Der Ersten Deutschen Evangelische Protestantische Kirche, or First German Evangelical Protestant Church, was founded in 1894 but traces its history back to 1855 when a group of sixteen worshipers founded the First German Evangelical Church on Apple Street on land that was donated by Cincinnati businessman Jacob Hoffner. The congregation soon outgrew the church and a new building was constructed not far away on Hoffner Street. The plaque over the entrance declares that it was the first church of its kind in Cumminsville, “Der Ersten Deutschen Evang. Prot. Gemeinde in Cumminsville.” Due largely to the church’s original congregation of well-to-do citizens, the church is well appointed, featuring frescoed walls and a large organ, and in 1955 boasted over 1,000 members. In 1957 the church joined with the Evangelical and Reform Church to become First United Church of Christ. Unfortunately, many of those well-to-do church goers moved to the suburbs outside of the city limits during the civil unrest of the 1960s and 70s and today the new house of worship on Glenview Avenue has only 237 members.
Bibliographical Sources:
The Bicentennial Guide to Greater Cincinnati: A Portrait of Two Hundred Years, by Geoffrey J. Giglierano, Deborah A. Overmeyer, with Frederic L. Propas, The Cincinnati Historical Society, 1988, page 267
German Cincinnati, by Don Heinrich Tolzmann, Arcadia Publishing, 2005, page 41
Cincinnati First United Church of Christ, accessed 15th Ocotber 2009.
