Sacred Heart Church 

The square block on which Sacred Heart Church is located was donated by the L & N railroad. The building on the property began with the church, a small house for the pastor, and a small convent.  The first church was wooden and the first school was a two-story wooden structure.

Sacred Heart was established in 1877 with Father James Meurer, a German-speaking priest, the first resident pastor.  Prior to the founding of St. Bernard Abbey in 1891 in Cullman, Benedictine priests began to serve as Sacred Heart Parish pastors in 1888.

 The stone church was built during the pastorate of Rev. Ignatius Mayer, O.S.B. and dedicated in 1916.  The matching stone school was built during the pastorate of Rev. Marion Schwallie, O.S.B. during the late 1940's.  Rev. Louis Funk, O.S.B. was pastor during the building of the rectory in 1961.

 The church is a rather late example of the German Revival of the Romanesque style.  There is a slight indication of the popular cruciform style, in that the sides near the east end of the nave, at the crossing, are somewhat wider than the rest of the side walls.  Native sandstone was used on the exterior.  The original roof was asbestos shingles.

 The stained glass windows were designed by The Von Gerichten Ecclesiastic Studio of Columbus, Ohio in 1914.  Twenty-four of the windows were built in Munich, Germany and, when a couple of them were ready to be shipped to Cullman, World War I broke out in Europe, and so the windows were buried to protect them.  The rest of the windows were completed and all of them were shipped after the war and installed in 1920.

 The pipe organ (Austin Organ - Opus 1029), one of the largest in North Alabama, was built in 1921 and was acquired by Sacred Heart in 1959.  It received a major reworking in 1988.

 In the fall of 1999 an extensive repair and restoration project was begun on the church steeples and roof, including gutters and downspouts.  23 tons of zinc, and 500 pounds of solder were used by CopperWorks Corporation of Decatur for the job.  A fish-scale pattern of shingles was used on the steeples and the high roof.  There are 4,000 shingles on each steeple; each one is held in place with five nails.  The lower roof is standing seam.  New gold crosses were placed atop the steeples; they are a Cullman landmark. 

Sacred Heart Cemetery

 The parish cemetery is located between 8th and 9th Streets, S.E., at 8th Avenue S.E.  Headstones in the cemetery date from 1879.

Directions 

From Interstate 65, take exit #308 and head east on Highway 278 for approximately 2.25 miles to 2nd Avenue NE.  Turn Left (north) for one block.  Sacred Heart Church will be on your right.