The Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church is a historic church built in 1850 in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

- now one of oldest surviving church buildings in the city, and very intact. In 1972, it was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

History

The Walker's Point settlement was founded in the 1830s. Many of the early settlers were

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

-speaking

Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

- many with roots in southern

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. With In the late 1840s, Father Salzmann of St. Mary's Church began organizing those German-speaking Catholics of the south side into Holy Trinity parish. German-born architect Victor Schulte designed the main block of Holy Trinity (as he had St. Mary's) rectangular with brick walls which have weathered to a warm gray. Bays are framed in

pilasters In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wall ...

, with a large round-topped window in the center of each. The roof is low-pitched, largely hidden behind a brick

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...

. The style is influenced by Zopfstil, a German counterpart of the American

Federal style Federal-style architecture is the name for the classicizing architecture built in the newly founded United States between 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815, which was heavily based on the works of Andrea Palladio with several inn ...

. Initially, it did not have a steeple. Inside the three front entries lead to a shallow vestibule. Beyond that, the nave has pews along a central aisle leading to a semicircular

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

. The church was dedicated by

John Henni John Martin Henni (June 15, 1805 – September 7, 1881) was a Swiss-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the first Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, Wisconsin from 1843 until his death in 1881. Biography Early life a ...

, the first Archbishop of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee The Archdiocese of Milwaukee ( la, Archidiœcesis Milvauchiensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the United States. It encompasses the City of Milwaukee, ...

, on September 22, 1850. The

steeple In architecture, a steeple is a tall tower on a building, topped by a spire and often incorporating a belfry and other components. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a religi ...

was added in 1862, designed by German-trained Leonard A. Schmidtner, consisting of an octagonal tower rising behind the front entrance of the church, leading to a smaller octagon at the next stage, leading to a tall spire with four windows, topped with a cross high above. The interior was renovated in 1863. The clock was installed in the tower in 1869. The interior was renovated more in 1874, and the

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks ...

was installed in 1878. The wooden altarpieces were added in 1890, built by Aegidius Hackner of

La Crosse La Crosse is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of La Crosse County, Wisconsin, La Crosse County. Positioned alongside the Mississippi River, La Crosse is the largest city on Wisconsin's western border. La Crosse's populat ...

. Over the years the Germans have waned in the surrounding neighborhood, and Puerto Ricans and Mexican-Americans have increased. In the 1960s Holy Trinity's parish merged with Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. Nevertheless, the church building itself stands much as it did in the 1800s - a key building in the

Walker's Point Historic District The Walker's Point Historic District is a mixed working-class neighborhood of homes, stores, churches and factories in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with surviving buildings as old as 1849, including remnants of the Philip Best Brewery and the Pfister ...

References

{{NRHP Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin Roman Catholic churches in Milwaukee Roman Catholic churches completed in 1850 National Register of Historic Places in Milwaukee 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States