eisenkreuzen

Since 1887 Erasmus Meyer has rested in peace in the St. Louis Catholic Cemetery. This cemetery has served the Parish of St. Louis Catholic Church since the founding of Castroville in 1844.

The tradition of wrought-iron-cross cemetery art goes back to the 1600’s in Austria and Bavaria. Blacksmiths in Tyrol and upper Austria made the first handcrafted iron cemetery crosses. This art form seems to have become pervasive among European peoples, but only some of them transferred it to the North American Plains. The cross represented the sacred; the iron represented strength--attributes of the pioneers they honored.

St. Louis Catholic Cemetery
Castroville, Texas
4.6.2012

http://www.spiritdesignsonline.com/history_germanrussian.php