Holy Cross Hungarian Roman Catholic Church
Church building in Detroit, United States of America
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Holy Cross Hungarian Roman Catholic Church is a Catholic church located in the Delray section of Detroit, Michigan, within the Archdiocese of Detroit.
History
In the decade of 1900 there were plans to establish a Catholic church, but by 1905 the Hungarians had difficulty agreeing on a final site.[1] Later that year the Holy Cross Hungarian Church,[2] a Hungarian Catholic church, opened in Delray.[3] In 1906 the first church building, a frame building, was established.[4] As the number of Hungarians in Delray increased, a new church of the Holy Cross Hungarian Catholic Church opened in 1925.[2] The cornerstone was laid on November 26, 1924.[5]
The construction of Interstate 75 in the mid-1960s destroyed large parts of Delray and divided the community into two pieces. The Hungarian community declined and the Holy Cross parish school closed.[5]
The Holy Cross Hungarian Church was scheduled to observe its 75th anniversary on September 17, 2000. By August of that year, renovations and polishing were underway.[2]
Architecture
The brick church building has twin towers.[5] Hungarian-born Henri Kohner was the architect and builder of the current church. Detroit Stained Glass Works designed and created the church's five Renaissance-style heavy enamel-painted sanctuary windows. The windows portray Jesus Christ, Saint Peter, Paul the Apostle, and several Hungarian saints. They were installed in 1924.[4] The company von Gerichten Studio of Columbus, Ohio paid $12,000 to have the stained windows made.[5] Ludwig von Gerichten designed and created the church's stained glass windows. Among them is a pot-metal and painted enamel glass window titled "The Assumption of the Virgin."[4] Andras Daubner made several large hand-painted murals that were made between 1948 and 1949.[5]
See also
References
- Collum, Marla O. and Barbara E. Krueger. Detroit's Historic Places of Worship. Wayne State University Press, 2012. ISBN 0814334245, 9780814334249.
- Tutag, Nola Huse. Discovering Stained Glass in Detroit. Wayne State University Press, 1987. ISBN 0814318754, 9780814318751.
- Woodford, Arthur M. This is Detroit, 1701-2001. Wayne State University Press, 2001. ISBN 0814329144, 9780814329146.