St. Nicholas Kirche (New York City)

Founding

The parish was founded in 1833 by the Austrian priest Father Johann Stephen Raffeiner (1785–1861) as the first and thus oldest German-language Catholic parish in New York City.

Father Raffeiner was actively engaged in establishing the parish. Back then a large German-speaking colony was located east of the Bowery, necessitating the establishment of religious services in German. Raffeiner first temporarily rented a carpenter shop on Delancey Street for services. He later leased a former meeting house of the Anabaptists located at Delancey and Pitt Streets, making a formal beginning for the first congregation of German-speaking Catholics.

Permanent structure

As the number of parishioners increased, the issue of finding a permanent structure for the church became more pressing. For this purpose, four lots of ground, with a frontage of one hundred feet and a depth of one hundred and six, on Second street, between Avenue A and First Avenue, were purchased through Dr. Joseph C. Springer, from John Jacob Astor, on September 1, 1834. The cornerstone of this new church, which was dedicated to Saint Nicholas of Myra, was laid, on Easter Monday, April 20, 1835, by the Very Rev. Dr. John Power, V.G., the English sermon being preached to the large concourse assembled by the Rev. Joseph A. Schneller, then of Christ Church, Ann Street, and a discourse in German by Father Raffeiner.

The building was fifty-two by seventy feet and its cost for work and materials $8,174; for fittings $1,384 and for the organ $600. Before it was entirely finished the lease of the hired Baptist meeting house in Delancey Street expired, and the new congregation were for a time accommodated by Father Quarter in the basement of St. Mary's, Grand Street. The dedication ceremony took place on Easter Sunday, 1836. The parish was later incorporated under the old New York law with a board of lay trustees elected by the pew-holders. For seven years Father Raffeiner officiated as pastor of St. Nicholas', having as his assistant the Benedictine Father Nicholas Balleis.

Later administration

John Nepomucene Neumann became friends with Father Raffeiner, who helped him get settled in New York. There he celebrated his first Mass in the church on June 26, 1836, making the church of St. Nicholas his first spiritual home. Neumann later became the first American bishop to be canonised in 1977. In 1842 the church was formally recognised by the diocese.

Father Raffeiner was succeeded in 1840 by his assistant, a Benedictine, Nicholas Balleis. Father Balleis was succeeded in 1841 by a Franciscan, Rev. John Lewitz. Archbishop Hughes brought the Redemptorists into the city, and tendered them the church property of St. Nicholas' at this time. The trustee system still obtained; the word of the founder of the parish to his flock had been, "Never give up your property." True to these words, the parish retained control of its property, and thereby birth was given to the Holy Redeemer Church. Rev. Gabriel Rumpler, C.SS.R., appointed by Bishop John Hughes, was rector of St. Nicholas' until 1844. After battling church members and trustees he left to form the Most Holy Redeemer Church on East 3rd Street, which became the second German-speaking church.

The Capuchin Ambrose Buchmeyer took charge, and remained until his death on October 11, 1861. The reminiscences of Father Bonaventure Frey recount how he and his companion, Father Francis, were welcomed in 1855 by Father Buchmeyer and his assistant, Felician Krebesz, and were invited to preach and say Mass at St. Nicholas', before continuing their journey westward.

New administration

The ever growing number of German-speaking immigrants necessitated a larger church. The second Church of St. Nicholas was built in 1848 in the Gothic Revival style and on December 24 dedicated by Archbishop Hughes. The schoolhouse was built in 1867. On Father Buchmeyer's death he was succeeded by Father Krebesz, also a Capuchin, and upon the death of the latter in 1876, Father Francis J. Shadier became pastor, assisted by Revs. Anthony Lamell and John B. Mayer. In 1879 Father Nicholas Sorg became pastor, and was succeeded by Father Mayer, P.R., in 1888. Rev. John A. Nageleisen took charge in 1908.

During the administration of Father Sorg a number of church societies and confraternities were established, while under Father Mayer the grand sanctuary was built, together with a large house on 1st Street, the rectory on 2nd Street, and a number of improvements made. The trusteeism that threatened to undermine church discipline in matters spiritual and temporal still obtained under Father Mayer. Upon the death of Father Mayer, Archbishop Farley undertook to place the parish under the regime in vogue in the State of New York regarding church property. He selected the men to be placed in charge of the situation, repeatedly attended meetings of the people, listened to the arguments of their speakers, invited the trustees to call on him in the archiepiscopal residence, with the final result that the last vestige of trusteeism vanished in the largest diocese in America.

In 1908 began the normal form of church government in the parish, under its first pastor and rector, Father Nageleisen. Circumstances and the financial depression in the country brought the church to the verge of bankruptcy, but Archbishop Farley kept it from inevitable disaster by his aid and advice. Within a year Father Nageleisen canceled some $30,000 of the $230,000 debt. The Diamond Jubilee memorial, an artistic chandelier of metal erected on both sides of the high altar, had the form of a vine, at the root of which appear the words, "Pray for the benefactors of St. Nicholas' parish." The tendrils encircled the names of the benefactors, and were set with electric lights as jewels, each representing $1000 paid by the donor. There were twenty tendrils or diamonds as yet, and the proceeds of the offerings were applied not only to the liquidation of the debt, but also to the missionary ends of church extension.

Father Nageleisen was born at Piqua, Ohio, on August 27, 1861, and ordained in the cathedral at Cincinnati by Archbishop Elder on May 30, 1885. He taught philosophy at the theological seminary at Carthagena, Ohio, for two years, and was then assigned as professor at Saint Joseph's, Rensselaer, Indiana. In 1897 Archbishop Corrigan received him into the Archdiocese of New York, where he officiated as curate at St. Boniface's, 2nd Avenue, until 1898, when he was sent into Rockland County. In 1908 he was appointed irremovable rector of St. Nicholas'.

Later years

In 1914 the number of parishioners was about 600. The church property at that time was valued at $445,000, with $200,000 encumbrance. The basement of the church was used by the Slovenian Catholics, who were attended by a Franciscan from Brooklyn. The societies in the parish were: Rosary, Corpus Christi, Agony of Our Lord, Confraternity of the Sacred Heart, four sodalities of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Conference of St. Vincent de Paul Society, St. Nicholas' and St. Aloysius' societies, and the St. Nicholas' School Association. The school had an attendance of 155 boys and 210 girls, and was taught by six Sisters of St. Dominic.

St. Nicholas became eclipsed by the Holy Redeemer Church, as the demographics changed by the mid-20th century on the Lower East Side. Holy Redeemer Church became the leading German Catholic church in the city and St. Nicholas Kirche declined in importance. This ultimately led to the end of church services and closure of the parochial school.

The church of St. Nicholas was sold in 1960 and demolished, the plot turned into a parking lot.

Organ

The organ dated from about 1881 was by Engelfried & Hadden. It was played by mechanical action with two manuals, 35 stops and 45 ranks. Lynnwood Farnam, noted concert organist of the early 20th century, visited the church on November 27, 1919, and wrote in one of his notebooks that the organ was a fine old piece in very bad condition, located west gallery, had tracker action, and electric blowing.