German-speaking people in Globeville came, not from Germany, but from villages along the Volga River in Russia. Perhaps because they had been persecuted for their religion in Russia, German-Russians wasted no time organizing churches in Globeville. The earliest of these was the First German Congregational Church.
The church was founded by people from the village of Norka and was known as "the Norkera Church." The first structure, known as the shanty, was constructed at 44th and Lincoln in 1894 and was soon replaced by a larger brick building in 1896 or '97. As in the old country, life revolved around the church with Sunday services, prayer meetings, Bible studies and revivals. The services were held in German, and children attended "German school" after regular school during the week. Membership increased steadily and, in 1927, a larger church was built.
Throughout the years, attendance and contributions remained high, even as the neighborhood came under attack. The construction of I-25 and I-70 took the homes and businesses of many church members and led to discussions about relocating away from the neighborhood. A search committee purchased land at 5615 West 64th Avenue in Arvada and the new church was dedicated in 1974. The former building in Globeville was purchased by the city of Denver in 1976 and is now home to the Globeville Community Resource Center.
27 comments:
Thanks for this post. I didn't know much of the history of that church.
The construction of the highways knocked a whole lot of air out of Globeville, and it has yet to recover.
My grandparents, their children, my mother and my sister and myself all grew up at the other german church in Globeville, St. Paul's Lutheran Church. The church closed in 1978 and we were the youngest members, 15yrs old.
My great-great grandfather started this church. His name was John Adam Traudt and he immigrated from Norka, Russia in 1879. He was minister of this church until 1910.
Lauren,
My browser hasn't been displaying all the comments or I would have replied a lot sooner. I didn't know that Adam Traudt immigrated in 1879 - he was truly a pioneer and I'd love to hear more about him.
Mary Lou
My great-grandfather was John Adam Traudt. As a kid I can remember my grandmother, his daughter Emma,telling us many wonderful stories of her father's adventures.
I'll bet you have some great stories to tell - I'd like to know more about this amazing fellow. How fortunate to have a great ancestor!
Ms. Egan,
I am part of The Globeville Community Center, the group which just bought this building from the City of Denver. I would love to hear about the history of the building and how it has been used since 1976, if you know.
Best,
Christopher Scott
Christopher, I have more information about the church building before the church moved in 1974 (from a history published in 1984) Don't know too much about its use since.
email me at maryloudesign@comcast.net
Mary Lou
My family, both immediate and extended, were members of this Church for many years. I was Confirmed at First German in 1974 under Reverend Ketterling. Such great memories of this wonderful place... the kids sitting in the balcony, Sunday School outside on the lawn in the Summer, getting to ring the bells! So many weddings, events, ... and I even played basketball for the Globeville Trotters (The Church Team!) In fact I played for almost 35 years, ending just a few years back at Heritage, where we wore First German Congregational uniforms, and were registered as FGCC in our final year. Won 2 championships as a teen here, and ended up winning three in a row as old men! ha ha ha. I would love to see the Church again.
Thank you for sharing your great memories. This church was so important to Globeville - a beautiful building. Right now, there are plans for Garden Place School to acquire the building (the last outfit the city awarded a contract to never got going and it's been vacant for a couple of years.
My email is maryloudesign@comcast.net
Send me an email and I'll send you a current photo of the church
Do you have any photos of the Trotters?
Thanks again,
Mary Lou
After my grandmother's family church moved to Arvada, the building was used as a senior center. My grandparents spent time there doing various things.
My grandma worked on ceramics with a lady named Jill. I'm sorry I don't know her last name. I assume she was staff or a volunteer.
My grandpa played pool with other men in the community. They held tournaments. I know he brought home one small trophy. I will search through my parents old pictures for a group photo my grandpa treasured.
My grandma took care of my sister and I during the summer, Monday through Thursday. Friday we were at home because that was senior citizen day. My grandparents went to tge center for lunch followed by Grocery BINGO. The members would bring canned goods and such to donate as prizes. Government cheese was a popular item.
They loved the senior center. It was a wonderful place for them to socialize with other senior neighbors and family.
Rhonda, What was your grandmother's name? I talked to lots of folks - Ann Morgan, Esther Hoff, Lalo and Eumelia C. de Baca, the Tekavecs, and Romelia Carrillo who have fond memories of the Senior Center.
Thank you for your memories - I'd love to see a photo from the center.
My email is maryloudesign@comcast.net
Look forward to hearing from you again,
Mary Lou
Mary Lou,
Fred and Margaret Shank are my grandparents. They lived at 4745 Sherman Street until they passed away. My grandmother's maiden name was Fritzler.
I will look through all their pictures. I don't recall any pictures of the outside when it was the senior center, but I wasn't looking for any specifically.
Wonder what became of the actual church book records of births/marriages/deaths? I have a copy of the jubilee book but would love to be able to look at the actual records for important dates for family connections. Schneider, Sittner, Kindsvater, Hohnstein, Nagel, Reisbeck, etc. Some came from Norka, while others came from Huck, Russia. The LDS do not have a listing for the actual church records, so maybe they were lost to time.
