Concise History of German Lutheran Churches in Albany

by Christopher White

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German Lutherans were immigrating to Albany as early as 1644. According to language historian Heinz Kloss, in 1655 the Lutherans of New Amsterdam sent a delegate to Holland in order to procure a minister that might preach to them in High German. A Lutheran minister from Saxony, Johannes Ernestus Gutwasser, arrived to serve the High German congregations of New Amsterdam and Beverwyck.[1] He came to Albany in July 1657, but the Dutch forced him to return to Europe in 1659.  

At this time Lutherans were numerous enough to form a Lutheran congregation, but the Dutch government denied them permission to do so. No religion except the Reformed Dutch Church was tolerated.[2] Lutherans were not allowed the freedom to worship until the English took control of Beverwyck in 1664. Eventually, circa 1668, the first Lutheran church in North America was built on South Pearl Street between Howard and Beaver Streets. The congregation was under the pastoral care of Reverend Johannes Fabriens. The church was incorporated as the First Lutheran Church, or Ebenezer Church, in 1784. The worship language of services changed throughout the years at the Lutheran Church. Services were held in the Dutch language from 1669 until 1784, when they were held in German, only to surprisingly change again to English by 1808. 

 
However, by 1795 the Ebenezer Church was predominantly a German church. After service language was changed and held in English, only one German service was held, but disagreements regarding the time and location that the German service might be held arose. In 1832 single Sunday German service was conducted at the First Lutheran Church, in the lecture room instead of the church. But by 1837 the Germans had become so numerous again that they were already outnumbering the established congregation by three to one.[3] Therefore on August 8, 1841, the German Lutherans seceded from the First Lutheran Church and organized their own German language parish. Two days later on August 10, 1841, the society of German Lutherans was incorporated, as the Deutsche Evangelische Kirche der Stadt Albany, or German Evangelical Church of the City of Albany. The first services were held in a building located on the southeast corner of State and Green Streets. The congregation, numbering 250 members, purchased the Albany West Station Methodist Church, located at 249 State Street for $1700 and dedicated it on May 10, 1842.[4]  

Soon after the congregation was organized, a parochial school was created. By 1884 the school had 115 students and two teachers.[5] In 1904 the parochial school closed. Eventually the church became too small for the congregation, and the church building was sold to the Universalist Church. At a cost of $8000 a new church was built at 10 Western Avenue, opposite Lexington Avenue.