The second edifice, incorporating many of the characteristics of German ecclesiastical architecture is familiarly known as "the Cathedral of South St.

Holweck studied at the German Roman Catholic Seminary in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and was ordained on June 27, 1880.

In May 1892, Holweck was appointed to the new St. Aloysius Gonzaga Parish in the city's famed "Hill" Neighborhood.

This mission raised funds to organize the St. Ambrose parish, which served primarily the recent Lombard immigrants, who were able to move into their own temporary building by year's end.

At the end of his life he was awarded the title Monsignor,[9] an honorary appointment as domestic prelate to the Pope, and he served as Vicar-General for the Archdiocese of St. Louis.

[10] He supported the St Louis Catholic Historical Society, as an original researcher into the local history of the diocese and in other fields.