Despite the presence of immigrant German artists in nineteenth century North America, there were regular, active dealings between German art establishments and North American churches. The Munich firm of Mayer & Co. fulfilled the demands for a great number of religious statuary and stained glass windows. The Royal Bavarian Art Institute was considered more prestigious and consequently more expensive. In the case of St. Martin Church, each of the stained glass windows was donated by a parish family. Eventually German stained glass window artists settled in North America. The best known was Emil Frei of St. Louis, Missouri. He was born in 1869 in the vicinity of Dillingen, Bavaria, studied in Munich and immigrated to the United States. He opened a studio in St. Louis in 1900. His stained glass windows became extremely popular, and in 1904 he won the grand prix at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition.[21] The gothic style of Frei windows is reminiscent of the art of the Nazarene painter Peter von Cornelius.

    The first pastor of St. Martin Church was Bavarian-born Father Leander Streber. In 1858 he recruited three Ursuline Sisters from their convent in Straubing, Bavaria, to teach the children of his German-American parishioners (Figure 31). Their Ursuline motherhouse at 806 East Chestnut Street was built in 1860, and the adjoining chapel was added in 1868 (Figure 32). The painter Johann Schmitt decorated it with murals between 1868 and 1872. In 1989 the chapel interior was gutted by fire. The paintings were severely damaged and have never been restored. When entering the building today, the former beauty of Schmitt's mural cycle, celebrating the life and fate of St. Ursula, may still be gleaned.

   According to legend, Ursula was the daughter of a king in Brittany during the 5^th century A.D. She became a Christian and made a pilgrimage to Rome in the company of a number of other Christian virgins. On their return trip, they were murdered by Attila the Hun outside the gates of Cologne. Originally reference was made to ten companion virgins of the Saint, but as early as the 9^th century, the legendary number had grown to 11,000.[22]

   Johann Schmitt was challenged at the Louisville Ursuline Chapel to depict a treasured German legend of martyrdom. Above the high altar in a 24 x 24 ft. mural on gold leaf background he rendered The Immaculate Conception. (Figure 33). The Virgin Mary is suspended between heaven and earth, and on the ground below St. Ursula kneels to pay homage. Behind her stand a number of Christian virgins, who were slain alongside the saint. All of them carry the palm of martyrdom. In the foreground we see St.Angela Merici, foundress of the Ursuline Order, and St. Francis of Assisi. Standing beside St. Francis is St. Augustine, whose rules of religious life the Ursulines have followed since their foundation. Large mural paintings by Johann Schmitt also adorn the walls above the side altars of the Ursuline chapel. On the epistle side he represented The Sorrowful Mother and on the gospel side The Death of St. Joseph.  [23]

    The four murals on the arched ceiling of the chapel deal with Christian martyrs. Ursula's story figures prominently in three of them. The first represents her as she departs from her parent's British abode to sail across the English Channel to France on the first leg of a pilgrimage to Rome. (Figure 34, Johann Schmitt, St. Ursula departing from Britain, mural). The composition reveals a side of the German-American artist Johann Schmitt that he had not exhibited in his traditional religious works of Christ, Mary, and Joseph. St. Ursula's Departure is a genuine historical tableau. The young saint and her maiden followers wear medieval gowns and mantles held together with gold clasps. They are crowded into a wooden sailing vessel resembling a Viking ship. Ursula's father, the king of Brittany, lifts his arms in a gesture of blessing and farewell, while behind him sobbing family members embrace to ease the sorrow of the women's departure. No detail of historical significance has been neglected in the costuming and accessories, including the white flag with a red cross in St. Ursula's left hand. A second mural depicts St. Ursula and the saintly Virgins (Figure 35). A third Johann Schmitt mural renders the actual murder of the Virgins by Attila outside the walls of the city of Cologne (Figure 36).  The leader of the Huns sits in resplendent majesty, surrounded by his henchmen, who point their crossbows at the women. Most of them have fallen already, yet Ursula still stands defiantly facing the murderers amidst the carnage. The Rhine River flows in the distance, and the city walls and landmark fortifications of Cologne complete the scene. Again the painter has pursued a degree of historical accuracy in this twenty-seven foot wide mural, which resembles wall paintings by Schnorr von Carolsfeld in the Munich Residenz, the royal Wittelsbach palace. There the Nazarene fulfilled a royal commission to illustrate the Niebelungenlied in true medieval, pre-Renaissance style. Schnorr von Carolsfeld had been a member of the group of Nazarenes and a devout follower of Peter von Cornelius in Rome between 1817 and 1827. He then became a professor at the Munich Academy of Art where he remained until 1846.[24] It is entirely possible that Johann Schmitt was familiar with Schnorr von Carolsfeld's paintings in Munich before he departed for the United States in 1848.

     The Ursuline Sisters of Louisville have moved out of the inner city in 1972, and their nineteenth century chapel stands abandoned in its ruinous state. There is no money available for a complete restoration of the Schmitt paintings at this time. This situation is not an isolated case in the history of nineteenth century German-American church art, but there is hope that a greater awareness of its presence might inspire local preservationists and art lovers to launch campaigns for keeping and preserving historical and religious treasures.