German Church, Christchurch

German Church
German: Deutsche Kirche
The German Church in 1898
Location	corner Worcester and Montreal Streets, Christchurch
Country	New Zealand
Denomination	Lutheran
Architecture
Status	Parish church
Architect(s)	Isaac Jacobsen
Style	Gothic
Groundbreaking	November 1872
Completed	14 May 1874
Construction cost	£1000
Demolished	1933
Specifications
Capacity	230
Materials	timber
Bells	three
Tenor bell weight	22 long cwt (2,500 lb or 1,100 kg)

The German Church, also known as Deutsche Kirche and German Protestant Church, was a Lutheran church in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was built in 1872 when Christchurch had a growing German population. The church was confiscated in 1918 by the New Zealand Government and the church bells melted down in the aftermath of World War I when there were strong anti-German feelings in New Zealand. The church was demolished in 1933 and made way for a parish hall. The site of the Deutsche Kirche is today occupied by the Christchurch Art Gallery.

In the early 1870s, Canterbury experienced significant immigration. Between the 1871 and 1874 census, the region had 25% growth in population. By 1874, Germans made up about 6% of the foreign-born population of Canterbury. The Deutsche Kirche came from an initiative of German Lutherans living in Canterbury, with German baker and hotel keeper George Ruddenklau presiding over a committee in charge of getting the church built. The intention was to collect sufficient funds through subscription lists and if successful, send for a German minister and have a church constructed. From early April 1872, the organising committee advertised for a central city site for cash purchase. Later that month, auctioneer Herbert Edward Alport reported that he had completed the sale of a quarter acre section on the corner of Worcester and Montreal Streets; the land had been sold for £230. In May 1872, Thomas Joynt moved in the Canterbury Provincial Council that a grant of £230 be given towards the erection of the church. Of those who spoke to the motion, Arthur Charles Knight, Walter Kennaway (as provincial secretary), John Thomas Peacock, Edward Richardson, and William Patten Cowlishaw (provincial treasurer) supported the motion. John Inglis, Colonel De Renzie Brett, George Buckley and George Healey spoke against the motion. When put to a vote, the motion was passed by 22 votes to 14. In the end, the provincial government provided £250.