History of Muenster

After incorporation standards had been met, section 19, township 37, range 21 west of the second meridian was declared the village of Muenster on August 31, 1908.

The settlement of Muenster is a part of St. Peter's Colony which the Benedictine monks established in 1903. They had erected a monastary, a sixteen room boarding house and a log church with the help of local volunteers and by 1908 the area had a sufficient number of occupied dwellings to maintain village status. Developing Buisnesses were a general store, poolroom, realestate office and a licenced hotel. The printing press had already been operating for three years. It printed a german newspaper called "St. Peter's Bote".

Plans for a cathedral north of the village also went into motion. It was constructed with a round sanctuary, a frame 56.5 ft x 120 ft, and two towers that stand 60 ft. Both the interior and exterior were painted white. It was completed July 10, 1910 and nine years later Berthold Imhoff, a german born artist started to paint the interior. He was a very talented artisan with many inspirations. One of which was to paint the faces of the living monks of that time into saints. There are 80 life-sized portraits and 14 large stations of the cross which were a gift from a monastary in Minnesota, United States. St. Peter's Cathedral was stated a historic site in 1985.

The Benedictine monks decided to move from their old monastary to establish an abbacy southeast of Muenster in 1911. The old monastary would serve as a parish house. They also saw a need for a place for young men to get a catholic education. St. Peter's College housed students and monks. In 1921 they started offering classes and by 1926 it had an agreement with the University of Saskatchewan to offer university classes. First and second year classes are now offered in a variety of areas at the college. In addition to the grounds many buildings have been constructed including an arena, bell tower and church designed in a neo-gothic style.

Other facilities have been built over the years to help accomodate the new settlers. They included a family owned garage in 1935, the Muenster Jubilee Memorial Stadium in 1953, a new school house building in 1956, a small chapel in 1962 and a community hall in 1967.

Presently numerous businesses call Muenster their home. St. Peter's Press still issues out "The Prairie Messenger" fourty-six times a year, family-owned businesses are in the rise and the school educates kindergarden to grade 12. These entrepreneurs and volunteer organizers have helped Muenster to grow and expand.