Hi guys
My first report is from a village church located in a place that has an interesting if somewhat sad history. Before last war, there were Germans living in the village alongside Polish Catholics. Two groups had their separate places of worship. The German (protestant) church was officially opened in 1901 by Prussian Kaiser Wilhelm II himself. The village belonged then to the Prussian Empire. Since 1918 it was in Poland.
After the last war, ethnic Germans were expelled from Polish Republic. This church, amongst others, has fallen into disuse and rots away since. It belongs to a local Protestant parish but there are no worshippers in the village and parish is not interested in selling it, apparently preferring it to become ruin.
There is still a lot of features present, including iron cross on the top of the bell tower. Also, a lot of the original woodwork survived which is a compliment for the locals who left the church alone instead plundering it for valuable timber.
Street view
Front view, the main entrance. The door is locked and the notice is posted on it, warning not to enter the building at the risk of death.
Solid stone foundations and brickwork still looking good after 70 years of neglect
North side
Entrance to the cellars
Tower view
Cellar
There's been some digging in there, maybe someone looked for German treasures or some old resident came back to retrieve what was hidden there before advancing Russian troops in early 1945, can't say.
Back of the church, east side. Cellars windows visible.
Inside of the building. Some pews remain intact. The choir gallery still stands, too, despite large portion of the roof that had collapsed on top of it, destroying the organ. What's left of the stairs leading up to the tower is on the left.
Wall paintings to the left from the altar. "Kommt" means "come".
Right hand side of the altar
Back (eastern) wall
Roof is largely intact, except western end of the nave where it had collapsed long ago
Sad, really. I took my 4 year old daughter to visit the place and she said to me afterwards "I don't want that castle to be ruined like that. I want it repaired". We visited a lot of English Heritage castles before and she calls every big old building with a tower "a castle".
Cracks already start to appear in the walls, especially in the NE section
Main (front) entrance under the bell tower
View of the nave from the organ gallery
The cornerstone. Unfortunately I neither can read Gothic nor understand German. By the dates 1701 and 1901 present I presume that it commemorates 200th anniversary of the Prussian Empire.
My first report is from a village church located in a place that has an interesting if somewhat sad history. Before last war, there were Germans living in the village alongside Polish Catholics. Two groups had their separate places of worship. The German (protestant) church was officially opened in 1901 by Prussian Kaiser Wilhelm II himself. The village belonged then to the Prussian Empire. Since 1918 it was in Poland.
After the last war, ethnic Germans were expelled from Polish Republic. This church, amongst others, has fallen into disuse and rots away since. It belongs to a local Protestant parish but there are no worshippers in the village and parish is not interested in selling it, apparently preferring it to become ruin.
There is still a lot of features present, including iron cross on the top of the bell tower. Also, a lot of the original woodwork survived which is a compliment for the locals who left the church alone instead plundering it for valuable timber.
Street view
Front view, the main entrance. The door is locked and the notice is posted on it, warning not to enter the building at the risk of death.
Solid stone foundations and brickwork still looking good after 70 years of neglect
North side
Entrance to the cellars
Tower view
Cellar
There's been some digging in there, maybe someone looked for German treasures or some old resident came back to retrieve what was hidden there before advancing Russian troops in early 1945, can't say.
Back of the church, east side. Cellars windows visible.
Inside of the building. Some pews remain intact. The choir gallery still stands, too, despite large portion of the roof that had collapsed on top of it, destroying the organ. What's left of the stairs leading up to the tower is on the left.
Wall paintings to the left from the altar. "Kommt" means "come".
Right hand side of the altar
Back (eastern) wall
Roof is largely intact, except western end of the nave where it had collapsed long ago
Sad, really. I took my 4 year old daughter to visit the place and she said to me afterwards "I don't want that castle to be ruined like that. I want it repaired". We visited a lot of English Heritage castles before and she calls every big old building with a tower "a castle".
Cracks already start to appear in the walls, especially in the NE section
Main (front) entrance under the bell tower
View of the nave from the organ gallery
The cornerstone. Unfortunately I neither can read Gothic nor understand German. By the dates 1701 and 1901 present I presume that it commemorates 200th anniversary of the Prussian Empire.
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