St. John's Lutheran Cemetery - St. Donatus, Iowa - Worldwide Cemeteries on Waymarking.com

My Commentary:
I actually spotted this church the day before from St. Donatus Catholic Church. Both of these churches are quite majestic sitting on their respective hills looking across the Tete des Mortes valley a mile from each other. St. John's doesn't have the National Register write-up. It is included in the media section for Gothic Revival Buildings in Iowa -
(link) .
The case for Gothic Revival is strong - tall arched windows, a foyer was added recently to protect the old exterior doors, but they were also arched. Tall towered steeples and faux buttresses.

The building itself is red brick. The entry is symmetrical - new glass and metal doors with glass to the entablature which states: "St. John's Lutheran Church". Flanking each side of the new foyer is a peaked section with a single arched window with an arched stone lintel.

The central section behind the church has a large arched stained glass window with a rosette window above. The cornice is sharply peaked and dentilated. The towers to either side consist from the bottom to the top - paired arched windows with a stone lintel shaped like a bracket; narrower arched windows with a stone sill and dual stone arch lintels; a single large arch window with stone sill and arched lintel; and finally a black hexagonal steeple with a cross on top. The unusual feature is that the left steeple is about two or three feet taller than the right - this can be seen especially where the section for the single window meets the top of the central section. The right is flush; the left is not.

The cemetery flanks both sides of the church and out to the front lawn. The sign that Find-a-Grave shows is for the OTHER St. John's Cemetery - the only signage on the property is for the church itself. According to Find-a-Grave:"736 (memorials have been) added (85% photographed)". This would equal my guesstimate of 1000 graves on the property. There are definitely a variety of headstone styles and materials present in this graveyard.

The St. John's Lutheran Church was started in 1851 by Dietrich Griebel who had immigrated to the United States from Germany. The same year the Ladie's Aid was started by his wife, Katharina (Hachmann) Griebel. In 1912, the first officers were Mrs. William Schenk, President; and Mrs. William Hachmann, Vice President.

St. John's Lutheran Church is located in St. Donatus, Iowa. In 2003, we met Rev. Judy Deckert, the pastor of the congregation.

St. Donatus is located on the Great River Road (a National Scenic Byway) 9 miles north of Bellevue, Iowa.

-From Wence We Cometh Website

This website has pictures of the original wooden doors.

Another must visit is the St. John’s Lutheran Church, a beautiful twin-spired church built in 1919.

-Only in Your State Website

Being an old German Church, I found a headstone in the cemetery that was in German and quite interesting. It reads:

- Marker Text

Very rough translation of the marker:
Mrs. Elizabeth Schoop
Born December 25, 1865
Died July 8, 1907
My Sweet Rest
No One Can Disturb
I Have Now Obtained It
Through My Jesus Christ.

City, Town, or Parish / State / Country: St. Donatus, Iowa, USA Approximate number of graves: 1000 Cemetery Status: Active Cemetery Website: Not listed

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