Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church

Standing at the corner of North 9^th Street and West Highland Avenue in downtown Milwaukee, Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church has been called the “Mother Church of Missouri Synod Lutheranism” in Milwaukee.[1] Designed by German immigrant Frederick Velguth for Milwaukee’s oldest German Lutheran congregation, the Victorian Gothic structure, completed in 1880, is recognized as a municipal landmark (1967) and state historical landmark (1979) and is included on the National Register of Historic Places (1979).[2] At its peak in the early twentieth century, Trinity counted about 1,600 members.[3] While the neighborhood surrounding the church has changed from residential to industrial and institutional, Trinity remains a community of roughly 175 baptized members drawn from across the Milwaukee metropolitan area.[4]

In 1847, a group of Pomeranian immigrants founded Trinity Lutheran, Wisconsin’s second oldest Lutheran congregation.[5] Between 1847 and 1878, Trinity met in three different locations, all near today’s West Wells Avenue and North 4^th Street.[6] In the late 1860s, Trinity parishioner and hardware mogul John Pritzlaff donated the church’s present location (previously a park known as Terrace Garden) to the growing congregation.[7]

Dedicated on April 11, 1880, Trinity’s Victorian Gothic building features local craftsmanship and materials.[8] The building’s edifice, above a limestone foundation, is made of Milwaukee’s famous Cream City brick while the interior woodwork is hand-carved Wisconsin oak and ash.[9] When the building was completed, the construction costs totaled $43,500, including $3,500 for the organ.[10] This instrument, with 34 registers and 1600 pipes, is included on the National Register of Historic Places in its own right. In May 2018, a devastating fire roared through this iconic church, collapsing the roof and one of its steeples. The future of the remaining structure is currently under review.