Magdalenenkirche (Wroclaw)

Main portal of the church

The Magdalenenkirche zu Breslau ( St. Maria Magdalena , Polish Katedra św. Marii Magdaleny ) is a Gothic brick church on Ulica Szewska (German Schuhbrücke ) in the center of Wroclaw. As a citizen church built by the council and the citizens, it was also one of the main churches in the city on the Oder . The church was Protestant until 1945 , since then it has been Old Catholic .

history

Painting by A. Woelfl from 1867 with the former spire helmets that were destroyed in 1945

Church building with the destroyed south tower on a photo around 1950

The foundation of the first parish church - as the successor to the Adalbertkirche - under the patronage of St. Andrew and Maria Magdalena took place between 1226 and 1232 by Bishop Lorenz I of Breslau . In 1241 a fire destroyed this church building during the Tatar invasion . A second construction, which was carried out between 1242 and 1248, only lasted about 100 years.

The church is designed as a three-aisled basilica . The brick- built church was given its current appearance between 1342 and 1362, while the towers were completed later. In place of the lead-covered Gothic wooden spiers erected in 1481, the towers were given the copper-covered Renaissance hoods between 1564 and 1581. The bridge between the two towers at a height of 47 meters was first mentioned in a document in 1459. On October 23, 1523 Johann Hess , the reformer of Breslau, gave his first sermon in the Magdalenenkirche. From this point in time until 1945, the church was one of the most important Protestant churches in the city, alongside the former Protestant Elisabethkirche on the Great Ring.

During a fireworks display on the bridge on March 22, 1887 on the occasion of the 90th birthday of Kaiser Wilhelm I , the north tower of the church caught fire and the two Turkish bells fell and smashed.

The last German service took place on January 21, 1945 under Pastor Bunzel. The church was damaged by bombs during the Battle of Wroclaw . On May 17, it caught fire in an explosion; the south tower split in its entire height. Its northern half finally collapsed and destroyed the spiers, the roof, the vaults, the choir and the south nave of the church. Almost 70% of the interior was badly damaged. The entire interior and the poor sinners bell were lost. Protestant services were held in the sacristy until 1948.

Initially makeshift, the gradual reconstruction of the church began under Tadeusz Broniewski in October 1946. It was not until 1972 that the church was completely restored and handed over to the Old Catholic community as a Catholic church. The spiers were not rebuilt and the interior was only partially reconstructed.

Today the Magdalenenkirche is owned by the Polish Catholic Church . It is the cathedral church of the Old Catholic Diocese of Wroclaw . A lookout point can now be found on the north tower at a height of 45 m.

architecture

Decorative elements

In the church you can find ornaments, decorations and more from different architectural epochs. Among them are mainly Romanesque, late Gothic and ornaments from the Renaissance.

Portals

The west portal is the main portal of the church. Its ornamental, figurative decoration is Gothic. On the south side there is a renaissance portal and a late Romanesque portal that comes from the St. Vincent monastery on the Elbing, which was demolished in 1546. There is a baroque portal on the north side.

Furnishing

View of the interior

Church interior

Inside the church there are 16 chapels as well as numerous side altars and epitaphs . The epitaph for Adam von Arzat was created in 1677 by the sculptor Mathias Rauchmiller , who also created the epitaph for Octavius ​​Pestaluzzi.

Bells

In the south tower hung the sinful bell that was cast in 1386. It was rung on feast days and for the Lord's Prayer. Probably the largest bell in Silesia with a circumference of 6.30 meters and an inner height of 1.80 meters, it was destroyed forever by the fire on May 17, 1945. In the past, as shown above , a fire also destroyed the so-called Turkish bells .

gallery

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  Northern front

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  Vault

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  Romanesque portal

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  View of the roof

See also

• Maria Magdalenen High School

literature

• Johann Carl Hermann Schmeidler: Documentary contributions to the history of the main parish church St. Maria Magdalena in Breslau before the Reformation . Breslau 1838 ( digitized version )

Web links

Commons : Magdalenenkirche (Breslau)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• History of Wroclaw: The main and parish church of St. Maria Magdalena
• Church History Information (Polish)
• In the regional church archive of Berlin there are some documents from the Maria Magdalenen Church in Breslau such as
  • Events from 1924 to 1933, u. a. with Hsl. Chronicle, members and events of the Ev. Virgins Association of the St. Maria Magdalena Congregation ,
  • Events from 1934 to 1938 (during the Nazi era ),
  • from the period 1860 to 1940: building documents for the rectory, acceptance of donations, closure of the evangelical Magdalenen grammar school, seven-centenary of the church, establishment, approval and statutes of the "Wilhelm, Auguste and Ida Riediger Foundation" and a. ,
  • From the period 1954 to 1964: a pen drawing, the poem The old bell of St. Maria Magdalena in Breslau by Pastor Maetschke .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Flyer for the cathedral (only in Polish) ( Memento of the original from July 10, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (no longer available) 
2. ↑ Brief description of the Maria Magdalenenkirche , accessed on January 17, 2018.

Coordinates: 51 ° 6 ′ 34 ″  N , 17 ° 2 ′ 5 ″  E