MANSFIELD — The bronze bell hanging from the steeple of St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church was a symbol of its parishioners’ determination for decades.
Now it continues to tell their story from a new location — a memorial monument in South Park.
Members of Mansfield’s German immigrant community gathered at the park Saturday afternoon for a formal dedication. The bell is now encased in a staple-shaped monument, with inscriptions that tell the history of the community and the church they founded.
The United States saw an influx of ethnic German immigrants following World War II. Many fled their homes and villages in former Yugoslavia and other parts of Eastern Europe due to Soviet occupation.
“Soviet occupation of these lands towards the end of World War II meant oppression, incarceration, and death for many of the two million Germans caught behind the Iron Curtain,” said Gunther Lahm, son of the church’s founding pastor Karl Lahm.
“They were grateful for the opportunity to start over in America, where they could work hard, worship and raise their families free from tyranny.”
Mansfield’s thriving economy attracted many of these newcomers, who found work as factory personnel, tool and die makers, steel workers, carpenters, bricklayers and farmers.
The Rev. Karl Lahm immigrated to the United States with his family as refugees in 1950. Lahm felt called to minister to the German Lutheran community in Mansfield, so St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church opened its doors in 1952.
Lahm served as the pastor until 1975. After that, the Rev. Renato Siewart continued German-language services until his death in 2016.
The German-language parish became a place not only for worship, but preserving the community’s culture and language. At its peak, there were nearly 700 members.
The bell was installed in the early 1950s. It was made in Germany and cost one thousand dollars. Church members raised funds for the bell through donations and bake sales. St. Peter’s held its final service in December 2018.
Retired Bishop Abraham Allende said it’s common for numbers to dwindle over time at non-English speaking churches.
“The second and third generations of our immigrant communities usually assimilate into the culture and no longer feel that connection to their parents’ distant homeland or the necessity to worship in the language of origin,” said Allende, who oversaw St Peter’s as part of the Northeastern Ohio synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.
When the church building was sold, most of the proceeds were donated to charities in the area. The monument was paid for with a small amount of funds that had been set aside.
“You know who paid for this monument? Our forefathers,” former church member Mike Dorner stated.
“With this bell memorial, we honor their memory — The hardships they endured, the sacrifices they made, the new lives for all of us they built in America. What is their legacy? You are their legacy.”
During the dedication ceremony, Allende reminded the crowd not only to remember the legacy of their ancestors, but the contribution of immigrants in general.
“This celebration and the dedication of this bell recognizes the rich legacy that the founders of S.t Peter’s and all the other immigrant communities have left to us,” he said. “We are inspired by their determination and we look forward, in hope, striving to become the nation that we want to be — a nation that welcomes all those who seek new opportunities.”
