St. John's Church (Gdansk)

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View from the tower of the Marienkirche to the Johanneskirche
The main ship
Detail from the high altar of the Johanneskirche

The St. John's Church is a Roman Catholic church in Gdansk Main Town with double patronage of John the Baptist and John the Evangelist . The church is located in the former Johannisgasse (today: Świętojańska 50 ).

history

The construction of the church began in 1377 on the site of the wooden Johanneskapelle built in 1353.

  • The western nave, the transept with crossing and the single-nave presbytery were built by 1415.
  • 1450–1463 the nave was increased, the presbytery received side aisles.
  • In 1453 an attempt was made to increase the church tower, which only happened after the Thirteen Years' War .
  • In 1559 the church was taken over by the first Protestant pastor.
  • In 1679 the gables were demolished and buttresses were erected on the east wall, which were supposed to save the east wall from collapsing due to undermined foundations when the dead were buried in eight layers.

The church was largely destroyed during the war in 1945 . The previously outsourced interior was deposited in the Marienkirche .

The outside of the church has been renovated, but the inside has remained in ruins. It was handed over to the Catholic church authorities in 1991. In 1995, due to a contract between the Archdiocese of Danzig, the St. John's Church was given to the Baltic Sea Cultural Center (Nadbałtyckie Centrum Kultury) for use. On Sundays at 12 noon, holy masses for cultural workers are still held in Kashubian , German and Polish .

Furnishing

The church was furnished with valuable works of art until 1945, including:

  • the Gothic “Crucifixion” (1482) and two rows of Gothic pews
  • the 12 meter high Renaissance high altar made of sandstone and marble (1611), a work by Abraham van den Blocke
  • Baroque large (1629–1745) and small (1685–1761) organ
  • baroque pulpit (1616)
  • many furnishings, donated by Zacharias Zappio († 1680) and his wife.

Clergy

  • Martin Statius (1589–1655), from Naugard , became a deacon at St. John's Church in 1617.
  • Johann Walther, deacon and preacher, who in 1613 wrote a pamphlet against the Reformed preacher of the Elisabeth Church, Jakob Adam , because of the dispute over the erection of the high altar .

Web links

Commons : Johanneskirche Gdansk  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

literature

Coordinates: 54 ° 21 ′ 7 ″  N , 18 ° 39 ′ 21.6 ″  E