Wartburg College - Fortress Yearbook (Waverly, IA)

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our Men Who Dreamed In 1852 a party of eight people left from the old port of Hamburg, Germany, on a ship bound for America. Pastor Wilhelm Loehe, the found- er of a Lutheran missionary organization in Ger- many, was sending the small group to establish a school for the training of teachers for parochial schools of the Missouri Synod. Members of the group were Grossmann, his wife and six students. The school which they founded in Saginaw, Mich., in 1852 was the beginning of today ' s Wartburg College. During that year, however, the followers of Loehe decided to migrate to Iowa to begin mis- sionary activities independently from the Mis- souri Synod. They took their little school with them and reopened it at Dubuque late in 1853. For two years the curriculum here consisted primarily of secular subjects with limited ele- mentary religious instruction. But in 1854, with the founding of the Iowa Synod, the school at Dubuque began to assume the character of a seminary. By 1856 two stu- dents had completed their requirements for the- ological instruction and were graduated from wha t was now primarily a theological seminary, serving the newly born Iowa Synod. By this time the school had already devel- oped a dual character. In 1854 Loehe sent Sig- mund Fritschel to America to open a Latein- schule at the seminary. Fritschel, at that time without German university training but later to become a noted theologian, assumed the task of organizing a department at the seminary like that of the German Gymnasium, which would prepare students for the later theological course. Entrants in the preparatory department were boys from both America and Germany, the lal- ter supplied by Loehe. Grossmann continued to serve as sole theology instructor. Top left — Wilhelm Loehe, the man who orig- inated the idea which was to become Wartburg College. Top right — George Grossmann, founder of the college at Saginaw, Mich., in 1852. Upper center left — Sigmund Fritschel, a profes- sor who opened the pre-theological training for students at Dubuque in 1854. Upper center right — Fredrick Lutz, an early instructor, he was later in charge of the college during its years at Galena, 111. Center— In 1857 Wartburg Col- lege was transferred to St. Sebald, near Straw- berry Point, where it purchased this building as well as a farm for support. Lower center — In 1868 an abandoned monastery was purchased at Galena, 111., for the training of pre-theological students. The college was housed in the se- verely plain brick structure. Bottom — The school from Galena was merged with the the- ological school at Mendota, 111., in 1875.

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Honoring a Historian ♦ In ihis century yea.! of Warlburg College, we wish lo honor a facully member who has been pari of ihe Warlburg Iradilion for more lhan forly years. Il is wilh ihe highesl pleasure lhal we dedicale ihis Cenlury FORTRESS wilh ils historical iheme lo ihe head of the division of social sciences, Dr. Gerhard Ollersberg. Dr. Ollersberg will be long remem- bered by his colleagues and by gen- erations of students as a man who loves history and makes il live. He will be remembered as a scholar who loves his teaching and his God. Il is largely through his efforts that we celebrate this centennial year. Through tireless and diligent research, he established the year 1852 as the be- ginning and published a book on the History of Warlburg College. Yes, we owe much lo this man and lo others like him who have served our college in the perilous years of the past.

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Left — Wartburg College at Clinton was tive offices and classes. Right — Beautiful housed in the late 1800 ' s in this brick landscape, trees and shrubs surrounded the structure which served both administra- campus and the Administration Building. Wandering Wartburg Warlburg Moves lo Waverly. Hardships plagued ihe instiiution for ihe nexl few years, but though classes were at times temporarily called to a halt, the school never officially closed. When, in 1857, the school was relocated at St. Sebald, it began to lead a more stable existence. Its dual character continued. Gottfried Fritschel replaced his brother as leader and sole teacher of the preparatory department. Through the 1860 ' s the character of the lower department began gradually to change. In 1862 it was opened to students who did not intend to study for the ministry,- in 1864 the Latin and Greek requirements for the course were low- ered; and in 1868, when the enrollment at St. Sebald began to exceed housing facilities, the synodical convention of that year at Madison, Wisconsin, decided to move the school for the young boys to Galena, Illinois. The following year classes were begun there. But it proved financially impossible for the Iowa Synod to support two separate schools. In 1875 the college was again relocated to the same campus as the seminary, which had in the meantime been moved to Mendota, Illinois. During these years the purpose of the school had turned from teacher training to the train- ing of pastors for the Iowa Synod. However, the growing need for parochial teachers in the ' 60 ' s and ' 70 ' s resulted in another demand for a teacher-training department. In response to this demand, Grossmann established a semi- nary for teachers in 1878 in the orphanage at Andrew. The next year it was moved to Wa- verly, where it became established during the ' 80 ' s. In the summer of 1907, Mrs. Emma Lamb, a citi- zen of Clinton, and the untiring solicitations of President Kraushaar made possible the erec- tion of this gymnasium which was 40 feet by 66 feet. 9