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First English language SVD magazine printed in Techny, Illinois

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When Brother Wendelin first suggested the Society establish a presence in America, he suggested it within the context of wanting to expand the press apostolate. As a travelling Brother, he observed their flagship publication, Stadt Gottes (“City of God”), had largely declined in sales due to a famine in Germany in the late 1890s. Wendelin continued his traveling work in America, which also helped him to build a network of donors and contacts that eventually led to the site of the future American SVD motherhouse of Techny.

When Rev. Joannes Beckert SVD planned the layout of St. Joseph’s Technical School, he left room for a press building despite not having formal approval from St. Arnold Janssen. Aside from continuing and expanding the press apostolate, the actual press was also planned to be used to train students in the printing trade. Janssen approved the plan in 1901 and appointed Rev. Hermann Richarz SVD as director of the press.

The printing operation at Techny became known as the SVD Mission Press. It would go on to print thousands of pamphlets, posters, prints, and mailers, while also printing and publishing hundreds of religious books written by SVDs and other well-respected Catholic authors. However, its magazines became the Mission Press's most popular and enduring publications, providing light entertainment to a broad audience while allowing readers to regularly learn about SVD mission efforts. 

In 1902, the press at Techny began printing Amerikanisches Familienblatt (“American Family Magazine”) with a small English supplement, but it became clear that in order to reach the largest amount of people, the magazine should be printed completely in English. This English-language magazine became The Christian Family, the first issue of which was printed in January of 1906. It would go on to run for 55 years. Richarz was becoming overworked serving as editor of the press’s magazines while teaching students at St. Joseph’s Technical School, so Steyl sent reinforcements in 1906. German Divine Word Revs. Frederick Lynk, Bruno Hagspiel, and Franz Markert were assigned to Techny to assist with the press and the burgeoning technical school. 


Each man made his own mark on the press in turn. Fr. Lynk was appointed the head of the press in 1906 and editor of both the German and English magazines being produced in America.

Fr. Hagspiel founded The Little Missionary in 1914, a magazine focused on developing mission awareness and stimulating vocations among the youth. He also started a mission-focused magazine for adults in 1921 called Our Missions. Beyond his work on serial publications, Hagspiel also printed a six-volume set on the SVD's global missions, a result of his global travels with the SVD superior general.

Fr. Markert was appointed the director of the Mission Press in 1914, a position he held for nearly 40 years. He helped to make Amerikanishes Familienblatt one of the most popular German-language publications in America while pursuing extensive research on the beginnings of the Society in North America, which he intended to publish as a book.  

The Mission Press suffered staffing issues after World War II as the need for men to staff foreign missions took precedence at Techny. By 1947, Markert felt the situation was growing dire as the only three Divine Word Brothers assigned to the press were getting closer to retirement. Fortunately, some members were able to be spared, and for the next 13 years the Techny press continued producing magazines, books, and pamphlets. 

On a frigid morning in January 1960, the press building was gutted by fire, destroying the building and everything inside. No one was seriously injured in the blaze. While the precise cause was never established, recent electrical work and piles of oily rags were thought to be strong possibilities. Master copies of all Mission Press publications were lost, and Fr. Markert's research on the foundation of the Society of the Divine Word in North America, which he held in a building office, was destroyed. This included original correspondence, diaries, and photographs from the SVDs' earliest days in the US, though a version of his history survived.

Discussions between the North American provincial superiors and the super general in Rome resulted in the agreement that the press was too expensive to be replaced, and that, with the advent of broadcast media, the print apostolate was no longer as important as it had once been. Still, the Mission Press imprint briefly lived on as Divine Word Publications until 1972, when publishing operations at Techny ceased entirely. 
 

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