Hanover Lutheran Church facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Hanover Lutheran Church |
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Hanover's current sanctuary, February 2011
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| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod |
| District | Missouri District |
| Leadership | Rev. Rod Benkendorf |
| Location | |
| Location | 2949 Perryville Road Cape Girardeau, Missouri, 63701, U.S.A. |
| Website | |
| Hanover Lutheran Church | |
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Old Hanover Lutheran Church
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Hanover's second church building
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 Location in Missouri
Location in the United States
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| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1887 |
| Architect | Regenhardt, William; Savers, Will |
| Architectural style | Gothic |
| NRHP reference No. | 87001575 |
| Added to NRHP | September 14, 1987 |
Hanover Lutheran Church is a Christian church in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. It is part of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod. The church started in 1846 because many German families moved to Missouri in the 1800s.
The church was named "Hanover" after the Kingdom of Hanover in Germany. This is where most of the first members came from. They settled northwest of Cape Girardeau.
Hanover's first church was a log cabin. It was used from 1846 until 1887. Then, a second church building was built on land given by Henry Krueger. This second church was used until 1969, when the current building was finished. The old church building and a schoolhouse from 1923 are still standing today. On September 14, 1987, both buildings were added to the National Register of Historic Places. They are known as the Historic Hanover Lutheran Church and School.
Today, about 579 people are members of Hanover Lutheran Church. Rev. Rod Benkendorf is the current pastor. Hanover is often called the "mother church" for several other Lutheran churches in Cape Girardeau County. These include Eisleben Lutheran Church, Trinity Lutheran Church in Cape Girardeau, Trinity Lutheran Church in Egypt Mills, and St. Paul Lutheran Church in Jackson. The church is located on Perryville Road, on the northern edge of Cape Girardeau.
Contents
The Story of Hanover Lutheran Church
German Families Come to Missouri
In the 1800s, many German families moved to Missouri. They created German communities along the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. St. Louis became a big German city. Smaller towns like Hermann, Washington, and Cape Girardeau also became known for their German culture.
Before 1846, several Lutheran families moved from Germany to an area north of Cape Girardeau. They came from cities like Hanover and Braunschweig. These families met for worship in their homes. Later, Daniel Bertling, a carpenter, let them use his carpentry shop for services.
Building the First Church: 1846-1887
In 1846, the first Lutheran church was officially started. It was called the "Evangelical Lutheran Congregation of the Unaltered Augsburg Confession, Hannover, Cape Girardeau County, Missouri." This long name showed where many members came from and where their new community was growing.
Daniel Bertling gave the land for the first log-cabin church. It was near where Melrose and Delwin streets are today. Church members cleared the land and prepared the logs. Many German settlers were skilled builders. They knew how to build with logs, as this was common in Germany.
The finished church building was about 25 feet by 40 feet. Inside, it had a pump organ, an altar, and a high pulpit. There was a stove for heat and benches without backs. The walls were whitewashed logs, and the floor was made of smoothed, split logs. Men sat on the right side of the church, and women sat on the left. This building was also used as Hanover's first day school. Christian August Lehmann, the first pastor, taught the classes.
In 1848, a small parsonage (pastor's house) was built near the church. It was also made of logs. In 1850, the first burial happened in the cemetery next to the church. The church officially joined the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod in 1875.
By the mid-1870s, the church needed to move. Many members lived several miles north of the log building. In 1875, the church chose a new spot about 2 miles north on Perryville Road. They bought the land from the Christian Niemeier family. The next year, a new parsonage and a school building were finished there.
The Second Church Building: 1887-1969
In 1887, Henry Krueger, another church member, gave land for a new church. This land was right across the road from the new parsonage and school. The new church was built in a pretty, wooded area on a gentle hill. This was typical for German churches in rural Missouri.
The church was built by William Regenhardt in 1887. It was made of red brick, which Germans often used for building. The walls were very strong, three bricks thick. This showed the great care and skill of the German builders. They wanted to create something lasting for future generations.
The church had a simple design. It had round or pointed-arch windows, like those seen in Romanesque and Gothic styles. Stone supports called buttresses helped hold up the walls. A stone above the front door had the church's name and the year it was built. The tall, thin bell tower was covered with metal. Inside, the ceiling was vaulted and covered with decorative pressed tin. Stairs led up to a balcony.