The Denver Metro Chapter of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia has copies of the church records for all three of Globeville's German Russian churches. They were transcribed about 1991 and can be seen at the AHSGR library
Library Gisela Hauert 303-680-6808
president History and Culture Shirley Wilcoxon 720-339-7552 Wilcoxon@comcast.net
A fun bunch of people - see if you can get to the library. Good luck!
maryloudesign@comcast.net
Hello, my name is Linda Henckel Moore. As a child I attended the 1st German Congregational Church in Globville & Arvada, with my Grandparents, David & Marie Strecker (& Aunt, Florence Wagner). Rev. Howard K Hammelmann was pastor at that time; 1954-1969. I remember Rev. Hammelmann, & Rev. Ketterling well. Both were great pastors, & wonderful family friends.
We were all saddened when Rev. Hammelmann & his family left CO. for Fresno, CA., to be pastor at the Free Evangelical Lutheran Cross Church (1969-1979). Rev. Hammelmann passed away in 2011.
Linda,
How marvelous - those were great years in Globeville. Thank you for the information about Reverend Hammelmann - sounds like he lived a long and blessed life.
Thank you for your comments!
Mary Lou Egan
maryloudesign@comast.net
Thank you Mary Lou, for all your information. It’s very much appreciated. Yes, those were great years in Globeville & Denver. I’ll never forget when my Grandfather, David Strecker died, the line of cars stretched from the church all the way to Crown Hill Cemetery. Unbelievable! Rev. Ketterling was pastor at that time (1971).
I live in NM now, but when I’m in Denver, & feeling nostalgic, I’ll occasionally drive by the old church. I’m glad it’s still standing. I recently read in the Denver Post that it’s for sale.
Linda,
The church is for sale and the city of Denver owns it. It had been used for a senior center for many years, but has been vacant for the last several years. Hope someone can see the heritage and the beauty of what was a vibrant faith community.
Thanks for your kind comments.
Mary Lou
Mary Lou, I saw in one of your posts that you had spoken with Esther Hoff. Was her husband John? That must have been an interesting conversation! How long ago was that? She was a friend of my grandmother (Marie Strecker, who died in 1993).
Linda,
Esther's husband was Henry and they had one son, Merwyn - all are gone now. She lived with her sister, Ann Morgan, for many years. Ann died in 2004, and Esther sometime before that. Great folks.
Mary Lou
Greetings Mary Lou
My brother and I lived in Globeville along with our parents- Kathy And Kelvin Butz and parents Frances Osborne and Arnold Butz. 1903-1957. We remember Rev. Hammelman and his daughter Jackie Pfenninger lives in Thornton, Colorado. My grandparents lived on Cahita Court and my family lived on Sherman street south of First German Church. Our dad owned a garage on 4398 Broadway where he Worked on cars during his time-off from his full time job at Public Service Company. We would like to be in touch with other people who lived in Globeville at that time. It was a great little community and a great time for families. - kdodenvergirl@gmail.com
Hi my name is Kathy Caldwell Butz and went to First German on 64th and Sheridan around 1974-1984.
Hello my great grand and my grandpa and grandma my uncles and my mom grew up on 44 the and lincoln, they all went to church there ,brotzmann, and lehl I have some books on the church and all the people that went there back in the teens and twenty's
I am sure that my great-grandfather's family also attended this church. In 1904 they (Philip Roth was born on October 14, 1871, Katharina Maria Lauck was born on January 24, 1875) came here from Baideck (Volga) to the "brother-in-law Peter Lauck". But after a few years they left back to Russia. So our families were separated and the connection was lost. My grandfather Philip (1902), the only survivor of this family, died in 1989. (He was married to my grandmother, Lydia Greenmeier (1904), whose relatives also lived somewhere here in Denver.) I have been studying pedigree for a long time, but I was unable to establish contact with the descendants of our American relatives. It would be very interesting for me to get acquainted with any evidence of this family's stay in the United States, as well as old photos and letters. I live in Germany and am the administrator of the "RussianGermans International" Facebook group. Andreas Root.
Andreas, I understand hitting a wall when you are looking for relatives and their history. The American Historical Society of Germans from Russia in Lincoln, Nebraska has many genealogy resources. The Beideck Church in Globeville was the Friedenns Evangelical Lutheran Church was established in 1915. The oldest church in Globeville is the First German Congregational Church, established in 1894.
https://www.ahsgr.org/
Nicholas Bretz is membership chair of the Denver Chapter.
6733 Reed St Arvada CO 80003-4055 303-424-5145 720-353-5729
Perhaps he could help you obtain a church roster (I think they are about 20 dollars)
Best wishes maryloudesign@comcast.net
Hello as soon do I that's pretty neet ,, ,2nd house from the corner ,, across from that rockin church no offense
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