Visitors Guide to Frohna
Perry County, Missouri

Seven Saxon Lutheran settlements were founded in East Perry County by approximately 700 Lutherans from Saxony, Germany. These immigrants, who were was, in fact, a "protest group" that attempted to transplant the Church of Dr. Martin Luther to the "New World," came to America to escape the oppression they faced by the government in Germany. The first town founded after their arrival was Wittenberg. along the Mississippi River. Wittenberg was named for after the German town that was the center of the Reformation led by Martin Luther. Wittenberg was a successful river landing that changed to a St. Louis & San Francisco shipping point in 1904. Its prosperity declined during the Great Depression in the 1930s and was completely destroyed by a flood in 1986.

Frohna was one of six other settlements founded by the Lutheran immigrants on the 4,475 acres of land financed from a communal treasury of $88,000. The other towns were Alrwnberg, Paitzdorf (renamed Uniontown), Dresden, Seelitz, and Johannisberg. Only Frohna, Altenberg, and Uniontown remain. Frohna was founded in 1839 by 29 families of the congregation of Trinity Lutheran Church. Frohna is one of the first settlements in Missouri established solely for religious reasons. The community’s name was shortened from Nieder-Frohna, one of the starting points in Germany of the immigrants.

Visitors to Frohna will find several historical sites of interest. There is the white simple frame design Concordia Lutheran Church that was built in 1874. Nearby is the Die Kleine Schule (The Little School in German) which is a one-story brick building that was used to teach primary grade students until 1969. It has been restored and furnished with a woodstove, abacus, schoolbooks in German, and desks. Located just north of town is the Saxon Lutheran Memorial. This site preserves the original homestead of C. A. Bergt, who bought the land and a cabin in 1839 and now features several log cabins, a log barn and a museum displays. Visitors can also see some good examples of 19th-century vernacular commercial structures including a former flour mill, former general store and a former winery.

The first church building of Trinity was dedicated in 1845 and was built with random-sized limestone. This one story structure was used as such until 1867 when the present church was built. Thereafter it served as a school for the upper grades for 102 years until 1969 when the present school was dedicated. Now a museum, it displays local church items, including an 1838 baptismal tray and its original bell, cast in Spain in 1761. The present church building, dedicated in 1867, also served as convention headquarters for the Western District on nine different occasions. The altar, pulpit, baptismal font are original furnishings of 1867. The crucifix on the altar was made in Oberammergau, Germany, and was brought along in 1839, as were the baptismal tray and pitcher, both dated 1838. In addition, Trinity has the gold and silver chalice, the gift of a Polish' Countess. The chalice is engraved in Polish, "Sophia Opchkowa, coupled to Oliver Gafchasky in the Church of the Army, A.D. 1707, 23 March." A new Lutheran Heritage Center and Museum was constructed in 2005 to interpret the 1838-39 Lutheran immigration to East Perry County as well as the regional German-American culture. A beautiful exhibit hall, reception area, and gift shop were integrated into the original 1845 church building, commonly known as the "Big School" and offers guided and self-guided tours of the main gallery, Big School gallery, and the original church. Tours of the 1839 Log Cabin - Concordia Seminary birthplace, the Christiane Loeber Cabin, and the 1867 Trinity Church are also available. The complex also features a state-of-the-art Reading Room and Research Library.

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