The Churches of Peace (, ) in

Jawor Jawor () is a town in south-western Poland with 22,890 inhabitants (2019). It is situated in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the seat of Jawor County, and lies approximately west of the regional capital Wrocław. One of the oldest towns ...

and

Świdnica Świdnica (; ; ) is a city on the Bystrzyca (Oder), Bystrzyca River in south-western Poland in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. As of 2021, it has a population of 55,413 inhabitants. It is the seat of Świdnica County, and also of the smaller dis ...

in Lower Silesia.

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, are 17th-century churches, named after the

Peace of Westphalia The Peace of Westphalia (, ) is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought peace to the Holy Roman Empire ...

of 1648. The treaty granted the

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

s of

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

to build three churches from wood, loam and straw outside the city walls, without steeples and church bells. The construction time was limited to one year. The third Peace church, erected in Głogów, burned down in 1758. The exterior of the churches look austere due to the religious restrictions of the time, while their interiors are ornately decorated in

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

style. The interior of the Jawor church is decorated with 180 paintings, depicting Biblical scenes from the Old and the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

, while the church in Świdnica features apocalyptic visions as well as the panorama of surrounding area. Since 2001, the two remaining churches are listed as

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

s: * Holy Trinity Church of Peace in Świdnica * Church of Peace in Jawor

History

Despite the physical and political constraints, three of the churches became the biggest timber-framed religious buildings in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

due to pioneering construction and architectural solutions. The church in

, dedicated to the Holy Ghost is long, wide and high and has capacity of 5,500. It was constructed by architect Albrecht von Saebisch (1610–1688) from Wroclaw (then German ''Breslau'') and was finished a year later in 1655. The 200 paintings inside by were created by Georg Flegel in 1671–1681. The ornately decorated altar, by Martin Schneider, dates to 1672, the original organ of J. Hoferichter from

Legnica Legnica (; , ; ; ) is a city in southwestern Poland, in the central part of Lower Silesia, on the Kaczawa River and the Czarna Woda. As well as being the seat of the county, since 1992 the city has been the seat of the Diocese of Legnica. Le ...

(then German ''Liegnitz'') of 1664 was replaced in 1855–1856 by Adolf Alexander Lummert. By that time, the town had been part of the majority Protestant

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

for about a century. Another 100 years later, in 1945, the town became again part of

, as a result of the

Potsdam Agreement The Potsdam Agreement () was the agreement among three of the Allies of World War II: the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union after the war ended in Europe that was signed on 1 August 1945 and published the following day. A ...

. Although most of the Protestant churches taken over by Poland in 1945 became Catholic, the two Peace Churches still serve their

parishes. The similar church, erected in Głogów (then German ''Glogau'') burned down in 1758, but the one in

, dedicated to the

Holy Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, three ...

, survived like the one in

. Both were restored by a Polish–German cooperation, and recognized by UNESCO in 2001. Friedensk-Glogau.jpg, Glogau (Głogów) Friedensk-Jauer.jpg, Jauer (Jawor) Friedensk-Schweidnitz.jpg, Schweidnitz (Świdnica)

Gallery

Świdnica

File:Swidnica- Kosciol Pokoju 02.jpg, Image:Swidnica-kosc-pokoju1.jpg, Main altar File:Swidnica - Kosciol Pokoju- wnetrze 01.jpg, Swidnica - Kosciol Pokoju- wnetrze 05.jpg,

Jawor

Swiątynia Pokoju w Jaworze - 191.jpg Image:Jawor2.jpg, Organ File:Wnętrze z ołtarzem głównym Świątyni Pokoju w Jaworze, woj. dolnośląskie, pow. jaworski A1905990 z 4.09.1963 -Magkrys.JPG, Main altar File:ChurchOfPeace Jawor Wiki.png,

Surroundings

* Gola Dzierżoniowska Castle * Medieval town of Niemcza * Cistercian monastery at Henryków * Wojsławice Arboretum

Bibliography

* Worthmann, Ludwig, ''Führer durch die Friedenskirche zu Schweidnitz''. Breslau 1929. * Kalinowski, Konstanty, ''Barock in Schlesien''. München 1990. . * Gruk, Wojciech, ''Silesian Churches of Peace and the Royal Hungarian Articular Churches. Possible Legal and Architectural Relations.'' In: Protestantischer Kirchenbau der Frühen Neuzeit in Europa. Grundlagen und neue Forschungskonzepte. — Protestant Church Architecture in Early Modern Europe. Fundamentals and New Research Approaches. Regensburg 2015, p. 333-343. .

References

External links

Churches of Peace in Jawor and Świdnica
UNESCO Collection on Google Arts and Culture
Church Of Peace in Jawor – photo gallery

Church of Peace in Świdnica
{{World Heritage Sites in Poland 17th-century churches in Poland 17th-century Lutheran churches Buildings and structures in Świdnica Churches in Lower Silesian Voivodeship Christianity in the Holy Roman Empire Silesia under Habsburg rule Lutheran churches in Poland Lutheran art Jawor World Heritage Sites in Poland