for Jasper, Indiana, possibly the most German city in Indiana.  The drive was long and somewhat boring despite the beautiful scenery, but after three and a half hours and two pit stops I entered the city limits.  My first destination was the Dubois County Museum and Historical Society.  Unfortunately, the museum was closed, but the Historical Society provided me with many pamphlets of useful information and self-guided tours of some of the most German aspects of the city, and the very useful map of the city. 

I spent the early afternoon on the grounds of St. Joseph, a very impressive Catholic church and a great example of the influence of Joseph Kundek on the area.  Kundek, a German-Catholic missionary, laid the initial plans for the church, has an impressive monument built to honor his name, and also finds his final resting place in the St. Joseph cemetery.  He also established St. Meinrad, and was instrumental in bringing the Sisters of St. Benedict to Ferdinand.  After a couple hours of inspecting every inch of the church grounds, I checked into my hotel and had dinner just across the parking lot at the Schnitzelbank, an authentic German restaurant with incredible (albeit expensive) cuisine and fabulous replicated German culture.  I spent over two hours in the restaurant chatting up the staff and learning all I could from them, but unfortunately I was unable to locate anyone that actually spoke the language. 

The next morning I headed 12 miles south, to Ferdinand, Indiana, the site of the breathtaking Monastery Immaculate Conception, home of the Sisters of St. Benedict.  The sisters greeted me warmly, and I spent the morning grilling Sisters Mary Dominic, Kathryn Huber, and Paulette Seng about the history of their incredible home and the daily lives of the ladies that live there.  They were warm and friendly and answered any questions I could throw at them over an intense two hour period.  I then toured the church with Sister Christine Kempf, who let me in on some of the interesting facts about the construction and recent renovation of the fabulous architectural masterpiece. 

After a brief lunch I spent the early (and hot) part of the afternoon walking around the outside of the buildings and taking numerous pictures of the immaculate grounds. I then had the privilege of heading to the basement of the monastery and spending some time viewing the Sister’s archives, including several authentic German documents detailing the early history of the monastery. I also visited the crypt which was just recently cleaned and repainted and could potentially become a museum in the future. The rest of the afternoon I spent in the gift shop, and purchased several CD’s of original music the Sister’s have composed and recorded. 

My experience with the ladies of this incredible place was nothing less than magnificent.  I was amazed at how incredibly warm and inviting every single person I encountered was to me and did not want to leave after spending a full 10 hour day with the Sisters.  There is quite honestly so much to learn about these incredible people, and so little time.  Luckily, I will be returning to Ferdinand next week to visit St. Meinrad, a monastery with a seminary and immersing myself in the lifestyle of the Benedictine monks for three days.  With a little luck, I will be able to return to Monastery Immaculate Conception and continue to take in all that the architectural wonder has to offer.

In photos: Upper right, St. Joseph's Church in Jasper. Lower left, Immaculate Conception sanctuary in Ferdinand.