George Church (Toruń)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
St. Georgen Church, drawing by Georg Friedrich Steiner , before 1766

The St. Georgen Church (Polish Kościół św. Jerzego ) was a church in Toruń (Thorn) in Polish Prussia from the 13th century to 1811.

location

The church with the large and small hospitals was located about 350 meters north of the old town in front of the Kulmer Gate on the road to Kulm (Chełmno).

history

The St. Georgen Hospital with the St. Georgen Church was probably founded in 1260. It was used to take sick people, including those suffering from the plague, which is why it was located at the gates of the city. The hospital was the oldest of its kind in Polish Prussia. Since 1340 the St. George's Church has also been the parish church of the population who lived outside the city walls.

Since 1565 the church was used by a Polish Evangelical Lutheran congregation and the Bohemian Brothers. After the riots in Thorn in 1724, it remained the only Protestant church in the city, but has been in German since that time.

In 1657 the church burned down during the siege by Swedish troops and was rebuilt in 1663. In 1703 it was destroyed again during the Third Northern War and rebuilt in 1708.

New St. Georgen Church built in 1907, consecrated after 1945 as the 'Church of Our Lady of Victory'

In 1811 the church and hospital were leveled for fortifications around the city during the Napoleonic Wars.

In 1907 the Evangelical Regional Church of the older Prussian provinces had a new St. George's Church built at another location in Thorn-Mockern. After 1920 it passed to the Uniate Evangelical Church in Poland . After most of the members of the community fled and were expelled in 1945, the Roman Catholic Church took over the building and consecrated it under a new name.

architecture

The last building, which was completed in 1708, was - according to drawings and archaeological findings - a Gothic brick building with partially glazed bricks. The total length was 33 meters, of which 15 meters in the choir, the width 13 meters.

After the demolition, three epitaphs and a few other parts of the interior were transferred to the Church of the Holy Cross, of which, however, nothing remained after 1945.

In 2014, the remains of the church's foundations were discovered during road works, which were archaeologically analyzed.

literature

  • Reinhold Heuer: Thorn-St. George. History of the Georgengemeinde, its old church and its hospital; Building history and description of the new Georgenkirche in Thorn-Mocker. E. Golembiewski, Thorn 1907.

Web links