3-043-787 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Blessing the foundation-stone of an English church at Stutgard, in Wirtemberg, 1864. 'Few of our readers are probably aware of the rapid increase of English churches on the Continent. Seven years ago not a single church, properly speaking, existed in North Germany in which the Anglican worship exclusively was celebrated...We present our readers with a sketch of the ceremony of laying the foundation-stone of this [iron] church...The ceremony was performed with great solemnity, in the presence of the Minister of the Interior of the kingdom of Wirtemberg...A triple Gothic arch of branches of fir, surmounted with floriated crosses and the flags of England and Wirtemberg, and covered with cloth of crimson and blue, was erected for the clergy and others who formed the procession, and a pavilion similarly adorned was prepared for the congregation. On the right of the Incumbent stands the English Ambassador, ready to lay the stone; on the left, just above, the architect and clerk of the works assisting. There was a concourse of some 700 or 800 persons, who listened to the prayers and praises with attention and reverence...The church, dedicated to St. Catharine...is to hold 150 persons'. From "Illustrated London News", 1864.