Church
of the Virgin Heart of Mary
Piastowska St., Lower Szklarska
Poreba
The
church was built between 1754-1786, according to the design by and
under the supervision of Christian Feistes, the building inspector of
the Schaffgotsch family goods administration. The church has
been consecrated already on 11/9/1755 not much more than a year since
the start of its construction. In 1759, the church organs were
first sounded.
Further expansion of the temple in Lower Szklarska
Poreba was carried out between 1786 and 1787, as evidenced by the
date "1786" engraved on the keystone over the northern
door. Additional equipment of the church was the great candlestick
hung above the altar, elaborately made of colorless lead crystal,
funded by the local steelworkers and grinders, and made between 1770
and 1790; the wooden font, pulpit and numerous paintings.
In
1821, Carl Anton Mallickh (1783-1854), master builder of the
Schaffgotsch family built a classical tower covered with a baroque
helmet with double lanterns on the western side. The tower was
equipped with three bronze bells donated in 1826 by the Prussian King
Friedrich Wilhelm III: these bells first rang in the New Year's Eve
1826/1827.
In 1859, new church organs were funded, purchased in
large part from modest donations by the followers, and built by the
brothers Schlag from Świdnica. The organs contain 21 music
registers: 4 upper, 11 lower and 6 foot pedals and retained the
original play table. These organs are still in use today.
In
1873 the church received new bells cast at the behest of Kaiser
Wilhelm I from the guns acquired during the Franco-Prussian War. The
biggest of the bells weighed 1600kg, the middle one 900kg, and the
smallest 500kg.
In 1883, the tower - which threatened to collapse
- was rebuilt into a needle dome and equipped with a three-timer
clock. On 3rd and 4th September 1892, celebrations of the 150th
anniversary of the church were held, connected with the renewal of
the church interior. In November 1913, gas heating was installed
in the church. In August 1917, as part of nationwide acquisition
of strategic resources to Germany's war industries, the church bells
from the Parish Church in Sowiniec and the Evangelical Church in
Lower Szklarska Poreba had been removed from the towers, exported and
melted down back into cannons. In 1922, members of the
evangelical community from Szklarska Poreba, began raising funds for
new bells for their church, which have been officially hung on July
3, 1924
New bells in Lower Szklarska Poreba were not used for too long. Two of them, like a quarter of a century earlier, were taken in 1942 and used to support the war effort of the Third Reich. After World War II, the church still had its original interior intact and was being used by the Roman-Catholic parish as a branch church.
Following the closure of the nearby shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary, the Church of the Virgin Heart of Mary was given a series of paintings on The Considerations of Secrets of Our Lady of the Rosary. The author of the works was Wlastimil Hofman - "the painter of internal light", the best artist residing in Karkonosze after World War II. The models who posed were the people of Szklarska Poreba, which gives the paintings their special value. The church also holds a lyrical triptych by Wlastimil Hofman; it is called "Christmas" kept in the style of the Young Poland. In the center there is the Child, Mary and Joseph, with shepherds to the left and, to the right, the three kings portrayed as young boys, residents of our city: Andrzej Bobel, Ryszard Pietkiewicz and Norbert A. Pyrka.
from
the history of the church - text by Przemyslaw Wiater (PL)
