St. Josaphat Basilica

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Exterior view of the basilica

The Basilica of St. Josaphat is a Roman Catholic Church in Milwaukee in the US -Bundesstaat Wisconsin . The church of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee is consecrated to Josaphat Kunzewitsch , a martyr from Ruthenia , and has the title of a minor basilica .

history

The parish of St. Josaphat was founded in Milwaukee by immigrant Poles in 1888 as a parish of the parish of St. Stanislaus, the first Polish parish in an American city. The Poles formed the second largest country team after the Germans in Milwaukee. When the parish church became too small in 1896, Pastor Wilhelm Grutza commissioned the German-born architect Erhard Brielmaier . Brick was planned as the building material until shortly before the laying of the foundation stone in 1896, when Grutzka learned of the demolition of the post office and the customs house in Chicago and the building material was secured. The 200,000 tons of sandstone were delivered together with the granite columns and bronze grids on 500 railway wagons. In 1901 the church was consecrated as the largest in the city by Archbishop Frederick Xavier Katzer . The church equipment was delayed due to the enormous debt, which could only be removed with the help of the Franciscans, who look after the church to this day. From 1926 onwards, the previously plain white interior could be designed, after which Pope Pius XI. St. Josaphat's Church became the third church in the United States to be ranked minor basilica in 1929. In 1973 the church was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Building

The domed structure in the neo-renaissance and neo-baroque styles was designed in the Polish cathedral style based on St. Peter's Basilica in Rome under the influence of St Paul's Cathedral in London by Erhard Brielmaier and his sons, who subsequently built a large number of Catholic churches. The central dome over a drum is covered with copper and, with its cross on the lantern, reaches a height of 65 meters with a diameter of 24 meters. When it was built, it was one of the largest in the country after the Capitol in Washington, DC. Above the entrance is the organ loft with an instrument made by WW Kimball Co. from 1903. The church has 1000 ground-level seats and over a hundred more the gallery has space for 2000 worshipers. The six large granite columns from the federal building, along with their carved capitals, were used for the portico , which is surrounded by two square bell towers.

The interior was designed by Conrad Schmitt Studios and Gonippo Raggi. Detailed oil paintings showing biblical scenes adorn the walls and the inner dome, the barrel vaults are decorated with cassettes. The first mural painted for this church was The Martyrdom of St. Josaphat in 1904 by artist Zukotynski and is located just behind and above the altar. Most of the other murals in the church were painted by Gonippo Raggi. The Conrad Schmitt Studios later redesigned the interior of the basilica to its decorative splendor from 1926 and restored the basilica's stained glass windows imported from Innsbruck in 1902 .

Web links

Commons : Basilica of St. Josaphat  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ St. Josaphat's Basilica on gcatholic.org
  2. ↑ a b c History of the Basilica (English)
  3. ↑ Entry in the National Register Information System . National Park Service , accessed March 3, 2019
  4. ↑ St. Josaphat's Catholic Basilica, 1897 at Architecture of Faith (English)
  5. ^ The OHS Pipe Organ Database

Coordinates: 43 ° 0 '8.8 "  N , 87 ° 55' 9.4"  W.