Weingarten is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

in Sainte Genevieve County,

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, United States.

Name

Weingarten (German: vineyard) was named after the German town by the same name located in

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

, Germany. In the past the community was also known by the nickname Plank Road.State Historical Society of Missouri: Ste. Genevieve County http://shs.umsystem.edu/manuscripts/ramsay/ramsay_sainte_genevieve.html

History

Weingarten was founded in 1837 by Jacob Wolf. A post office was opened in 1887 with Seraphin B. Donze serving as its first postmaster. The community was named by postmaster Donze after the hometown of his parents in the German state of Wurttemberg. Vineyards and wineries are found nearby, and this region is known for its great beauty. Nearby is the old Cornwall Mines, which was a source of

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

, and also Hawn State Park. The Catholic Church in Weingarten dates from 1872. The statue of the Virgin in the niche above the door was installed in 1903. The stonework of this little church is made up of a mixture of local stone, which appear nicely cut.Rome of the West: Weingarten http://www.romeofthewest.com/2009/10/photos-of-our-lady-help-of-christians.html The invocation to Our Lady, Auxilium Christianorum, is found in the Litany of Loreto, and is related to the victory of the Christian fleet at the

Battle of Lepanto The Battle of Lepanto was a naval warfare, naval engagement that took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League (1571), Holy League, a coalition of Catholic states arranged by Pope Pius V, inflicted a major defeat on the fleet of t ...

Pope Pius VII Pope Pius VII (; born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti; 14 August 1742 – 20 August 1823) was head of the Catholic Church from 14 March 1800 to his death in August 1823. He ruled the Papal States from June 1800 to 17 May 1809 and again ...

vas imprisoned by the Emperor

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

. After his release, he instituted the feast of

Our Lady Help of Christians Mary, Help of Christians () is a Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary, based on a devotion now associated with a feast day of the General Roman Calendar on 24 May. John Chrysostom was the first to describe this title, in 345 AD. Don Bosco ...

, in thanksgiving to God and the Blessed Virgin Mary. According to the Archdiocese's 2009 Status Animarum, this parish has approximately 455 Catholics. According to the United States Census of the year 2000, the most common ancestries in the township around Weingarten are German, French, and Irish. Most Reverend Robert Joseph Hermann, Auxiliary Bishop of Saint Louis, is from Weingarten, and attended this church. Weingarten was the location of a large prisoner of war camp during the Second World War, with about 5000 Italian soldiers being held there. During the camp's existence, two prisoners escaped but were quickly recaptured, and five died in captivity. The prisoners were hired out to local farmers for 80 cents per day. Little evidence of the camp remains today.

Geography

Weingarten is located approximately thirteen miles southwest of Sainte Genevieve, on

Route 32 The following highways are numbered 32: International * AH32, Asian Highway 32 * European route E32 Australia * Great Western Highway * Barrier Highway * East Derwent Highway * Mitchell Highway Canada * Alberta Highway 32 * Manitoba Highway 32 ...

Demographics

Notable person

Robert Joseph Hermann - Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus of

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

References