Das Lied von der Glocke (Friedrich Schiller) - St. Wenceslaus Cemetery - Howard County, NE - Etched in Stone on Waymarking.com

While the church is no longer with us, the bell stands at the back of the cemetery, attached to a brick and concrete base, and one can still ring it. On the reverse is the first line from Schiller's "The Lay of the Bell":

vivos voco mortuos plango
fulgura frango

The poem's subject is the creation of a bell, based on personal observations made by the poet himself. On the front, quite weathered, is "The Hy Stuckstede B.F. Co." and "St. Louis. Mo." Below, the letters have been either worn away or intentionally removed, although the bottom line, "Warsa[wa] A.D. 1892" suggests that the missing text was in Polish. It's interesting that there is a quote from a German poet on a bell for a Czech and Polish community.

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Signs along SH 11 point towards a Nebraska Historical Marker in this direction, and the marker stands in an enclosure outside the northeast corner of the cemetery. Of course, the name "Warsaw" evokes Poles and not Czechs, and there was a community by that name here. However, the text not only provides some history, but also gives some hints as to the representation of two Eastern European cultures here:

The cemetery was established in 1876, one year after the first settlers of the Czech club "Slovania" arrived in the Warsaw vicinity. The plot was donated by Martin Slobodny. Initially, Sunday worship was held around a large wooden cross in the cemetery. In 1877 the community built their first church across the road, a small wooden building combining the sanctuary and the rectory.

Inspiration to build a larger church began during the tenure of Rev. John Stephen Broz (1890-94), who initiated many Czech customs into the community. The bell in the cemetery was acquired during his time. Construction of a brick church began in 1895. It was built by parishioner C.V. Svoboda and Andrew Gruber, proprietors of the St. Paul brickyard. It was blessed on the feast of St. Wenceslaus, September 28, 1895.

St. Wenceslaus of Warsaw was the first Catholic church in Howard County. The last mass offered was on December 21, 1949, and the church was demolished in 1964. Only the names on the monuments remind passersby of the Czech pioneers whose struggle made a future for their descendants.

Address: St. Wenceslaus Cemetery, St Paul, NE 68873 Website: [Web Link]

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