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In 1866, German immigrants founded the Altona community in the city of Blumenau (which today gives life to the Itoupava Seca neighborhood). Altona is the name of a neighborhood near Hamburg, Germany.

Between the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, the community had two small foundries which later joined forces to form Electro Aço Altona S.A. However, there was still no church to properly serve the town.

It was then that the engineer and founder of Electro Aço Altona S.A., Richard Paul Werner, built the first Lutheran church in the region, which they called the Church of the Cross, inaugurated on September 15, 1929.

Unlike all the churches built by German immigrants, the Church of the Cross was characterized by Romanesque architecture and the presence of a robust volume marked by two low square towers built with stones, highlighting the symmetry of the façade and centered by a door finished with a full arch.

“The Church of the Cross of the Altona/Itoupava Seca community was wonderful and of a unique architectural quality." Architect and Master in Urbanism, History and Architecture of the City – Angelina Wittmann.