Though most of his accomplishments were in the area of decorative art, Hetsch also designed the Great Synagogue (1833) and St. Ansgar's Church (1842) in Copenhagen.
St. Ansgar is named for the patron saint of Scandinavia, a French Benedictine monk who Christianized much of Denmark, Sweden, and northern Germany between 830 and 865 A.D. The town is the site of a pioneer Norwegian Lutheran Church founded in December 1853 by Rev. Claus Lauritz Clausen, a Dane who was commissioned by the Lutheran Church of Norway to form congregations for Norwegian immigrants in Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota.
Ansgar | St. Ansgar | St. Ansgar's Church | St. Ansgar's Cathedral | Morten Ansgar Kveim | Ansgar Beckermann |
His funeral was held in Valley City, North Dakota, and he was buried in Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in his hometown of St. Ansgar, Iowa.