Mierunsken Church
| Mierunsken (Merunen) Church (Ruiny kościoła w Mieruniszkach) |
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|---|---|
 Ruins of the Mierunsken Church (Merunen) |
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| Construction year: | before 1545/1710 |
| Style elements : | Feldsteinkirche (plastered) |
| Client: | Evangelical Church Mierunsken ( Church Province of East Prussia / Evangelical Church of the Old Prussian Union ) |
| Location: | 54 ° 10 '13.3 " N , 22 ° 34' 11.3" E |
| Location: |
Mieruniszki Warmia-Masuria , Poland |
| Purpose: | Evangelical Lutheran Parish Church |
| Local community: | Not available anymore. Only ruins remain of the church building. |
The church in Mierunsken was a plastered stone building rebuilt in 1710 with a western tower in front . Until it was destroyed in the last year of World War II , it was a Protestant place of worship for the people living in the parish of the East Prussian village of Mierunsken (1938–1945 Merunen, in Polish Mieruniszki ). Only ruins remain of the church building .
Geographical location
The former Mierunsken and today's Mieruniszki is located in the northwest of the Podlaskie Voivodeship on the Polish Voivodeship Road 652 (the former German Reichsstraße 137 ), which connects Kowale Oleckie (Kowahlen , 1938–1945 Reimannswalde) with Suwałki (Suwalken , 1941–1944 Sudauen) . There is no longer a rail connection as it did before 1945.
The ruins of the church are on the lake side of the main road in the middle of the village.
Church building
Already in 1545 a Protestant church was mentioned in Mierunsken . The church was destroyed when the Tartars invaded in 1656/57 and could only be rebuilt between 1695 and 1710. The result was a structure made of plastered field stone with a three-sided choir and Drosdower choir on the south side. The outer walls were attached under the influence of Dutch classicism .
The three-storey west tower , divided into panels , was presented. It had a tent roof with a weather vane from 1760.
On the south side of the church there was a large cross in a niche with a round-arched shamrock. The interior of the church with side galleries had a flat wooden ceiling.
The furnishings from around 1700 showed decorative folk art. The three-storey altar “Danzig Barock” was similar in design to that in the Protestant church in Marggrabowa (1928–1945 Treuburg, Polish Olecko ). The altarpiece with a crucifix on the main floor showed well-made carvings . The pulpit - probably from the same workshop as the altar - was combined with the confessional .
The church bell consisted of three bells.
In 1945, the last year of the Second World War , but also in the year in which the 400th anniversary of the church in Mierunsken could have been celebrated, the church building was destroyed. It only exists as a ruin, the nave and the tower are without a roof and only have the foundation walls.
Parish
Soon after the founding of what would later become the largest village in the Oletzko district (1933–1945 Treuburg district ) in 1537 , Mierunsken became a Protestant parish with a church that was mentioned in 1545. A large number of small towns, villages and places to live belonged to his parish . At that time the parish was part of the Inspection Lyck ( Polish Ełk ), until 1945 it was integrated into the parish of Oletzko / Treuburg in the church province of East Prussia of the Evangelical Church of the Old Prussian Union .
A pastor was named in Mierunsken as early as 1545. The number of parishioners was so large by 1862 that a second clergyman was appointed. Finally, in 1913, Sczeczinken (1916–1945 Eichhorn, Polish Szczecinki ) was branched off as an independent parish and given its own parish . However, she remained connected with Mierunsken in the pastoral office: the parish seat was in Mierunsken, while in Sczeczinken / Eichhorn an assistant preacher did his job.
In 1925, the affiliated parishes had 5622 parishioners, of whom 3822 lived in the parish of Mierunsken and 1800 in the parish of Eichhorn. In the years 1927/28 Eichhorn got its own house of worship.
Parish places
The parish of Mierunsken (M) / Eichhorn (E) included 25 towns, villages and places to live:
| Surname | Change name from 1938 to 1945 |
Polish name |
Surname | Change name from 1938 to 1945 |
Polish name |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adlig Neufelde (M) | Bialskie Pole | Kolpakowo (M) | Kolpakovo | |||
| * Billstein (M) (until 1903 Bialla) |
Biała Olecka | * Krzysöwken (E) |
(from 1927) Kreuzdorf |
Krzyżewko | ||
| * Bittkowen (M) | Bittkau (East Pr.) | Bitkovo | Kujawa (M) | |||
| * Borawsken (E) | Deutscheck (Eastern Pr.) | Borawskie | Loan types (M) | Lenarty | ||
| Buttken (M) | Budki | * Mierunsken | Merunas | Mieruniszki | ||
| * Dombrowsken (E) | King's Rest | Dąbrowskie | New Retzken (E) | Nowe Raczki | ||
| * Drosdowen (M) |
(from 1934) Drosten |
Drozdowo | * Plöwken (M) | Plewki | ||
| * Eichhorn (E) (until 1916 Sczeczinken) |
Szczecinki | Cells (E) | Siebenbergen | Przytuły | ||
| * Garbassen (M) | Garba's Drugi | * Rehfeld (E) | Godziejewo | |||
| Great Retzken (E) | Raczki Wielkie | Salzwedel (M) | Drozdówko | |||
| Jeworken (M) | Little Plop | Jaworek | Schlepowen (M) | Slepowo | ||
| * Judzicken (M) | Meadow height | Judziki | * Urbanken (E) | Urbanki | ||
| Klein Retzken (E) | Raczki Małe |
Pastor
Pastors of the parish Mierunsken and the later parish Mierunsken were:
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In the parish of Sczeczinken (Eichhorn) the following were appointed auxiliary preachers:
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Church records
From the parish register documents of the Mierunsken parish, the following has been preserved:
- Baptisms: 1919-1925.
literature
- Johann LH Alexander: Festschrift for the 350th anniversary of the Mierunsken parish on October 22, 1895. Marggrabowa 1895.
- Edelgard Stanko, Heinz Rieck: Mierunsken Merunen our village , oA
- Edelgard Stanko, Heinz Rieck: Memories of Mierunsken Merunen , oA
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Mieruniszki - Mierunsken / Merunen - oldest village in the Treuburg district
- ↑ Walther Hubatsch : History of the Protestant Church in East Prussia , Volume 2: Images of East Prussian churches. Göttingen 1968, p. 115, fig. 528.
- ↑ a b c Walther Hubatsch: History of the Protestant Church in East Prussia . Volume 2, Documents. Göttingen 1968, p. 484.
- ↑ a b c Friedwald Moeller: Old Prussian Protestant Pastor's Book from the Reformation to the Expulsion in 1945. Hamburg 1968, p. 95.
- ↑ a b Friedwald Moeller: Old Prussian Evangelical Pastors' Book from the Reformation to the Expulsion in 1945. Hamburg 1968, p. 130.
- ↑ The * indicates a school location.
- ↑ Today the place is divided between the municipalities of Gołdap and Filipów : Bitkowo (Filipów) and Bitkowo (Gołdap)
- ↑ Christa Stache: Directory of the church records in the Evangelical Central Archive in Berlin , Part L: The eastern church provinces of the Evangelical Church of the Old Prussian Union. 3. Edition. Berlin 1992, p. 85.