Trinity Lutheran Cleveland Ohio

These are pictures of Trinity Lutheran from the early 1930s.  This was the church that C.L.V. Brueggemann and his family attended.  I spent a long time tonight trying to find an early map to place the church in relation to where they lived.  The church is at the corner of 30th and Lorain.  


I realized after searching early maps that many streets were renamed in 1906.  Many people believe that the streets were renamed in response to anti-German sentiment around the time of the first World War but it was unrelated.  I wasn't able to find the original street name but I will look at Census records to see if I can match it up.


The West Side was originally called Ohio City and was annexed to Cleveland in the 1850s.
From Trinity's Website:   Trinity was founded in 1853, on it's present site, in a small wood structure that was subsequently moved to, and still exists at, West 32 and Chatham.  The congregation exploded in size and the current bldg. was erected in 1873 to serve 1,500 West Side parishioners.  The building has been called "One of the finest examples of a Victorian Gothic Meeting House in this part of the Country".  During the fifties, when most congregations were relocating to the suburbs, the congregation made the commitment to stay in the neighborhood.  The size of the congregation steadily declined until the early 1990's.   In 1994, the average worship attendance was in the low 80's.  Due to innovative programming and a new contemporary service, in additional to the traditional service, the attendance has increased 100% to an average worship attendance in the 150's, and continuing to grow.
Trinity also has a special organ according to this from The Plain Dealer:

An anonymous donor who loves Baroque organ music has pumped $100,000 into a fund supporting the restoration of the Beckerath organ at Trinity Lutheran Church on Cleveland's West Side.

Until recently, the Beckerath Organ Restoration Fund stood at $142,000, about half the amount needed to refurbish the 1956 instrument. The $100,000 donation will enable the project to be completed this year, said organist Florence Mustric, who chairs Friends of the Beckerath.

Mustric said 92 percent of the $142,000 came "not in major gifts, but in small and modest donations over three years, ranging from a great many $1 bills to a few $1,000 checks." The donors have comprised music lovers from across Northeast Ohio and the country, including members of the Organ Historical Society.

The church's admired organ was built by Rudolph von Beckerath of Hamburg, Germany. It is being restored by Leonard Berghaus, founder of Berghaus Pipe Organ Builders in Bellwood, Ill., who was inspired to become an organ builder by Trinity's Beckerath.

The instrument has been undergoing restoration in stages, as funding has allowed, since 2007. After a concert Sunday, Jan. 16 by organist David Tidyman, who'll present a program titled "Bach as Visionary and Mystic," pipes and several divisions of the Beckerath will go to Berghaus for restoration.

Mustric said this stage should be completed by April, after which the final stage, including renewal of the console, will follow.

The anonymous donor has been a fan of the Beckerath for two decades, said Mustric.

"When we first met, I expressed surprise that he knew nothing about it," she said. "I said, 'I have the keys to the candy store' and invited him to come hear it and play it. His first words on hearing it were, 'This is not the candy store.' Stunned, I said, 'No?' He said, 'This is no candy store - this is Fort Knox!' "

Mustric said the $100,000 donation will make it possible for her and Trinity organist and director of music Robert Myers to pursue foundation support for the restoration.

"Bob is speechless," said Mustric of the $100,000 donation. "I'm stunned, but, as you see, I am not speechless, which is a good thing."

Mustric and Myers alternate as soloists in free recitals on Wednesday afternoons in Trinity's Music Near the Market series. The church is at 2031 West 30th St., Cleveland