During the formative years of the Franciscan Sisters, Daughters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, based in Slazkotten, Germany, the European nation entered a period of religious intolerance. This prompted Mother Clara Pfaender, the religious community's foundress, to seek foreign contacts through which the Sisters could practice their ministry of caring for the sick, serving schools and helping children.
Several areas in America, specifically in the St. Louis region, corresponded with Mother Clara and asked for Sisters to help with the management of hospitals and schools. As more and more Sisters came to the United States, the need to form an independent province in America became apparent. That first province office would be located in St. Louis.
In creating the appropriate administration to staff the province, Mother Clara picked a leader that she believed could further and preserve the aim of the religious community in Missouri. In 1875, 28-year-old Sister Henrica Fassbender and four other Sisters were assigned to the United States to establish the province office. The other four were Sisters Barbara Hueltenschmidt, Norberta Reinkober, Auria Badziura and Brigitta Damhorst. On December 5, 1875, the five Sisters boarded the German steamer Deutschland at the port in Bremen. Unfortunately, they never would make it to America as the steamer would hit a sandbank in a foggy storm at the mouth of the Thames.
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| The Quilt of the Wreck of the Deutschland |
A wall hanging stands as a tribute
to the five Sisters who died in the wreck
of the Deutschland. This work of art
appears in the Deutschland Chapel in
the Motherhouse in Wheaton, Illinois.
The center rays on the fabric are the
setting for a cross that contains pieces
of habit from the four sisters whose
bodies were recovered. A compartment in
the center of the cross remains
empty, signifying the Sister's body
that was not recovered.
News of the tragedy left Mother Clara and the Sisters in Salzkotten numb with sorrow. The disaster also has given legendary status to a farewell note that Sister Henrica Fassbender had left for Mother Clara before she departed on what was to be a fatal journey.
The Deutschland disaster had a substantial impact. The news that the five German Franciscan Sisters had sacrificed their lives to save others had far-reaching effects. So moved was Gerard Manley Hopkins by the heroic efforts of the five young nuns, that the British poet penned
"The Wreck of the Deutschland" to commemorate their deaths.
More than a century later, the bravery of the five Sisters who died on the Deutschland still inspires Wheaton Franciscan Sisters, their families and friends. In 1994, the Wheaton Franciscans dedicated a chapel to the five Sisters. A wall hanging, produced by the Sisters of Notre Dame, St. Louis, covers a portion of the east wall of the Deutschland Chapel and hangs in tribute to the memory of the Sisters who still, in death as in life, personify the commitment of the Franciscan Sisters.
For the complete story on the wreck of the Deutschland, please ask for the book The Wreck of the Deutschland written by Sean Street and published by Souvenir Press.
For more information on the Deutschland or other items of interest, contact Archivist at the Motherhouse Archives.