In 1923, a new one-room school building was finished next to the church. It taught students from kindergarten through eighth grade. After finishing, students could go to any public high school in Missouri. Between 1924 and 1955, the school had as many as 42 students.
Will Savers, a local builder, constructed the school. Church members dug the basement by hand. The red brick school had 12-inch thick walls and was built with the same high quality as the church. It had a simple, rectangular shape with a single door facing the road. The round-arched doorway with a date stone above it matched the church's entrance. In 1935, a 20-foot addition was built onto the school.
Over the years, Hanover Lutheran became known as the "mother church" for several other churches in the county. These churches were started and served by Hanover pastors. They include Eisleben Lutheran (1851), Trinity Lutheran (1854), Egypt Mills Lutheran (1867), and St. Paul Lutheran (1893). All the original buildings of these other churches have been taken down. This makes Hanover Lutheran the only historic German Lutheran property left in Cape Girardeau. Because of its importance, the church decided to keep the old brick church and school buildings after building a new church in 1969.
The Current Church: 1969-Present
By the late 1960s, the 1887 church building was no longer big enough for the growing congregation. Cape Girardeau was expanding, and Hanover was changing from a rural area to a suburb. A committee was formed to plan a new church.
In the summer of 1968, the plan for a modern church building was shown to the congregation, and everyone approved it. To build the new church, the old parsonage had to be torn down. On October 14, 1968, the church approved the cost of $162,290 for the new building.
The new church building was finished in 1969. It was dedicated on November 30 of that year. Between 1700 and 1800 people attended the dedication services. Special speakers included Rev. E. H. Koerber, Rev. Walter H. Schwaub, and Rev. Herman C. Scherer. These events happened while Rev. Ellis Rottman was the pastor.
Since then, more buildings have been added to help the church grow. In 1991, an addition to the church building created space for a meeting room, offices, and classrooms. Hanover's Men's Club built a separate building where they prepare for their semi-annual Sausage Supper. The church's Dartball team also uses this building for games. A pavilion with picnic tables was built for outdoor events. In 2008, Hanover finished its newest building, the Activity Center. It has a full-size gymnasium, a modern kitchen, and extra classrooms for youth activities.
Church Leadership and Activities
Pastors of Hanover Lutheran Church
The current pastor of Hanover Lutheran Church is Rod Benkendorf. He started serving on February 7, 2021. He studied at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri.
Hanover Lutheran Church has a staff of six people. This includes a secretary, a housekeeper, a music director, and a youth director. The church is part of the Cape Girardeau circuit of the Missouri District.
Besides Sunday morning worship, the church offers Sunday school classes for children. There are also different Bible study classes for adults and many activities for young people. The music program includes an adult choir and handbell ringers.
Here are the pastors who have served Hanover Lutheran Church:
- Christian August Lehmann (1846-1854)
- Robert Eduard Knoll (1855-1857)
- Joachim Friedrich Daries (1857-1865)
- Jacob Schwab (1865-1866)
- Eduard Arnold Veerhoff (1867-1868)
- Wilhelm Gottfried Weissinger (1868-1870)
- William Gustav Polack (1870-1877)
- Johann Heinrich Christoph Guemmer (1877-1886)
- Otto Raphael Heuschen (1886-1892)
- Carl Friedrich P. Rehahn (1892-1905)
- Hermann Heinrich Wilhelm Kellermann (1905-1908)
- George Kirschke (1909-1910)
- Albert Carl Bernthal (1910-1917)
- Ernst Carl Schutt (1917-1922)
- Alexander Georg Heinrich Wagner (1923-1928)
- William Wittrock (1928-1955)
- Robert J. Mueller (1956-1957)
- William Opitz (1958-1960)
- David Loesch (1962-1966)
- Ellis T. Rottmann (1968-1973)
- Robert J. Daniel (1974-1989)
- Jeffrey E. Sippy (1990-2002)
- Daniel Hackney (2004-2008)
- Roger Henning (2008-2009)
- Anthony Kobak (2009-2019)
- Rod Benkendorf (2021-present)
