Alois Lang (1871-1954) was one of the most celebrated American woodcarvers of his time. He helped introduce the medieval art of ecclesiastical carving to the U. S. from Europe.
He learned the art of woodcarving in his hometown of Oberammergau, Bavaria. For centuries that German community has been home to many of Europe’s finest carvers. His family had been woodcarvers for generations. Lang moved to the U. S. in 1890, at age 19, after studying in Florence with sculptor Fortunato Galli.
Alois Lang soon became director of ecclesiastical art and wood carving for the American Seating Company at Manitowoc, Wisconsin. In 1927 he moved with the company to Grand Rapids, Michigan. Many of the best American woodcarvers worked for furniture companies during that era. Alois Lang was a leader among that group. Image source above left: The Windows of First Reformed Church.

Alois Lang, Sculptor of Wood:

  Alois Lang’s woodcarving arrived at First Reformed Church during a building renovation in 1905. Fine mahogany was the wood of choice for that remodelling. Mahogany was used for the new pulpit, the angel lectern, the altar, and the chancel furniture. Alois Lang created the carving for those furnishings. Carpenters installed new mahogany pews and new mahogany-finished wainscot. The new collection plates were also mahogany.
During this same renovation Fred Lamb painted the sanctuary ceiling in green and gold and painted the ceiling’s portraits of the Evangelists. His company, J. and R. Lamb Co., also created the chancel’s opalescent window of Christ at that time.
Carpenters used oak for new balcony stairways and for a new sanctuary floor during that renovaton. Architect Daniel M. Rothenberger directed the work. Herman Wohlsen and Washington K. Hiester were lead carpenters.

  Alois Lang carved several well-publicized Last Supper altarpieces during his career. These design is based on Leonardo da Vinci’s painting in Milan. These woodcarvings are among Alois Lang’s most popular creations. First Reformed Church does not own a Last Supper. But nearby, at Calvary UCC Church in Reading, a six-foot-long Last Supper by Alois Lang presides over the altar.

 1921: His Company’s Advertisement in The Architectural Record:

The 1922 catalog of Alois Lang’s woodcarving studios is a showcase of his best ars ecclesiastica (ecclesiastical art). The catalog’s introduction explains that Oberammergau, Bavaria, was a center of ecclesiastical woodcarving for centuries, and “we have drawn upon this center for the group of skilled craftsmen in our studios.” Alois Lang was the best of them.
The catalog includes hand-carved pulpits, litany desks, clergy chairs, prayer desks, communion tables, altars, reredos, candlesticks, hymn boards, baptismal fonts, and more.

  Alois Lang and his employers at American Seating Company worked closely with leading architects in the early 1900s. It was a Golden Age of church construction in the U. S. The company advertised their ecclesiastical furniture in the leading architectural journals.
The woodcarving studio often created its own original designs, as seen in First Reformed Church. Sometimes, though, the carvers followed designs drafted by the church architect. This 1922 catalog includes furniture designs by numerous architects including Charles Schweinfurth, Benjamin C. McDougall, and Reynolds H. Hinsdale.

John D. Rockefeller, Sr. gifted this Rockefeller Chapel to the University of Chicago in the 1920s. He was the university’s founder and was one of the wealthiest men of that time.
Architect Bertram Goodhue designed this monumental church in a Gothic Revival style. The building is often considered one of the most impressive churches in the U. S. The exterior has more than 100 stone sculptures by Lee Lawrie and Ulric Ellerhusen.
Alois Lang created the carvings for the organ case and for the south balcony. He used white Appalachian oak which is the wood also used for the pews. These oak angels are among his most dramatic sculptures.

  The Holy Rosary Cathedral in Toledo, Ohio, was completed in 1931 with designs by Architect William Perry. He designed the building in a Spanish Plateresque style to reflect the Ohio city’s sister city of Toledo, Spain.
Alois Lang carved the chancel’s life-sized statues of the eight writers of the New Testament: the four evangelists and the four epistle writers. He used pin-grained Michigan oak for this project. This grouping of sculpture in oak is a remarkable showcase of Alois Lang’s figural work.