Description of Historic Place

The Kronau Cemetery Site is a Municipal Heritage Property occupying a .45-ha parcel of land in the Rural Municipality of Lajord No. 128, approximately 4 km southeast of the Hamlet of Kronau. The property features a cemetery dating to 1896, surrounded by grain fields and sheltered on its east side by a grove of trees. In addition to interments and grave markers, the property includes several stuctures, notably a large wooden cross, a pulpit built ca. 1945, a memorial cairn and a model of the congregation’s former church, as well as a fence with an arched gateway.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the Kronau Cemetery Site lies in its status as one of the oldest cemeteries in the district, and in its association with Kronau’s pioneers. Many of these early homesteaders were German-Russian Lutherans, who began arriving in the area around 1890. The settlers first conducted their religious services in homes and, later, in the community’s first schoolhouse. Their cemetery was established on a plot of donated land next to the school, with the first interment occurring in 1896. Although the congregation built Bethlehem Lutheran Church on a different site in 1912, they continued to use the original cemetery. With the schoolhouse long since removed, the cemetery remains as a tangible link to the community’s beginnings and its founding members.

Further heritage value resides in the property’s role as a symbol of community spirit and pride, and as an expression of the community’s commitment to preserving and honouring its heritage. Having fallen into disuse in the 1950s, the cemetery was refurbished in the 1980s. With volunteered labour and the financial support of community members, the grounds were restored and fenced, a memorial cairn was erected, and a model of Bethlehem Lutheran Church was built. The community has resumed conducting burials at the cemetery, and volunteers continue to ensure that the grounds are well-maintained.

Source:

Rural Municipality of Lajord No. 128 Bylaw No. 175.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the Kronau Cemetery Site resides in the following character-defining elements:
-elements that reflect the property’s long-standing role as the community’s cemetery and its connection to the district’s pioneers, including the interments and grave markers; German-language inscriptions on some of the headstones; the pulpit and wooden cross; and the cemetery’s rural setting amidst grain fields with a landscape of grass and grove of trees;
-elements that speak to the community’s commitment to the property as a symbol of their heritage, including the maintained grounds; memorial cairn with plaque; fence with fieldstone posts and arched gateway; and the model church.