Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church

About

The Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church is a church in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. The church is the home of the oldest active Lutheran congregation in Canada. German Lutheran settlers arrived in 1753 and held services in the open air and later at St.

John's Anglican Church (Lunenburg). The first church on this site was built in 1772 in preparation for the arrival of its first pastor, the Rev. Mr.

Friederich Schultz at Lunenburg. He stayed for 8 years. After the position was vacant for two years, Johann Gottlob Schmeisser arrived in Lunenburg on 1 May 1782.

Within a month of arriving in the community, the Lutheran minister was involved in defending the town from American invaders in the Raid on Lunenburg (1782). He is buried at the Hillcrest cemetery. In 1814, Dettlieb Christopher Jessen donated to the church a silver paten and two chalices.

Third minister was Ferdinand Conrad Temme (1808-1832). He was forced to leave Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (part of present-day Germany) in 1806 when Duke Charles William Ferdinand was defeated by Napoleon's troops in the Battle of Auerstedt. Temme described his initial response to being posted to Lunenburg: "I reluctantly accepted this call...