St. Joseph's of Yorkville - A Parish of Our Own

Few Catholics in the history of the Church accomplished so much with so little as the American Catholic immigrants. Their greatest attributes were their resilient faith in God and the undaunted spirit with which they expressed their faith and built the Church in this country. St. Joseph's Parish was founded on this eternal faith and spirit.

Between 1820 and 1880, German and Irish immigration to this country gained momentum, as men, women, and children left their homeland to escape civil unrest, persecution and the repeated failure of the potato crop. Initially, many of the Germans settled in what became known as Little Germany, a section of the city east of the Bowery and extending from Houston Street to 12th Street. Rentals were low there and it was a short distance to good job opportunities in the downtown business district.

The church was an important part of their community. At the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer on 3rd Street, the Redemptorist Fathers tended to some 10,000 German Catholics who came to Mass every Sunday morning. Responding to all their needs, the priests built an orphan asylum uptown where open fields, woodland and clean fresh air provided a proper environment for destitute children.

It was in the chapel of this orphanage, named after St. Joseph and located on 89th Street and York Avenue, that this Parish had its beginnings. The chaplain of the orphanage, Father Theresius Gezowsky, and the School Sisters of Notre Dame who helped him run it, began caring for the spiritual needs not only of the orphans but also of the people who lived in the vicinity and up until then had only St. Lawrence O'Toole (now St. Ignatius Loyola) as their primary church.

The chapel served as a place of worship for many, but it proved sufficient only temporarily. After the Civil War, in the 1870's and 1880's, the noisy and congested city life downtown began to move north on the steel rails of the newly constructed Second and Third Avenue elevated trains. German families, both immigrants just arriving and city dwellers seeking more pleasant surroundings, were particularly attracted to the area. The Ehret's and the Ruppert's Breweries in the 90s and the Steinway Piano Factory in Queens, just a ferry ride away at 92nd Street, held prospects for good jobs. Brownstones and tenements for the laborers were built and businesses surged in the area, attracting even more people.

The Yorkville Catholic community soon overflowed the chapel, and on March 21, 1873, a delegation went to the Jesuit Fathers at St. Lawrence's to request a German-speaking priest to help them start a parish of their own. The Jesuits agreed to provide Father Joseph Durthaller, S.J., and Archbishop John McCloskey gave his approval for the formation of a German national parish, a parish without boundaries. Two bells in the church steeple rang out on April 26, 1874 when St. Joseph's Church was dedicated by Archbishop McCloskey, who, a year later, was appointed the first American Cardinal.

The first church was described as a "handsome brick building with a steeple that could have been lifted right out of the Black Forest." For twenty years it was the center for not only German families in Yorkville but also for others in the community, especially the Irish. They were all bound together, as future generations continued to be, by a commitment to their families and dedication to their church.

Education of the children in the Catholic faith was always a primary concern of the people, influencing their decisions about church décor and also their desire for a school. A group of forty parish children were taught in a converted hall in the orphanage when the parish first began. In December 1880, the doors to a new school opened with a staff of five from the School Sisters of Notre Dame. The student body by that time had grown to 500 children.

A New St. Joseph's Church is Built.

In 1888, the diocesan clergy began taking care of the pastoral needs of St. Joseph's with Monsignor Anton Lammel succeeding Father Joseph Busam, S. J., the second pastor. This was a period of continued growth for all of Yorkville. The number of families worshipping at St. Joseph's showed no sign of abating. This was despite the fact that other churches were established in the area: St. Monica in 1879, St. Jean Baptiste in 1882, and Our Lady of Good Counsel in 1886, St. Elizabeth of Hungary in 1891 and St. Stephen of Hungary in 1902.

The parishioners of St. Joseph's again outgrew their place of worship. On September 23, 1894 the cornerstone for the new and present church on East 87th Street was blessed by Archbishop Michael Corrigan. The houses in the neighborhood were decorated with flags and branches for the occasion. Approximately 3,000 celebrated the event, singing hymns with orchestral accompaniment.

A little over a year later, the church was dedicated. Considered "an architectural masterpiece", the "fine design and practical proportions" of the church building were attributed to the artistic talents of Monsignor Lammel and the skill of its architect, William Schickel. A third bell in the steeple and a new organ from the firm of Muller and Abel were in place for the ceremony on November 3, 1895.

In keeping with German tradition, the new church became more than a spiritual home for the community. It was also a social center. Strawberry festivals, bazaars, and barn dances were held in the basement. While these events raised funds, their primary purpose was "always enable parishioners to get better acquainted and to afford innocent amusement and recreation."

During this time, a new residence for the priests was also built. To help ease the need for more space in the school, separate living quarters for the sisters were established and the top floor of the school, where they had been living, was turned into classrooms.

Although its parishioners represented a variety of nationalities, St. Joseph's was recognized as the uptown parish for German-speaking Catholics in New York. Many moved into the area to have their children attend the school and to receive the sacraments. No matter where they lived, they came here to be married, to have their children baptized, to attend Mass, missions and other social events. Those who moved often returned to St. Joseph's for the burial of their dead, a practice which is still true today.

Monsignor Gallus Bruder, who became pastor of St. Joseph's in 1911, had the longest tenure in the history of this church, serving it until 1943. With the growth of the parish continuing, the present school building was constructed. His eminence Patrick Cardinal Hayes officiated at the ceremony on May 2, 1926.

The tower on the church was also completed, to give "proper proportion in connection with the new school building" and to call out "louder than the bells: 'Here is a Catholic Church'". The interior of the church was decorated with copies of paintings of the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary by an artist named Schmalzl. A baldachino or canopy of simulated marble was erected over the high altar.

A Constancy in a Century and a Quarter.

Yorkville is a very different place today from what it was in 1873. Supermarkets have replaced general stores; movies, radio and television have replaced picnics and festivals; and cars have replaced horses. What we take for granted now didn't exist then; refrigeration, electricity, central heating, and telephones.

Despite 130 years of enormous change and development, however, essentials have remained constant. Now, as before, people come to St. Joseph's because they desire to worship God and to pray, give thanks and seek solace.

Now, as before, people of different nationalities and cultures are what distinguish the congregation and, at the same time, their shared faith and beliefs are what sustain it. And while some may have ties to St. Joseph's that span almost a century and others just a few months or years, there is a common theme in how they all describe this parish: "a place that invites a feeling of belonging", "small town atmosphere in a big metropolis", "a church where you always find a friendly face".

St. Joseph's has marked Yorkville with this "celebration of faith" that has grown dynamically over 130 years and will continue to do so into the next millennium.