St Marks Cathedral
1111 O’Farrell Street
Fillmore/Japantown/Western Addition
Germans starting flocking to the San Francisco Bay area during the gold rush of 1849 . The dedication of the present church building in 1895 marked three decades of effort by German immigrants to establish Lutheranism in California. Rev. Frederick Mooshake from Goettingen University arrived in 1849 to minister to the immigrants. Initially, services were held in homes, then in the Congregational Church of Christ, which was later bought by Rev. Mooshake and his followers, and the First German Evangelical Lutheran Church was formed in 1859.
In 1883, Rev. Julius Fuendeling arrived and stayed for 29 years until 1912. Fuendeling was responsible for the establishment of the present church, constructed on 2 lots on O’Farrell between Franklin and Gough that were bought for $17,500. The church, which cost $56,000 to build, was dedicated on March 10, 1895. A Schoenstein organ and chandelier from Germany, donated by sugar tycoon Claus Spreckels, were transferred from the Geary St. church to the new St. Markus.
The architect was Henry Geilfuss. Geilfuss was born in Thurin, Germany in 1850. He attended architecture school in Erfurt, Weimar and Berlin, and began his architectural practice in Berlin and Schlessing, where he designed railroad bridges and related masonry structures. He came to San Francisco in 1876 where he remained in practice until at least 1910. By the late 1880s he was known in San Francisco for having designed “some of the best buildings erected here.” Geilfuss was one of the foremost practitioners of the Victorian style of residential architecture – a style that incorporated Italianate, Gothic, Eastlake, and Stick elements – that has since become synonymous worldwide with “historic San Francisco architecture.”
The name on the cornerstone, St. Markus Kirche, reflected the congregation’s German heritage. The church is a blend of Romanesque and Gothic elements of pointed gables and arches, pier buttresses, and a Rose Window. The red brick is set off by details of buff-colored brick and Bedford stone. The lower tower has an octagonal base with a conical roof, and the higher tower is squared with four upper corner turrets and a pyramidal roof. Other tower features include small arches stained glass windows, diagonal wood moldings and fleur-de-lis patterns. Beautiful stained glass windows were incorporated throughout the architectural design, containing symbols dating from both Jewish and Christian traditions presenting doctrinal concepts.
The church building was damaged in the major ’06 quake and the church’s cross melted as result of the heat from the fires that swept the city just east on Franklin. The devastating fires stopped just short of consuming St. Mark’s. In 1944 the chancel was completely refurbished for the 50th Anniversary of the church. In 1947 the interior was renovated and a new Moeller organ was installed. A few years later there were renovations to the altar, and in 1949 the centennial of St. Mark’s was celebrated. The Ascension window was installed around 1950.
In 1971 in recognition of its historical and architectural significance St. Mark’s was designated San Francisco Registered Landmark #41. A new front entry plaza with ramp, complementing the architectural style, was constructed in 1987.
Following the major Loma Prieta earthquake on October 17, 1989 (the quake destroyed the chandelier brought from the 1863 church), the city mandated that all unreinforced masonry buildings throughout San Francisco must be seismically retrofitted for safety. This requirement began approximately 15 years of many fundraising efforts to completely restore the aging building and retrofit it for earthquake safety. In 1995 Garrison Keillor gave a rousing benefit performance for an early restoration fundraiser. Substantial income came from refinancing Martin Luther Tower (the 121-unit affordable senior housing project built by the church in the mid-sixties), and ongoing capital campaign fundraising. Additionally, scenes for the Hollywood movie “RENT” were filmed in the sanctuary just prior to the church’s closure in June 2005 for the $11 million extensive renovation.
Soon after renovation work began, a time capsule was discovered by a worker under the church foundation. The copper strongbox was in a large sandstone block snuggled under an arched brick niche. On October 9, 2005, the time capsule was opened and provided exciting glimpses into the past. The fragile water-damaged contents included several San Francisco newspapers in German and English, a German hymnal, a German copy of the Augsburg Confession, and 1863 US silver half dollar coin minted in San Francisco. The newspapers were dated 1863, and the time capsule was probably brought from the previous church on Geary Street during construction of the present church. Church archives indicate there is another time capsule sealed in 1894, probably encased within the old cornerstone of the present church.
The church was closed from June 2005 until December 2006 for the extensive seismic work and restoration. In honor of this effort, St. Mark’s was awarded a 2007 Preservation Design Award by the California Preservation Foundation.
The tracker organ made by Taylor & Boody Organbuilders in Virginia, which had been installed in the balcony of the sanctuary, was dedicated on March 25, 2007.
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Much of the history of the church comes from their website.