An Iowa Love Story, Dyersville & New Vienna

Inez and Bernie Kluesner live in New Vienna, Iowa. This amazing couple are involved in the farm toy collection hobby and the Heritage House Museum. They also share about their historic Catholic church in New Vienna. It is easy to see the Kluesner’s love for each other. Their history in this area of Iowa makes a beautiful Iowa love song.

The Kluesner’s are blessed with family. “We have five kids, twelve grandkids, and eight great grandkids,” Bernie shared.

The National Farm Toy Museum, the first part of their Iowa love song.

During the National Farm Toy Show 2024, Bernie shared he has been working with wood farm toys since 1994.   Bernie Kluesner’s work was on display at the National Farm Toy Museum, and Bernie is also a volunteer at the museum. “I volunteer for tour buses,” he added.

This year Bernie led tours for 25 different tour buses. This year on our trip to Iowa, friends Tim and Roxie Seifert came along. It was their first trip to Dyersville. Roxie was amazed by Bernie’s talent. Besides wooden toys, Bernie also makes amazing Christmas ornaments.

His ornaments are made from flat pictures. He takes those pictures and creates 3D ornaments.

Bernie’s Toys

Bernie first displayed at the National Farm Toy Museum around 2017. He has added new items over the years.

One of those models is a Meyer TMR feed mixer. “My son has it on the farm,” said Bernie, who is a retired farmer. “It mixes feed for the steers and dairy cows.”

There is also a new John Deere round baler “For the mesh I used lace from my daughter’s wedding veil,” he added. Bernie said about this hobby, “Is just another form of insanity.”

Bernie’s favorite model is a soil finisher, representing 400 plus hours of work. “It has 1,940 pieces with 74 different types of wood. There are 300 chain links in the drag spring. They are all from a ball point pen! The toys are all held together with Elmer’s wood glue. Bernie finishes his toys with a water-based varnish.

When Bernie said something about his hometown of New Vienna, I said I had always wanted to tour their Heritage House Museum and church. Bernie said his wife often gave tours. To our delight, he set up a tour.

St. Francis Xavier Basilica

Before heading to New Vienna, Roxie and I stopped by St. Francis Xavier Basilica.  It is one of 53 Basilica’s in the United States. This lovely Catholic Church takes your breath away.  The definition of a Basilica is a church of unusual architectural and spiritual significance. It is often referred to as the Pope’s church.

Open daily, the church has twin spires and 65 stained glass windows. The church is a beautiful example of Medieval Gothic architecture.  

Field of Dreams the Movie

For a first timer to Dyersville, a visit is not complete without a stop at the Field of Dreams! This 1989 movie is the story about an Iowa farmer named Ray. He hears a mysterious voice one night in his cornfield saying, “If you build it, they will come.”

If you haven’t seen Kevin Costner in this great movie, it is a must do.

The Field of Dreams Movie Set

There is also the real-life Field of Dreams Movie set filmed at a farm in Iowa. A couple of years ago, I took a tour of the farmhouse on site. My tour guide Libby shared that the farmhouse was built in 1906. Universal Studios producers were looking for a site for Field of Dreams. Libby said they had two criteria, 1) corn, and 2) a long lane. Don Lansing was a farmer and a bachelor living on the farm at the time. “The film didn’t have to be in Iowa,” Libby said, “but Sue Rydell from Dubuque found this house. She sent it to Phil Alden Robinson.”

She shared, “When he came over the top of the hill, it is said that he screamed, I want to film here!” It is a magical story. My husband Keith and I took Tim and Roxie. We toured the store and had to try out our hand on the baseball diamond.

There is so much to see and do in Dyersville. Roxie and I shopped downtown. We all had lunch at the neat Textile Brewing Company. This cool building started out as a gasoline engine factory. Then it was a sewing machine factory. 

New Venice Beauty

Our Iowa love story with the Kluesner’s continued – meeting up with Inez for our afternoon tour. She met us at the Heritage House Museum, which is across the street from St. Boniface Church. The church is part of the Spires of Faith Roman Catholic Parishes.

The Heritage House Museum has 23 rooms. They are filled with period antiques, quilts and collections. Inez gave us an amazing tour of this wonderful place. We learned the parish was built in 1855. It was added onto in 1895. The building, originally served as the parish rectory. Then, it was converted into boarding rooms and a convent for the Sisters of Perpetual Adoration (they pray 24 hours a day). The nuns taught in St. Boniface grade and high school. The twenty nuns came from Lacrosse, Wisconsin to serve the parish and school. Inez said that children that lived in the country away from the school stayed at the home. “At one time, between 1910 – 1920, there were 24 children here.”

The New Vienna Historical Society purchased the building in 1990. They opened it to the public a year later. Visitors learn about New Vienna history like businesses in town over the years. At the museum they offer custom quilting. They also rent out space in the community room.

New Vienna Church history

In the museum they have school and church history onsite. There is a cross from the first church, which sat atop the original log cabin church. The church has grown a lot, from the log cabin to today’s church of Gothic architecture with a 200-foot spire.

New Vienna was settled by German Catholic’s who came under the advice of the Bishop of Dubuque. “They stayed in a cave the first winter. The first baby was born there,” Inez said about the five original families. “They settled here in 1845, and the log church was built in 1848.”

In the church room are artifacts from both the first and 2nd church. The stunning current church was built between 1884-1887. “It was built from limestone from a nearby farm,” Inez said.

Inside the church is a hand carved wooden alter built by E. Hackner of La Crosse, Wisconsin. This altar cost $5,000.

Inside Inez showed us this amazing church where she was married. The Kluesner family history is interwoven in this Iowa love song of the museum and the church. “The Kluesner farm dates back to 1846. It is still in operation. Our son is the 5th or 6th generation.”

For a tour of the museum and church, call 563-921-3165.

Other New Vienna Sites

Across the way from the church is a cemetery and chapel. Nearby is the New Vienna water tower. “It once had a wooden top with a windmill, today it has a metal top and pump,” Inez said. A grant will refurbish the water tower it to the original condition. The water tower is the visual picture representing most pictures of the town.

Both Bernie and Inez share stories and the history of this part of Iowa. To me, it was an Iowa love story, and Iowa love song.