Cathedral of Christ the King (Katowice)

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The west side of the Christ the King Cathedral; on the right the choir , in front of it the curia
Main facade with west side
The main facade; the structure with the bell cage can be seen above the eaves balustrade
Sanctuary
Sacrament chapel with the mosaic donated by Cardinal Ratzinger
crypt
Statue in honor of Pope John Paul II, which was placed in front of the church after his death

The Christ the King Cathedral ( Polish : Archikatedra Chrystusa Króla ) in Katowice is the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Katowice . It was built from 1932 to 1955 based on classicism and, with a length of 101 m and a width of 50 m, is one of the largest churches and the largest cathedral in Poland .

history

prehistory

The city of Katowice was part of the Prussian Province of Silesia or Upper Silesia until 1922 and accordingly belonged to the Duchy of Wroclaw . When the city fell to the newly founded Polish state, it could no longer be administered by the German diocese of Breslau. Therefore, an apostolic administrator was first sent to the city . In 1925 the Katowice diocese was founded. From then on, the parish church of St. Peter and Paul in the south of the city served as the cathedral . But a year earlier, a competition for the design of the new cathedral had been announced, but the results were unsatisfactory. Ultimately, the decision was made in favor of Zygmunt Gawlik's design . The architect Franciszek Mączyński was put to the side of the young architect .

The model of the two Krakow architects envisaged a 89 m long and 53 m wide church building. The design was particularly impressive due to the dimensions of the dome, which, at 106 m to the top, next to Czestochowa , was to become the highest “tower” in Poland.

start of building

The excavation of the foundations began on May 5, 1927 in the presence of Bishop Arkadiusz Lisiecki . However, the laying of the foundation stone and the start of construction could only take place on September 4, 1932. After two years the walls reached a height of 6 m. The curia to the south of the cathedral was completed in the early 1930s . The choir was completed on May 5, 1938, before the war . It has since been used as the church of the newly established curate .

Construction freeze and resumption of work

With the outbreak of the Second World War , the construction activities came to an abrupt end, as Eastern Upper Silesia was occupied by the Wehrmacht , the funds withdrawn and building materials no longer made available. After the war, construction work was resumed in May 1946 despite the difficult situation and lack of money. Now the construction work was hindered by the communist leadership: the plans had to be changed so that the nave could be extended, but the dome could only reach its current height of 64 meters. A church building dominating the silhouette was undesirable over a communist working-class town. Because of these obstacles and the seven-year construction pause during the war, the building could not be inaugurated by the Czestochowa Bishop Zdzisław Goliński until October 30, 1955 (23 years after the start of construction) .

The new church building was one of the largest Polish churches. In the period that followed, the furnishings were completed and, after the Second Vatican Council, adapted to the new liturgical requirements. In 1957 the cathedral also became a church of its own parish.

On June 20, 1983, Pope John Paul II prayed in the sacrament chapel . This chapel, where the tabernacle also stands, was later provided with a mosaic made of gold-colored stones, which was made by the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who later became Pope Benedict XVI. , who had also visited the cathedral on September 13, 1980, was donated. The mosaic consists of about a million stones that are only about half a centimeter in size and is one of the main attractions inside the cathedral.

On March 25, 1992, the diocese of Katowice was raised to an archdiocese ; the Christ the King's Cathedral thus became the seat of a metropolitan (archbishop).

architecture

In the area around Katowice there is intensive coal mining and the subsoil is criss-crossed by many extraction shafts, which often leads to building damage due to subsidence. Therefore, the large cathedral was given a self-supporting reinforced concrete structure and supporting pillars were added in the area of ​​the crypt , which were intended for the large dome.

The building itself is a central building on a square floor plan, which is crowned by a simple dome (pendentive dome with low drum) with a lantern . A narrower portal area is in front of the main room in the north. The north facade with the main entrance has a large flight of stairs and a colonnade based on a design by Xawery Dunikowski . The end of the choir in the south is semicircular.

The cathedral was built in the style of classicism , but with many modern and Art Deco elements. The exterior was given an unadorned sandstone cladding and an ornate cornice with a balustrade was only attached to the roof approach . There are further decorations on the windows, where frames with rectangular fields are embedded around the window. Above this is the carved inscription SOLI DEO HONOR ET GLORIA - Only God be glory and glory .

The original, baroque interior plan was discarded after the war and replaced by a more functional design. The center of the interior is vaulted by the dome. There is also a connection with chapels, the choir is connected to the south. The walls are whitewashed throughout, only the stone elements are left unplastered.

Bells

The five bells of Christ the King's Cathedral are hung in a belfry above the main facade. They were all cast by Perner in Passau with financial support from the Catholic Church in Germany .

No. Name of the bell Chime Weight
kg
Casting year foundry
1 Jubileuszowy h 0 3,050 2000 Perner ( Passau )
3 Chrystus Król d 1 1,550 1983
2 Matka Boska Piekarska f sharp 1 841
4th Michał Archanioł a 1 473
5 Św. Józef Robotnik h 1 348

Organs

Great organ

The large organ on the gallery was built in 1980 by the Austrian organ builder Gregor Hradetzky from Krems an der Donau , has 43 stops , mechanical playing and stop action and the following disposition :

I positive C–
Wooden dacked 8th'
Quintadene 8th'
Principal 4 ′
Reed flute 4 ′
recorder 2 ′
Pointed fifth 1 13
Sesquialtera II
Sharp 1'
Krummhorn 8th'
Tremulant
II main work C–
Pommer 16 ′
Principal 8th'
Reed flute 8th'
Black viola 8th'
Octave 4 ′
Dumped 4 ′
Fifth 2 23
Octave 2 ′
mixture 1 13
Trumpet 16 ′
Spanish trumpet 8th'
III Swell C–
Bourdon 16 ′
Violprincipal 8th'
Vox coelestis 8th'
Octave 4 ′
Night horn 4 ′
Nasat 2 23
Duplicate 2 ′
third 1 35
Cornet V (from g) 8th
Plein jeu 1 35
bassoon 16 ′
Trumpet harm. 8th'
Clairon 4 ′
Tremulant
Pedal C–
Principal 16 ′
Sub-bass 16 ′
Fifth bass 10 23
Flute bass 8th'
Octave 8th'
Chorale bass 4 ′
Back set 2 23
Night horn 2 ′
trombone 16 ′
Trumpet 8th'

Small organ

Behind the altar in the ambulatory is the small organ, which was also built by Hradetzky in 1977. It has 17 registers.

literature

  • Jerzy Nyga, Marian Zielnok: Bogu i Ludziom nowe kościoły w diecezji katowickiej. Wydawnictwo Księgarni Św. Jacka, Katowice 1996, ISBN 83-901087-9-8 (book on post-war churches in the diocese).
  • Ewa Chojecka et al .: Sztuka Górnego Śląska od Średniowiecza do końca XX wieku. Muzeum Śląskie, Katowice 2004, ISBN 83-87455-77-6 .

Web links

Commons : Cathedral of Christ the King Katowice  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Website of the website of the cathedral (PDF, German, accessed on October 7, 2012; 178 kB) ( Memento of the original from August 20, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.katedra.katowice.opoka.org.pl
  2. See http://www.organy.art.pl/instrumenty.php?instr_id=30
  3. See http://www.organy.art.pl/instrumenty.php?instr_id=29

Coordinates: 50 ° 15 '6 "  N , 19 ° 1' 8.6"  E