Mother of God, Help of Christians (Klusy)

Mother of God, Help of Christians in Klusy (Kościół Matki Bożej Wspomożenia Wiernych w Klusach) Klaussen Church
The once Protestant, now Catholic church in Klusy (Klaussen)
Construction year:	1883-1884
Inauguration:	November 4, 1884
Style elements :	Neo-Gothic brick building
Client:	Evangelical Church Community Klaussen ( Church Province East Prussia / Church of the Old Prussian Union )
Location:	53 ° 47 '39.8 "  N , 22 ° 7' 16.5"  E Coordinates: 53 ° 47 '39.8 "  N , 22 ° 7' 16.5"  E
Location:	Klusy Warmia-Masuria , Poland
Purpose:	Roman-Catholic , until 1945 Evangelical-Lutheran parish church
Parish:	Klusy 12, 12-250 Orzysz
Diocese :	Ełk

The Church of Our Lady, Help of Christians in Klusy , Poland , is a neo-Gothic building from the late 19th century. Until 1945 it was a Protestant church for the East Prussian parish Klaussen (Lyck district) . Now it is the Roman Catholic parish church of the Klusy parish in the Ełk diocese .

Geographical location

Klusy is located on the Polish state road 16 (former German Reichsstraße 127 ) between the cities of Ełk ( German  Lyck ) and Orzysz (Arys) in the east of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship . The current district town of Pisz (Johannisburg) is 27 kilometers to the south-west.

The location of the church is in the center of Klusy on the road to Ogródek (Ogrodtken , 1938 to 1945 Kalgendorf) .

Church building

As early as 1354, a chapel that was visible from afar existed in what was then Claussen and was idyllic between the three lakes Lipinsker See (1935 to 1945: Seebrücker See, Jezioro Lipińskie in Polish), Druglin-Ses (1938 to 1945: Insel-See, Jezioro Druglin Duży in Polish) and Krackstein Lake (Jezioro Krakszytn in Polish). She was called Clausula Mariana . In 1754 it was replaced by a new church, which burned down in 1858. The neo-Gothic church , which still exists today, was built in 1883 and 1884 and was inaugurated on November 4, 1884. It was built of brick with a slim tower .

The interior of the church was completely new at that time. The organ comes from the workshop of the organ builder Max Terletzki in Königsberg (Prussia) ( Kaliningrad in Russian ), the bells were cast in 1861.

Interior of the church

The building was a Protestant church until 1945 and was then forcibly expropriated in favor of the Roman Catholic Church. Today it serves as the Roman Catholic parish church of the Klusy parish and was named Kościół Matki Bożej Wspomożenia Wiernych (Church of the Mother of God, Help of Christians / Mariahilfkirche ).

Parish

Evangelical

Church history

A pre-Reformation ecclesiastical center already existed in Claussen before 1354. In the 16th century it was determined by the Lutheran Reformation and organizationally assigned to the Lyck inspection department until 1715. From the beginning of the 19th century until 1945 it belonged to the church district of Lyck within the church province of East Prussia of the church of the Old Prussian Union . On the occasion of the 1925 census, 3,088 parishioners were registered for the parish Klaussen who lived in a larger area. The church patronage lay with the state authorities.

Escape and expulsion of the local population put an end to the Protestant church work in the Klaussen region. Today there are very few Protestant residents in Klusy. They are oriented towards the parish in Ełk (Lyck) , a branch of the parish in Pisz (Johannisburg) in the Masuria diocese of the Evangelical-Augsburg Church in Poland .

Parish locations (until 1945)

Before 1945, the Klaussen parish consisted of twenty towns, villages and residential areas:

Surname	Change name from 1938 to 1945	Polish name		Surname	Change name from 1938 to 1945	Polish name
Bogatzewo		Bogaczewo		* Lipinsken		Lipińskie
Friedrichswerder				* Ogrodtken	Kalgendorf	Ogródek
Gorzekallen	Gortzen	Gorzekały		Przykop
Grondowken (forest)				* Reuschendorf		Ruska Wieś
Grünthal				* Rogallen		Rogale
Hohenau		Tamkowo		Rogallicken	Kleinrosenheide	Rogalik
Karlssorge				* Rosinsko	Rosenheide	Rożyńsk
Kempnio (forest)				* Rostken		Rostki Skomackie
* Klaussen		Klusy		* Skomatzko	Dippelsee	Skomack Wielki
Kosseln (forest)				Thalau		Skomack Wielki (Osada)

