German-Russian Wrought-Iron Cross Sites in Central North Dakota MPS

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The German Russians who settled on the prairies of central North Dakota initially used simple wooden crosses to identify the final resting places of their dead. In North Dakota, German-Russian blacksmiths began making iron crosses in the late nineteenth century, possibly as early as 1884. (An exact date may be impossible to determine, due to the fact that wrought-iron crosses were not always made in the same year that the individuals - whose remains they marked - died. It was common for family members to erect a temporary wooden cross at the time of burial and then replace it with a blacksmith-made one a number of months - or even years - later.) Wrought-iron crosses were most popular in central North Dakota from the late 1880s to about 1925. After 1925, only a few wrought-iron crosses continued to be made and by 1936, most German-Russian blacksmiths had ceased making the crosses. Modern-day German Russians in central North Dakota generally agree that the distinctive wrought-iron crosses simply went out of style during the 1930s, a time that coincided with the demise of general blacksmithing in many areas of the Great Plains. Marble or granite tombstones became the preferred type of grave marker among many German Russians, despite the fact that tombstones cost substantially more than the most elaborate iron cross. - NRHP,15 September 1989

Places

Place	Locale	Type	AsNotedIn
Holy Trinity Cemetery, Wrought-Iron Cross Site A	Strasburg		NRHP
St Mathias Cemetery, Wrought-Iron Cross Site	Orrin		NRHP
St Anselm's Cemetery, Wrought-Iron Cross Site	Berwick		NRHP
St John's Cemetery, Wrought-Iron Cross Site D	Zeeland		NRHP
St Mary's Cemetery, Wrought-Iron Cross Site A	Hague		NRHP
St John's Cemetery, Wrought-Iron Cross Site A	Zeeland		NRHP
St Mary's Cemetery, Wrought-Iron Cross Site C	Hague		NRHP
Sacred Heart Cemetery, Wrought-Iron Cross Site	Linton		NRHP
Holy Trinity Cemetery, Wrought-Iron Cross Site B	Strasburg		NRHP
St Boniface Cemetery, Wrought-Iron Cross Site	Selz		NRHP
Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Wrought-Iron Cross Site	Mercer		NRHP
St Aloysius Cemetery, Wrought-Iron Cross Site B	Hague		NRHP
St John's Cemetery, Wrought-Iron Cross Site B	Zeeland		NRHP
Tirsbol Cemetery, Wrought-Iron Cross Site	Strasburg		NRHP
St Aloysius Cemetery, Wrought-Iron Cross Site A	Hague		NRHP
Holy Trinity Cemetery, Wrought-Iron Cross Site C	Strasburg		NRHP
Old St Mary's Cemetery, Wrought-Iron Cross Site	Hague		NRHP
Old Mt Carmel Cemetery, Wrought-Iron Cross Site	Balta		NRHP
Old Saint John Nepomocene Cemetery, Wrought-Iron Cross Site	Orrin		NRHP
St John's Cemetery, Wrought-Iron Cross Site C	Zeeland		NRHP
Old Saints Peter and Paul Cemetery, Wrought-Iron Cross Site	Karlsruhe		NRHP
St Mary's Cemetery, Wrought-Iron Cross Site B	Hague		NRHP
Holy Trinity Cemetery, Wrought-Iron Cross Site D	Strasburg		NRHP

People

Last Name	Name	AsNotedIn
Krim:	John Krim
Klein:	Joseph P Klein