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North Dakota 
State Song
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 Campus AirView Assumption Abbey |
 The Abbey |
Father Vincent Wehrle, founder and first Abbot of Assumption Abbey, was born in Switzerland, became a monk of Einsiedeln Abbey and came to Dakota Territory in 1887. After having established a community near Devils Lake in 1893, he brought part of his small band of monks to Richardton in 1899 to minister to the German Catholic immigrants who had settled in southwestern North Dakota. In 1903 he was elected Abbot and in 1910 he was named first Bishop of Bismarck. He is buried in the vestibule of the Abbey Church. Most prominent in the complex of buildings is the Abbey Church, a Bavarian Romanesque structure, designed by Anton Dohmen of Milwaukee and completed in 1909. The impressive interior is delineated by lofty arches. Noteworthy also are 52 stained glass windows, 24 paintings of saints on canvas above the arches, and a huge carved crucifix donated by Bishop Wehrle to the Benedictine Community. Education was the main occupation of the Benedictines resident at the Abbey during its first 70 years. However, because of limited enrollment and financial resources, the schools closed one after the other - the Seminary in 1967, the Abbey Prep in 1968, and finally Assumption College in 1971.
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