Evangelical Lutheran Church, Cape Town, South Africa
S 33° 55.152 E 018° 25.165
34H E 261432 N 6243803
Strand Street in Cape Town, South Africa is the location of this historic old Lutheran Church.
Waymark Code: WMJ87Y
Location: Western Cape, South Africa
Date Posted: 10/09/2013
Views: 4
History of the church:
When the Dutch first settled in the Cape area in 1652, the VoC limited the colonist's freedom of worship to the Dutch Reformed faith. Things began to change, however, when immigrant Martin Melck arrived from Memel, Germany. Melck’s hard work in his Cape Town endeavors made him a wealthy man, and his integrity and honesty earned the respect of the governor of Cape Town, so that when Melck approached the governor for permission to start a Lutheran church, he was granted some land on Strand Street for the project. Melck began construction on the land in 1774, but called his building a warehouse, although it was furnished and used as a church by the German population (and the VoC government chose not to intervene). In 1776 Melck transferred ownership of the hall to the congregation. It was not until several years later that the Dutch finally granted the Lutherans the freedom to practice their religion in so that in 1779, and the Lutheran Church to “officially” open its doors as a church in 1780. The first sermon was preached on December 10, 1780 by Minister Andreas Lutgerus Kolver. To date, the church is the oldest, unaltered church building in South Africa. Services are still offered every Sunday from the ornately carved pulpit making it one of the oldest operating churches in Cape Town.
The Church Complex:
The church complex includes several buildings, all built at different times and have undergone various upgrades and renovations over the years. In 1779 the congregation initiated an improvement project which lasted 1792. Much of the work was completed by Anton Anreith, who designed the front elevation and contributed a number of fine wood carvings to the interior decoration. By 1818 the structure had fallen into disrepair and was extensively rebuilt. A spire was added in 1820. Few changes have been made to the building since that time.
When Martin Melck originally built his “warehouse” in 1774, he also made plans for a parsonage and acquired the land to the east of the church for this purpose. Building of the parsonage started in 1781, with much of it attributed to Thibault and Anreith. Today, the parsonage is said to be South Africa’s only surviving example of an 18th century townhouse complete with dakkamer (roof-room). The Sexton’s House was built on the church complex between 1779 and 1783, on the other side of the church (it is now restored and serves as the Netherlands Embassy). Except for minor renovations, the parsonage house has remained almost unchanged. In 1894 the church allowed the parsonage to be rented as a dwelling, at which time locals began calling it Bloemfontein House. In 1932, the old parsonage received some remodeling and it was renamed again, this time called the Martin Melck House.
National Heritage Status
The Martin Melck House (96 Strand Street), was declared a National Monument under old NMC legislation on July 3, 1936., and the rest of the complex (98 Strand) was also proclaimed National Monument on April 29,1948
SOURCES:
Wikipedia.org (list of heritage sites in the Cape)
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www.flickr.com (photos/dvdmerwe/300192809)
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www.cape-town.net
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Eventseeker.com (111788-lutheran-church-cape-town)
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www.nileguide.com (destination/cape-town/things-to-do/lutheran-chruch565507
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www.tajcapetown.co.za (blog/2012/03/15/historic-cape-town-churches/)
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Check out the photos of the inside of the church, here:
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