In 1896, Father Wilhelm Grutza commissioned architect Erhard Brielmaier to design St. Josaphat Church, now known as the Basilica of St. Josaphat, located in Milwaukee’s Lincoln Village neighborhood. The building includes materials salvaged from the Chicago Post Office and Custom House and shipped to Milwaukee on 500 railroad flatcars. In 1901, Archbishop Francis Xavier Katzer formally dedicated St. Josaphat to Josaphat Kuncevyc, a saint of the Roman Catholic Church. The architecture of St. Josaphat is based on a Polish style Cathedral, modeled after Rome’s St. Peter’s Basilica. In 1926, artists Conrad Schmidt and Gonippo Raggi completed St. Josaphat’s interior decorating. The interior decorating included oil paintings of biblical scenes on the dome and walls, stained glass windows imported from Innsbruck, Austria, and gold-leaf columns. During this time, the church was the largest place of worship in Milwaukee, seating 2,400 members. In 1929, Pope Pius XI gave St. Josaphat Church the honor and prestige of becoming the third minor basilica in the United States. St. Josaphat was designated a Milwaukee landmark on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
Kiran Dhillon
Graduate Student
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee