1625 South 11th Street (Bohemian Hill)
St. Louis, Missouri 63104
iarelative.com/czech/st_john.htm

St. John Nepomuk Church, founded in 1854, was the first Czech national parish in the Western Hemisphere, and all subsequent Czech parishes in this country trace their origin to it. The church is named for the patron saint of Bohemia, who was from a town now called Nepomuk. Through Hlas, its Czech-language newspaper, the church also played a rôle in the creation of the nation of Czechoslovakia. The old Hlas building has been torn down, but an impressive complex of buildings remains. The 1869 Old School to the north and the 1884 Second School across the street have lately been converted into condominiums. The social hall behind the church dates from 1892.

The present Gothic Revival church has the date of 1870 above the entrance, but was enlarged and almost entirely rebuilt after its destruction in the tornado of 1896. It is a ‘hall church,’ with side aisles rising to the height of the center aisle or nave. The wooden statues affixed to the columns in the manner of Cologne Cathedral represent Czech saints, with St. Louis of France included on the first column on the left. The stations of the cross were painted in Bohemia on copper. The windows were installed in 1929 by Frei Art Glass Company of St. Louis. The painting of Christ above the door in the outer narthex dates back to 1870. To the left of the front door a series of bronze reliefs commemorates the church’s pastors.

The Chamber Chorus appeared here on February 7, 1993 in a program of music by Czech composers. Since then, and following a large-scale reshaping of parishes by the St. Louis Archdiocese, St. John Nepomuk Church has been redesignated as a chapel. The choice of St. John Nepomuk Chapel as the final venue in the Chorus’ 2007-2008 series of “Legacies” was inspired by the fact that the Stations of the Cross were brought over from Bohemia. This ‘import’, together with the church’s rich ethnic history, has suggested the choice of some of the repertoire in the May 25, 2008 program.


Notes by Esley Hamilton with
additions by Philip Barnes and Roger Hill
Photos by Roger Hill