The Kolping Park and Chapel is a religious facility previously located at 47440 Sugarbush Road in Chesterfield Township, Michigan. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

and designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1996. On September, 28th 2016 the chapel was moved to the Chesterfield Historical Village at 47275 Sugarbush Road.

History

In 1849, Adolph Kolping founded a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

journeymen's association, the forerunner of what today is known as the Kolping Society. The society promotes member's development through education and activities. In 1926, Father Joseph Wuest, a former bricklayer, established a chapter of the society in Detroit. The local chapter acquired the land that is now Kolping Park in 1929. The society cleared the land, planted trees, and constructed some buildings. In 1932, Wuest designed and constructed the chapel on this site. The property is still owned by the Detroit branch of the Kolping Society of America. The Kolping Society decided in 2015 to sell the park land and donated the Kolping Chapel to the Chesterfield Township Historical Society. On September 28, 2016, the chapel was moved from Kolping Park, down Sugarbush Road, to the Chesterfield Township Historical Village, where it presently sits.

Rev. Father Joseph Wuest

Rev. Father Joseph Wuest was born in

Nassau, Germany Nassau ( , also , , ) is a town located in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It lies in the valley of the river Lahn between the towns of Bad Ems and Limburg an der Lahn. Nassau was the seat of the former Verbandsgemeinde Nassau, and ...

on July 7, 1869. He attended school in Thalheim, and studied further at

Mesnières-en-Bray Mesnières-en-Bray (, literally ''Mesnières in Bray'') is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France. The town is the origin of the Scottish name Menzies. Geography A forestry and farming village situa ...

and at Langonnet, where he graduated in 1896. He was appointed a professor at Knechtsteden, where he served until 1899, when he emigrated to the United States to serve as an assistant pastor in

Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania Sharpsburg is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, northeast of downtown Pittsburgh, along the Allegheny River. In 1900, nearly 7,000 people lived here; in 1920, the population peaked at just over 8,900 people. The population was 3, ...

. Wuest served from 1902 to 1907 as a hospital chaplain, and in 1907, he was made pastor of St. Mary's church in Detroit. He immediately began working with immigrant German families, and in 1911 reached out to

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

families, one of the first white church leaders to do so. Wuest founded the local chapter of the Kolping Society in 1926, but ill-health forced him to retire as St. Mary's pastor in 1929, although he still heard confessions. Wuest died in July, 1958.

Park and Chapel Description

Kolping Park is a 19-acre parcel, rectangular in shape, running from Sugarbush Road to the Vase River. The park contains Kolping's historic wayside chapel, as well as a shrine to Blessed Father Adolph Kolping, and a pavilion, dance hall, rifle range, picnic shelter, parade grounds, playground, soccer field and parking lot on landscaped grounds. The chapel is a

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

structure, designed and constructed by Joseph Wuest himself. It is intended to be reminiscent of European wayside chapels. It is constructed from stones and shells sent to Wuest by Kolping societies from all over the world. Wuest inscribed a plaque with "Honor by means of untiring work" in the chapel. The landscaping of the grounds as well as several of the structures were designed by Kolping Society members, including Vincent Schultes, Joseph Schultes, Wendel Schultes and Frank Foster.

Gallery

File:KolpingChapelB.JPG, Side view of chapel File:KolpingChapelChesterfieldHistoricalVillage.jpg, Kolping Chapel on its current site in the Chesterfield Historical Village

References

External links

Kolping Society of Detroit
{{National Register of Historic Places National Register of Historic Places in Macomb County, Michigan Buildings and structures completed in 1932 Religious buildings and structures in Michigan Michigan State Historic Sites