By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
One hundred twelve bicyclists silhouetted against swaying prairie grass and golden ripening wheat rode the back roads of Ellis County Saturday to tour the region’s majestic Volga German chapels.
This is the first year for the Tour De Kapellen, which is German for Tour of Chapels.
Cyclists could choose from anywhere from a one-mile fun ride in the city of Hays to a 100-mile tour that took the cyclists to six historic churches in the area. The stops included St. Catherine Church in Catherine, St. Fidelis Church, Basilica of the Plains in Victoria, Holy Cross Church in Pfeifer, St. Francis Church in Munjor, and the Antonino and Schoenchen churches.
The first four stops included tours and live music. The Antonino and Schoenchen stops on the 100-mile route were self-guided.
The 785 Jeep Club volunteered as SAG vehicles and the Downtown Hays Development Corp. offered a German meal at the Union Pacific Plaza Pavilion at the end of the ride.
Most of the churches on the route were built in the early 1900s.
St. Fidelis Church, Basilica of the Plains
Ivan Werner, St. Fidelis tour guide, said besides family, religion was the most important aspect of the Volga German settlers’ lives. This is reflected in the love, care and great expense that was lavished on the settlers’ churches.
Construction on St. Fidelis was begun in 1904 and finished in 1911. It was the fourth church that was constructed in the community since its settling in 1876.
Not only did the parishioners want a church that was beautiful, Werner said, but they wanted something large enough to hold all of their parishioners at one time. The four-story limestone chapel holds 1,100 people.
The towering, colorful 48 stained glass windows, including the iconic circular window at the front of the church, came from the Munich Stained Glass Co. No cranes were available at the early date of the church’s construction so the windows were installed by hand using scaffolding.
The chapel’s columns are Vermont granite. The builders rigged an old thresher and with the effort of 41 men pushing and pulling hauled each of the columns, which weigh 4 to 5 tons each, to the church site. The bases of the columns and carved capitals are Bedford limestone from Indiana. The carvers name has been lost to history, but church records indicate each capital took a month to carve and the carver required in payment a pint of the priest’s good whiskey at the conclusion of each work day.
The main altar is made from Italian marble from the same quarry from which came stone for some of Micheal Angelo great sculptures. The marble was given to the church from the parishioners in 1986 on the church’s 75th anniversary.
Austrian wood carvings depicting the stations of the cross hang on the walls of the church. The original inscriptions on the carvings were in German, but were later changed to English.
The original cost of the construction was estimated at $85,000 to $100,000. Today the church’s stained-glass windows alone are valued at $1 million for insurance purposes.
Holy Cross Church
Holy Cross Church in Pfeifer was built in 1918.
The altar at Holy Cross was hand-carved from crates, which was the only material the parishioners had at the time. The mosaic on the front of the church was created by a Venetian artist and was paid for with the parish children’s pennies. It depicts the Judgment Day. The scroll in the angel’s hand reads in Latin “Behold the Light of the World.”
The church is still maintained by a non-profit organization, but has not had a parish or regular services since 1993 when the parish was closed because it had dwindled to 40 people.
The church today 
hosts weddings and funerals and an annual mass in September. The church is maintained through the gracious donations of patrons like Carol Billinger, who can’t bear to see the majestic building deteriorate.
“There is so much history in this building. It is not because we love it or we grew up here, this has to be saved,” she said.
The non-profit’s next big challenge is replacing the chapel’s roof.
St. Francis Church
St. Francis Church in Munjor was built in 1889, founded by Capuchin priests.
The church was destroyed by fire in 1932. Although the majority of the church was rebuilt, the parish never had the funds to replace the steeple after the fire.
Today the church is home to 90 families and has mass three times per week, said Lilly Binder, St. Francis pastoral associate
Like St. Fidelis, the walls of the church feature the stations of the cross, but in paintings instead of carving. The painting here are inscribed with the original German.
When the church burned in 1932, the sisters were alerted to the fire when children from the nearby school who were playing at recess saw smoke coming from the chapel. The statues, stations of the cross and original pews were saved from the burning structure.
The limestone for the church was all quarried locally, with local farmers bringing in loads for the construction.
“That was their contribution to help build the church back in the day,” Binder said.
The names of the families who donated funds for each of the stained-glass windows are still there along with the names of the saints the windows depict.
“We are blessed to be living in this remote area and have such a beautiful church that we have out here and we are still able to have mass and to have it open,” Binder said.
Although some of the cyclists said they had lived in Hays for years, several said they had never been inside the churches on the tour.
“It’s been a beautiful day, and the churches are just gorgeous and the music is totally awesome,” said Shelly Schmidt from Hays.
She and her friend Lori Pennock of Medicine Lodge at the Pfeifer SAG stop said they were considering going the full 100 miles.
“I ride with the Friends here in Hays, so it was a great opportunity to see all of the churches,” Pennock said of her visit to Ellis County.
