Gethsemane Lutheran Church
200 W. Anderson Ln., Austin, TXThe 1962 Gethsemane Lutheran Church, in Austin, Travis County, Texas, was constructed to meet the changing needs of the state's oldest Swedish Lutheran congregation. Designed by Austin architect Eugene Wukasch, the church is nominated to the National Register under Criterion C, in the area of Architecture, at the local level of significance, as an excellent example of postwar New Formalist church design, and as a representation of how the Lutheran Church in Texas redefined itself at mid-century. Changes in both congregational demographics and church leadership led Texas Lutherans to diminish the traditional ethnic division between Swedes and Germans, and instead focus on "the family of God" both in design and liturgy. As Lutheranism grew at an astronomical rate in the 1950s, modem design reduced complicated iconography to accessible elements and Lutherans used architecture to attract new members and expand its base. Wukasch, a practicing Lutheran, designed at least 47 churches between 1948 and 1978, 37 of them for Lutheran congregations. He enjoyed popularity and regional recognition from these commissions, and Gethsemane is one of his best designs from this period. The church is also nominated under criterion C in the area of Art, at the local level of significance, for the building's prominent stained glass by French master Gabriel Loire. Known as dalle de verre, Lorre's art glass style features hand-made glass tiles (dalles) broken or cut into pieces and set in a load-bearing concrete frame. Loire was one of the pioneers of the medium and his Paris studio was foremost in dalle de verre production in the 1950s and 1960s. While Loire's contemporary approach to stained glass design could be found throughout Europe at mid-century, it was less common in the United States, and his work in Gethsemane was his first project in Texas. Criterion Consideration A applies because the church is a religious facility, but is nominated for the significance of its design characteristics. Because the church was designed in 1961, and its construction was completed in 1962, the building need not meet Criterion Consideration G.
Local significance of the building:Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 2011.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.