The Reverend Johann Wilhelm Horstmann of Glandorf, Niedersachsen, Germany, founded Glandorf and St. John the Baptist Parish in 1834. The first settlers included J. Kahle, W. Gulker, C. Strope, M. Bockrath, F. Wischmann, F. Bockrath, and F. Brodeick. By 1836, "Little Germany," as Glandorf was often called, had erected a frame church with the help of the Ottawa Indians. A bell called "St. Wilhelm" after the founder and given by B. Drerup called the people to worship there and later at Glandorf's daughter parishes. Father Horstmann, assisted by the Reverend G. Boehne, served German Catholic immigrants scattered throughout Northwest Ohio. Under the direction of the Very Reverend Franz Desales Brunner, Glandorf became in 1848 a mission center for the priests and brothers of the Society of the Precious Blood and for the convents of the Sisters of the Precious Blood, Maria Camp in Greensburg Township and Maria Zum Hl. Grabe in Glandorf. A brick church was built in 1846 where the Horstmann Monument now stands. The Marian Shrine, incorporating the tombstones from 1834-1900, was erected in 1954. Begun in 1874, the present German Neo-Gothic church contains paintings, carvings, altars, and statues fashioned by German and Austrian artisans in America and in Europe. In 1876 the pulpit was awarded a gold medal at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. In 1976 the parish and community entered into a formal alliance with the mother community and parish in Germany, and at that time the church, rectory, and convent were designated a National Historic Site by the U.S. Congress as outstanding contributions to the cultural and religious history of the area.