St. Paul Lutheran Church

Built to serve Ottawa’s growing German-speaking Lutheran community, the church that exists today replaced an earlier modest wood frame structure built in 1875.

In 1887, Mr. A. Harvey, an architect and member of the congregation, was enlisted to design a new church, and on May 21, 1888, the cornerstone was laid for the limestone Gothic Revival church known as Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Paul.

The church's pointed arch windows, buttresses and tower are typical of the Gothic Revival style. Renowned Ottawa architect W.E. Noffke, also a member of the congregation, oversaw the modest renovations of the church in 1948 and was responsible for the design of the additions on either side of the bell tower. Mr. Noffke was also responsible for the design of other notable buildings including the Ottawa Central Post Office, the Blackburn Building, and his previous home which is located across the street from the church.

The church still retains a few of the original stain glass windows, the altar piece and beautiful massive beams and woodwork. One of the city’s earliest organs, a Casavant pipe organ built by the Casavant Organ Company from Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, was installed in 1888. Prime Minister Sir John A. MacDonald and Governor General Lord Lansdowne made donations to the construction of the new church.