When thinking of things to see while visiting San Antonio, churches probably don't come to mind. However, when you dig into San Antonio history a little bit, you realize there are three strong cultures at play; Spanish, Mexican and German. The Alamo is the most popular site in San Antonio and it reinforces both the Spanish and Mexican history. But visiting a place like St. Joseph's Catholic Church lets the visitor experience some German history as well.

The church itself was built for the German community of San Antonio in 1876. The architecture is of a gothic revival-style and one of its best features is the set of colorful stained-glass windows. The altar, statues and stations-of-the-cross are also beautiful, but it is those windows that really light up the place in the afternoon.

When you visit the church today you will find it right next to Dillard's. It seems a bit out of place that this church is next to the city's major department store. Actually, when Dillard's was first built (which was Joske's department store back then), the San Antonioans tried to get the worshipers of the church to move to another location. But the people loved that church so much they let the large department store be built up around them.