Pastor (until 1945)

Until 1945 officiated at the parish church Klaussen as Protestant clergy:

• Andreas Rynckius, from 1585
• Georg Schlobowius, 1605
• Jacob Wissnerus, until 1668
• Albert Knopcka, 1668-1674
• Martin Maletius , 1674–1682
• Georg Przyalgowski, from 1682
• Jacob Kirschberg, until 1683
• Jacob Moncowius, 1690-1739
• Bartholomäus Lupochowius, 1727–1731
• Michael Junius, 1733-1762
• Johann Christian Groß, 1763–1802
• Johann Caspar, 1798-1818
• Johann Jacob Tusch, 1819–1837
• Leopold Kraska, 1837-1847
• Friedrich Theodor von Lenski, 1847–1858
• Theodor Buzello, 1859–1864
• Philipp Salkowski, 1865–1872
• Carl Adolf Preuss, 1872–1885
• Hermann Carl Otto Baatz, 1885–1893
• Robert Paul Sczesny, 1893
• Johann Hermann Bolz, 1893–1903
• Max Myska, 1903-1912
• Bruno Albert Rathke, 1912–1916
• Paul Bernecker, 1920–1921
• Walter Otto Martin Walsdorff, 1920–1926
• Kurt Rudloff, 1928
• Heinrich Will, 19339–1932
• Ernst Schmittat, 1932–1933
• Kurt Wiele, 1933–1934
• Heinrich Bartholomeyczyk, 1936–1937
• Kurt Friedrich Sulima, 1936–1939
• Erich Willamowski, 1938–1942
• Gerhard Wittkat, 1943–1945

Church records

The church registers of the parish Klaussen have been preserved and are kept in the Evangelical Central Archive in Berlin-Kreuzberg :

• Baptisms: 1775-1820
• Weddings: 1773 to 1839
• Burials: 1773-1845.

Roman Catholic

Parish

Before 1945 only a few Catholic church members lived in the Klaussen region. They were parish in the parish church of St. Adalbert in the then district town of Lyck (Polish Ełk ) in the deanery Masuria II (seat in Johannisburg , Polish Pisz ) in the diocese of Warmia .

After 1945, numerous new Polish citizens settled in Klusy, almost without exception of the Roman Catholic denomination. In 1947 they took over the previously Protestant church as their house of God, which they dedicated to the Mother of God, Help of Christians ( Mariahilfkirche ). Today there is a separate parish with branch churches in Rożyńsk (Rosinsko , 1938 to 1945 Rosenheide) and Skomack Wielki (Skomatzko , 1938 to 1945 Dippelsee) . It is part of the Deanery Ełk - Święty Rodziny within the Diocese of Ełk of the Roman Catholic Church in Poland .

Parish places

The parish of Klusy includes ten towns, villages and places of residence:

Surname	German name		Surname	German name
Gorzekały	Gorzekallen / Gortzen		Rogalik	Rogallicken / Kleinrosenheide
Klusy	Klaussen		Rostki Skomackie	Rostken
Lipińskie	Lipinsken		Rożyńsk	Rosinsko / Rosenheide
Ogródek	Ogrodtken / Kalgendorf		Ruska Wieś	Reuschendorf
Rogale	Rogallen		Skomack Wielki	Skomatzko / Dippelsee

References

Web links

Commons : The Church in Klusy  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Klusy - Klaussen at ostpreussen.net
2. ↑ ^{a b} Walther Hubatsch , History of the Evangelical Church of East Prussia , Volume 2 Pictures of East Prussian Churches , Göttingen, 1968, p. 124, Fig. 575
3. ^ Parafia Klusy in the Diocese of Ełk
4. ↑ ^{a b} Walther Hubatsch, History of the Evangelical Church of East Prussia , Volume 3 Documents , Göttingen, 1968, p. 493
5. ↑ ^{a b} Friedwald Moeller, Old Prussian Protestant Pastor's Book from the Reformation to the Expulsion in 1945 , Hamburg, 1968, p. 64
6. ↑ Parish locations Klaussen at GenWiki
7. ↑ The * indicates a school location
8. ↑ v. Lenski (1808-1858) was a member of the Corps Masovia .
9. ↑ Headquarters in Prostken
10. ^ EZA: Church records Klaussen
11. ↑ Klaussen (district of Lyck) at GenWiki