Inside, there are Baroque paintings on the plank ceiling in the chancel, with the scene of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the figures of Sts Matthew and Mark, most likely painted by Bartholomeus Strobel, as well as numerous fixtures and fittings – mainly in the Baroque style. The site has the status of a regional landmark.

History

The parish was founded in the first half of the 13th century. The current church was erected in the first half of the 14th century, with the chancel, the sacristy and the side porch (vestibule) built c. 1310 and the nave and the tower built c. 1340. In the second half of the 15th century, the walls of the chancel were extended upwards and adorned with small blind windows flanking the extended window openings and a gable was added to the east. The church burned down in 1575; it was reconstructed in the years 1587-1600, which is when the walls of the nave were extended upwards and decorated with pairs of blind windows topped with semi-circular arches between octagonal windows and when the west façade was formed; the chapel of the Transfiguration of Jesus was erected using the funds of Hugon Dąbrowski, governor of the Radzyń Chełmiński District, and adorned with Mannerist gablets. In 1615, the church burned down once again. In 1640, the chancel was renovated owing to the efforts of Mikołaj Weyher, governor of the Chełmno Voivodeship and of the Radzyń Chełmiński District. In 1673, the Dąbrowski chapel was renovated. In 1680, reconstruction of the church was completed owing to the efforts of Jan Gniński, governor of the Pomorskie Voivodeship. In 1892, the tower, which had been damaged by a lightning strike, was reconstructed. In the years 1972-1973, conservation work was carried out in the Dąbrowski chapel and in 1977, the ceiling above the chancel was renovated. In recent years, the roof truss and the roof cladding over the entire church were renovated.

Description

The church is located in the western part of the town, at Dąbrowskich Street. The churchyard is surrounded with a brick wall. The body of the Gothic, oriented church has a four-bay rectangular floor plan, is supported by buttresses in the western corners and is adjoined from the east by a narrower, three-bay rectangular chancel supported by buttresses. From the south, the main body is adjoined by a square chapel of the Transfiguration of Jesus, and from the west by a polygonal staircase tower. The southern side of the chancel is adjoined by a polygonal sacristy and a side porch (vestibule) while by the northern wall, there is a buttressed quadrangular tower with an octagonal upper section. The nave and the chancel feature separate gable roofs while the tower is covered with an eight-faced roof. The sacristy, the porch and the chapel are covered with mono-pitched roofs.

The church is a brick structure based on the so-called Gothic bond, with overburnt brick being used extensively for decorative purposes, forming rhombus-shaped motifs.  The pointed-arch window openings are splayed on both sides. The nave and the chancel feature flat ceilings with painted decorations, the ground floor of the tower features a barrel vault, the side porch (vestibule) features an eight-faced ceiling with massive ribs, and the chapel features a groin vault.

The western façade of the main body is flanked by two-stepped buttresses and crowned with a three-axial stepped gable adorned with pinnacles. On the axis of the façade, there is a portal with four-stepped surrounds and a lavishly profiled archivolt as well as pointed-arch blind windows above. By the northern part of the façade, there is a polygonal staircase tower. The upward extension features an octagonal blind window flanked by a row of blind windows topped with semicircular arches. The gable is adorned with three blind windows with topped with semicircular arches and two circular blind windows.

The side façades of the body are divided into two zones; the bottom one has walls decorated with overburnt brick in a rhomboidal arrangement, with pointed-arch portals and windows alternating with pointed-arch blind windows. The narrower top zone (separated from the bottom one by a band frieze) has alternating octagonal window openings and double blind windows topped with semicircular arches. The southern façade of the body features three windows with pointed-arch blind windows in between, and in the eastern part it is obscured by the body of the chapel. The north façade of the main body has four axes and features a bricked-up pointed-arch portal, lavishly profiled and constructed using hand-made brick.

The east façade of the chancel features a tall, bricked-up pointed-arch window opening in the middle, flanked by two similar but smaller blind windows, above which there are three smaller blind windows in the upward extension. Below the bricked-up window opening, there is a Baroque crucifix. The façade is topped with a stepped gable adorned with pinnacles and partitioned by five pointed-arch blind windows. The south façade of the chancel has three axes and features buttresses between the windows. The eastern axis of the façade is obscured by the low body of the sacristy while the western axis is obscured by the porch. The south façade of the porch features a two-stepped entrance portal and a niche with a sculpture of St Peter on the eastern side.

The north façade of the chancel features the buttressed body of the tower on the western axis. The remaining two axes are marked by the windows in pointed-arch plastered niches. The tower is supported by four pronounced three-stepped buttresses, which reach up to its middle and flow into flat lesenes above this level. In the northern wall, there are two tall niches topped with dual arches on resting on supports, with five zones with pointed-arch windows inside. The top storey has an octagonal top section starting around the middle of its height and is topped with triangular gables adorned with pointed-arch blind windows on three sides.

Inside, there are Baroque ceiling paintings: in the chancel (after 1640) they were likely made by Bartholomeus Strobel; in the nave (made before 1680) they depict the Holy Trinity, above the choir gallery they depict the Adoration of the Child and the Flight into Egypt, and between the figural compositions there are decorations incorporating foliate scrollwork, flowers, putti and birds.

The church fixtures and fittings include the Baroque main altarpiece from c. 1690 with a painting of the Coronation of the Virgin Mary with St Luke and St Nicholas the Bishop, signed by Bartholomeus Strobel (1643), and with sculptures of saints in the Late Baroque style. In the top section of the altarpiece, there is a painting of the Annunciation (c. the mid-17th century), likely created in the workshop of B. Strobel. The tabernacle from the 18th century in the shape of an openwork canopy features sculptures depicting the Transfiguration of Jesus.

In the chancel, there are Classicist choir stalls from the 18th/19th century with painted decorations on the backs with a vase motif and likely Gothic sedilia within.

There are also side altarpieces: by the rood arch, ones in the Baroque and Classicist styles made by M. Przemysławski in 1820; in the nave, ones in the Late Baroque style from the second quarter of the 18th century; in the Dąbrowski chapel, one in the Rococo style from the late 18th century. The pulpit exhibiting features of the Rococo and Classicist styles was likely created by M. Przemysławski in the early 19th century. There is a Baroque baptismal font from the 17th/18th century. The pipe organ casing exhibits features of the Rococo and Classicist styles and dates back to the late 18th century. There is also a large collection of goldsmiths’ wares (including  monstrances, chalices and a reliquary crucifix).

In the Dąbrowski chapel, the arches with semi-circular top sections feature Renaissance grillwork, which was funded by Hugo Dąbrowski and his wife Katarzyna Dąbrowska née Działyńska and is adorned with lavish decorations, which include painted cartouches made of sheet metal with the Dąbrowski coats of arms and a set of coffin portraits from the 17th century.

Limited access to the building. The building can be viewed from the outside. Interiors of the church can be explored before and after masses or other service.

Prepared by Marzenna Stocka, National Heritage Board of Poland, Regional Branch in Toruń, 27-11-2017

Bibliography

• Diecezja toruńska. Historia i teraźniejszość, Stanisław Kardasz (ed.), Vol. 14, Dekanat radzyński, Toruń 1997, pp. 96-109
• Katalog Zabytków Sztuki w Polsce, Vol. XI: Województwo bydgoskie, issue 19: Powiat wąbrzeski, T. Chrzanowski and M. Kornecki (eds.), Warszawa 1967, pp. 22-28
• 700 lat kościoła pw. św. Anny w Radzyniu Chełmińskim 1310-2014, Robert Prusakowski (ed.), Radzyń Chełmiński 2010