| Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office.
HABS WI-320. Original cost of construction was approximately $40,000.
Congregation organized in 1848 (source: HOUSES OF WORSHIP).
Excellent example of typical Gothic style large brick church of this period. Most notable are the excellent twin spires.
Conspicuously perched on a hillside overlooking the city's central business district, St. John's Evangelical Lutheran may be Milwaukee's finest German-styled Gothic Revival church. It was built for a prosperous German-American congregation, and it demonstrates the strong influence contemporary German ideas had on the work of nineteenth-century Milwaukee architects. The design of St. John's was likely influenced by that of St. Peter's Church in Leipzig, Germany, which was completed around 1886 and extensively documented in architectural publications. St. John's taller, 197-foot steeple, with its four corner pinnacles, four clock-face gables, and narrow, soaring spire, is very similar to St. Peter's.
Compared with other Protestant churches of the day, the interior of St. John's is exceptionally elaborate. The wooden Gothic Revival reredos, populated with statues and bristling with pinnacles, is the focal point of the interior. A wooden pulpit and sounding board, matching the style of the altarpiece, cling to a pier nearby. The lacy openwork carving here and throughout the nave is a design tradition known in Germany. The nave's unusual lighting scheme installed in 1909 has hundreds of bare electric bulbs outlining every contour of the vaulting. St. John's seats more than one thousand, probably the largest nineteenth-century Lutheran church in Wisconsin.
The former parsonage and caretaker's residence still stand nearby.
Johann Langenberger was the builder.
"St. John's Lutheran church is perhaps the city's best example German Gothic Revival-influenced architecture. Built for a prosperous, German-American congregation that had close social ties with the old country, it illustrates the strong influence that nineteenth century German architecture had on the work of Milwaukee's architects. In terms of its size, St. John's has seating for more than 1000 making it one of the largest Lutheran churches built in America during the nineteenth century.
It is believed that the design of St. John's was derived from that of St. Peter's Church in Leipzig, Germany, which was completed in 1886 and extensively documented in architectural publications of its day. St. John's and St. Peter's share similar designs for their tall, highly ornamental steeples. The German-style details of St. John's larger steeple include an upper stage trimmed with sheet metal corner "turrets," and projecting balconies beneath each clock face.
Compared with other Protestant churches of its day, the nearly intact interior of St. John's is exceptionally elaborate. The church's vaulted plaster ceiling is composed of a series of pointed domes that are identical in style to the vaulting of St. Peter's in Leipzig. Domical Gothic vaulting of this type is known as "Angevin style," because it was developed in the Angers region of southwestern France during the twelfth century. The Germans adopted the style in the thirteenth century and revived it again during the late nineteenth century.
The white, wooden, Gothic style altarpiece, which is the focal point of the interior, is an outstanding combination of craftsmanship and design. A wooden pulpit of matching style which measures thirty feet tall to its highest point, is suspended from a wall near the altar and features a wooden sounding board topped with a statue of Christ. The lacy, delicate character of the altar and pulpit carving is called "openwork" which is a design tradition that is strongly associated with the Germans. Perhaps the most unusual and theatrical feature of the church is the sight of its 800 bare electric light bulbs, installed in 1909, that outline the major arches in the ceiling.
Founded in 1848 and affiliated with the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, St. John's is one of the oldest Lutheran congregations in the city. Its membership peaked at the turn of the [20th] century when it was probably the largest Lutheran church in the midwest." MILWAUKEE ETHNIC CHURCH TOUR, CITY OF MILWAUKEE DEPARTMENT OF CITY DEVELOPMENT, 1994. |
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