Abbot Bruno Doerfler was instrumental in founding St. Peter's Colony, and in 1906, he was elected prior of the monastic community. In 1911, he was appointed the first abbot.
Although he was never the ordinary of St. Peter's Abbacy (Muenster Diocese) because he died before it was established, the idea of an abbey nullius was being discussed already in 1910. Abbot Bruno was active in the Prince Albert Diocese: first as vicar general in 1913, then as administrator in 1917. It was at the beginning of his first confirmation tour in the Prince Albert Diocese that he died on June 12, 1919.
Abbot Bruno was instrumental in laying the foundation for many apostolates at St. Peter's. He was one of the first editors of the St. Peter's Bote. During his time, many parochial schools were started. Half of them were started between 1906 and 1909. The cathedral was built and the interior painted during his abbatial reign. St. Peter's Priory was elevated to an abbey in 1911.
In the same year he invited the Sisters of St. Elizabeth of Klagenfurt, Austria, to come to the colony to begin a hospital. They arrived on May 14, 1911 and started the hospital in Humboldt the same fall. He wanted sisters to teach in the schools and the Ursuline sisters arrived from Haseluenne on Sept. 2, 1913, and built their first convent at Marysburg.
The dream of providing a college education for boys in the area began to take shape during his time and several students began to take college classes at the abbey, beginning in 1917. At the time of Abbot Bruno's death in 1919, more than 20 parishes had been started in the colony.
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