“St Alphonsus ‘ Church, the institution, has played an important role in the history of Baltimore. The Redemptionist Fathers, a German order of Roman Catholic priests, raised the money to hire Long a nd erect t he church . The Redemptionists had come to Baltimore to minister to the rising number of German immigrants. They erected a school at the same time as the·church and provided education before the public school system had reached all children . The school burned and was replaced by St. Alphonsus ‘ Halle (1873) which is still in use. In 1858 the Redemptionists began the St. Alphonsus ‘ Orphan Asylum for German orphans. Two years later the Alphonsus Hall Building Association, which loaned mortgage money, became an incorporated lending institution in Baltimore City.”