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Lutheran Church
Stellenbosch, Western Cape
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Click to view large map Coordinates: | The land on which this building stands was granted to Anthonie Fick in 1782, and in 1852 became the property of the Lutheran Church. Money was raised from the hundred or so Lutherans in Stellenbosch, of whom the architect CO HAGER was one. He, not being very pecunious at the. time, he offered to draw up plans for a church in lieu of a monetary donation. Although designs by other architects were also invited, it was HAGER who was commissioned at a modest fee. The church is rectangular in plan, plastered and whitewashed (as are his many others), and has a steep roof of corrugated iron one of the first documented instances of the use of this new material at the Cape. The details are in pronounced Gothic Revival style, with pointed windows, pinnacles on the gabled front, its pilastered central section rising at the top as a belfry. Its front is rather subtly treated, with a rose-window set in a patterned field between blind Gothic tracery. After having been abandoned by its congregation in favour of a modern building it was used as a shop for a long time (After Fransen 2004:175). This beautiful Neo-Gothic building is 165 years old (in 2019) and rich in history. .... In 1969, when there was a possibility that the church would be demolished, Dr and Mrs Anton Rupert purchased the building. They had it restored and then donated it to the University of Stellenbosch. In that same year it was formally initiated as an art gallery. Today the Old Lutheran church is known as GUS - Gallery of the University of Stellenbosch. The space has been under the management of the University's Department of Visual Arts since 2014. Information supplied by Nericke Labuschagne, curator at GUS. Submitted by Lila Komnick. References:
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