Evangelical Lutheran Church Strand Street

On Strand Street in Cape Town stands one of the oldest church buildings in South Africa, dating to 1792. The Evangelical Lutheran Church greets you with a Baroque front elevation by Anton Anreith, a renowned sculptor and architect of his day. Inside, his pulpit and the organ façade rank among the masterpieces of Cape Dutch architecture.

In 1740 a few hundred Lutherans lived at the Cape without a church of their own. Pastors from Danish and Swedish ships passing through preached for them and administered the sacraments. Petition after petition followed until 1779, when the community won permission to establish its own congregation. The first congregation counted four hundred and forty-two members. Martin Melck gave them a warehouse close to the sea. Between 1787 and 1792 a series of alterations turned it into a proper church in the Baroque style then popular in Europe. An organ followed in 1812, and a clock tower in 1820.

A National Monument since 1949, the church also sits within an urban conservation area. At the entrance a memorial plaque remembers Martin Melck, whose gift of a warehouse began the whole story. Above the organ loft Anreith's figure of King David keeps watch, and worshippers still gather every Sunday.