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The German Lutheran Church was organized early in March 1871, and a small church built and equipped at a cost of $1,045.19.  It was dedicated in the fall of the same year under the leadership of Pastor Wachtel of New Hampton.  The leaders in this commendable undertaking were Conrad Thoma, Jacob Leui, E. Ruckdaschel, Fred Thoma, Carl Schultz, Leithold Brothers and Carl Knodt. (1)

German Lutheran Church 1871

GETTING READY

January 1883 - Stone is being hauled for the German Lutheran church, to be erected next season.

March 1883 - The material is on the ground for the new German parsonage, at the foot of Lawler street.  The structure will be of white brick.

July 1890 - The corner stone of the German Lutheran church will be laid on Saturday afternoon, Aug. 2nd at 3 o'clock with proper ceremonies.

CORNER STONE LAID

August 1890 - The corner stone was laid at the German Lutheran Church on Saturday afternoon last. The day was very warm, windy and disagreeable, and on this account, and also for the reason that it was in the midst of harvest the crowd was not as large as it otherwise would have been, though a fair turnout was in attendance.  The cornet band funished the music and Rev. GASS delivered an earnest and impressive address in German, followed by a few remarks by Mayor McEWEN commendatory of the work.  He was followed by Rev. LEASE, who, as usual delivered a very fine and appropriate address.  Frank SCHOULTE, of Clayton  county, was called upon and also made a very neat and appropriate little speech.  During the exercises and while the band was playing, the corner stone was laid, and thus the main work of the building of this temple of worship was inaugurated.  It is hoped that is will go on to completion unimpeded, and that it may stand a monument to the credit of its founders for ages to come.  It will be a massive structure, but none too large for this repidly growing church organization, which is by far the largest of any in our midst.  The erection of this church will fix Postville as the church home of this denomination for miles around and can beut be a very important factor in the future growth and prosperity of our town.  We have no personal interest in any church and no feeling for one above another, but we want to see them all prosper because we know that where churches abound and are well supported the town grows in population and all temporal as well as spiritual interests are promoted. The articles deposited in the corner stone were some church papers, a copy of the Postville Review, a historical account of the settlement of Postville and surrounding country, history of the Lutheran church organization here from its inception in 1871 to the present, with the names of the membership, present population of Postville, number of houses in town, with the business represented, present value of lands and other matter of historical interest that some coming generation that shall open the receptacle would be interested in.
 

St. Paul Lutheran, 1890/91

THE WORK GOES ON

November 1890 - Joe NICOLAY has done a splendid job on the new church spire. It is made of galvanized iron and is a beauty, showing very fine workmanship. The bells (two of them) are in position, one for church use and one for the clock.  They are both of very fine tone.  The clock will be here and be set up next week.

THE FIRST

November 1891 - Little Eveline MOETSCH is the first child that was baptised in the new German Lutheran church.

THE NEW GERMAN CHURCH
  Completed and dedicated.

December 1891 - Sunday, Nov. 22nd, was a notable day for the German people, not only of Postville, but for miles around, it being the day set apart for the dedication of the elegant new church which has been in course of construction for the past 2 years.  From the first stone in the basement to the top of the spire the aim was to have the best and most substantial structure that could be built. According to the first contract it was to have been completed a year ago, but it was found to be too great a work to do well in so short a time.  The basement rests on a very thick curse of rock from Williams' quarry three feet and a half broad, which gradually diminishes in thickness until the top of the wall is reached, where it is two feet thick, and all of the best selected stone.  The walls are simply able to hold a solid three story brick building.

The dimensions of the main building are 84X42 feet, but with the porch projection the building is just 100 feet in length and 43 feet in height.  The tower is 120 feet in height from the ground.  The building is a heavy frame veneered with brick, and covered with tin shingles.  Mr. SCHUTTE [of McGregor] had the contract for the building.

The internal work was done as follows:  The plastering by HAISLET Bros., of McGregor.  The frescoing by Mr. JONES, of Minneapolis, and the other inside painting by Nelson Bros. of McGregor.  The altar and pulpit were made at Charles City and the chairs, which are very comfortable twenty inch opera chairs, 350 in number, were furnished by Thos KAND & Co. of Chicago, at an expense of $500.  Mrs. Fred THOMA contributed a beautiful terra cotta baptismal fount at a cost of $75.  The stained glass windows were from a Minneapolis firm.  The town clock that surmounts the church was made in Michigan, at a cost of something over $500 and the chime of bells, three in number, were manufactured in St. Louis.

While there are but 350 chairs placed in the church, this does not represent the capacity of the building by any means.  On the day of dedication it is estimated that fully 600 people were present, and this number can be quite comfortably accommodated.  A furnace costing $250 is placed in the basement, but like all other hot air furnaces is causing some trouble to manage successfully at all times.

The total expense of the church has not been definitely arrived at as yet.  The building committee will meet today, when the exact amount can be ascertained.  All indebtedness has been paid except about $700.  This will be a very light burden on so large and able a congregation, and they will not be long in raising it. This is the largest and best church in the state owned by that denomination, and is the only one having a town clock.  The business men and citizens raised the necessary funds to buy the clock and one bell, we believe.

The erection of this church, more than any other cause, has tended to raise the price of land around Postville. It has brought large numbers of wealthy Germans here, and they all want a home within reach of this elegant house of worship, and they are willing to pay more than anybody else for lands in this vicinity.  The result is that nearly every farm that is sold is sold to a German, and it will not be long before it will be a rarity to find an American born farmer in this section.  There is no more honest, industrious or thrifty class of citizens anywhere than they, and we congratulate them on the enterprise that has built up in Postville the finest church of their faith in all the great state of Iowa. (2)

- 1908 -
This postcard was hand-colored, the church was built of white brick

- text sources:
1. St. Paul Lutheran Church history, pg. 4
2. Postville Review articles from misc. issues 1883-1891

- photo sources: St. Paul Lutheran Church history & from the personal collection of S. Ferrall
- compiled by Sharyl Ferrall

©2002 Sharyl Ferrall

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