A chapel, which is the chancel bay of the original late Gothic church, adjoins the nave to the east. Inside the church there is a valuable late Renaissance tombstone of the Kierski family from around 1600. A plaque commemorating General Józef Dowbor-Muśnicki, the commander of the Wielkopolska Uprising, was built into the outer wall of the church.

History of the structure

Lusowo is a village located about 16 km west of Poznań, on the north-eastern shore of Lusowskie Lake. The oldest history of the village dates back to the 12th century. In 1146, after the victory in the battle of Poznań over his brother Władysław, prince Mieszko Stary (the Old) granted Lusowo to the chapter of Poznań, which then transferred it to the cathedral deanery. The village remained under the chapter until the end of the 18th century. After the confiscation of church property by the Prussian authorities, the estate was taken over by the treasury. In the early 19th century, Lusowo belonged to the Objezierski family. After Paulina Objezierska married Baron Christian Friedrich Wilhelm von Richtenhofen, the estate was leased. After the death of their son, Heinrich Wilhelm von Richtenhofen, Lusowo was owned by Julius Knorr (1881) and later by brothers Richard and Hermann von Palm. In 1913, the Royal Settlement Commission in Poznań appears as the owner. After World War I, the estate was parcelled out. In 1920 Józef Dowbor-Muśnicki, the commander of the Wielkopolska Uprising, bought part of the estate including the palace. He settled in Lusowo after moving to the reserve. The property remained in the possession of the general’s family until 1939.

The church in Lusowo was probably built in 1244. The parish was established by bishop Jan Gerbisz in 1288. The original church was probably a wooden building. The brick, Gothic church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Hedwig and St. James the Apostle was built in the late 15th century. It was an aisleless building, three-bay, closed on the east and west sides with polygonal, stellar vaults. In the late 17th century, the church was in a poor condition. The renovation and reconstruction of the building was carried out in 1776-1780 thanks to the efforts of Cathedral Dean Andrzej Myszkowski. In the years 1913-16 the late Gothic church was demolished. In its place, in 1916-18 thanks to the efforts of the then parish priest, Father Ignacy Serdecki, a neo-Gothic temple was erected, which has survived to the present day. Only the chancel remained from the old church, blended into the body of the new building as a chapel. In 1918 the church was consecrated by Cardinal Edmund Dalbor. During the Nazi occupation the temple was closed, and at the end of the war the building was used as a warehouse.

Description of the structure

The Church of St. Hedwig and St. James the Apostle is situated in the middle of the village. The chancel faces the north. The temple is surrounded by the former church cemetery, fenced with a stone and brick wall. A late Baroque, tripartite gate from about 1776-80 leads to the cemetery. The gateway is framed by a pair of pillars, supporting sections of the arch. The side passages are closed with sections. The neo-Gothic church consists of a rectangular nave and a hexagonally closed chancel on the north. Adjacent from the east is a small rectangular sacristy (on the north side) and a tower on a square plan (on the south side). Between the sacristy and the tower there is a chapel closed on three sides - the former chancel of the late Gothic church. A rectangular aisle adjoins the western side of the nave. The nave and the chancel, both equal in height, are covered by a tall gable roof. Above the closure of the buttressed chancel and the chapel - multi-hipped roofs. Above the slightly lower side aisle - gable roofs with ridges perpendicular to the nave roof ridge. Above the sacristy - a gable roof. The whole is dominated by a four-storey tower covered with a pyramidal cupola topped with a sphere and cross.

The church is a brick building. The interiors, as well as the strips dividing the elevations and some blind windows, have been plastered. The roofs are covered with ceramic roof tiles. The elevations of the church are faced with red brick, and the architectural details (blind windows, dividing stripes) are plastered. The windows are most often topped with a sharp trefoil arch. In the axis of the southern elevation there is a pointed-arch main entrance surrounded by a profiled archivolt, above the entrance - five plastered blind windows. Higher up, in a wide pointed-arch niche, there are three windows and three round blind windows. The elevation is crowned with a stepped gable with a pair of narrow blind windows topped with paired round arches. The west elevation of the side aisle is triaxial, topped with three stepped gables. In the axis of the eastern elevation, there is the closure of the chancel of the former gothic church, covered with stepped buttresses, topped with a profiled cornice. Between the buttresses, there are pointed-arch windows and a blind window with a figure of the Virgin Mary in the background. A lapidarium was arranged around the chapel, with tombstones and a series of epitaphs from the 19th and early 20th centuries. On the left side of the chapel there is a tall tower. In the eastern elevation of the tower there is a pointed-arch side entrance with a profiled archivolt. At the entrance - a plaque dedicated to General Józef Dowbor-Muśnicki. The upper storeys of each tower elevation contain five pointed-arch blind windows, and higher - pairs of narrow blind windows topped with paired round arches. In the top storey there are pairs of acoustic openings and clock faces framed by narrow blind windows. On the right side of the chapel there is a sacristy with a segmented entrance. Four large windows were placed in the chancel closure of the present church.

The nave is covered with a wooden ceiling, the chapel (former chancel), the present chapel and the side nave have stellar vaults. The brick vault ribs in the chancel contrast with the bright vaulted ceiling decorated with polychrome (stylized floral motifs). The chancel windows are filled with figural stained glass windows depicting the Virgin Mary, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and figures of saints. Some of the stained glass windows were made in 1916, others date from 2002. The chancel is opened to the nave with a wide, pointed-arch rood beam. The wooden ceiling of the main nave is decorated with polychrome depicting the Holy Trinity, surrounded by the representations of the four evangelists. The figural depictions are surrounded by rich floral decoration. In the southern part of the nave there is a built-in wooden music gallery supported by a pair of profiled columns. The sill of the gallery was decorated with polychrome (motif of a suspended drapery). In the windows of the south wall there are three figural stained glass windows from 2003. On the eastern side there is a chapel open to the nave with a wide arched arcade - the former chancel of the Gothic church. The chapel is covered with a stellar vault decorated with polychrome (stylized acanthus leaves). There are contemporary stained glass windows in the chapel windows. The first one depicts Christ Crucified and the church in Lusowo, the second one is decorated with rich floral ornamentation. On the western side there is a side aisle, opened to the main aisle with three pointed-arch arcades. This nave, like the chancel, is covered with a stellar vault. The vault was decorated with stylized floral decoration. The windows of the nave have stained glass figural windows (depictions of saints) made in 2003.

In the interior there are preserved furnishings from the period of the church construction. The main altar was made in 1917 in the workshop of Georg Schreiner in Regensburg. Its design is reminiscent of Gothic cabinet-shaped altars. In the middle of the altar there is a niche with a silver Crucifix. Above the niche there is a figure of an angel holding St. Veronica’s scarf. The altar wings are decorated with relief and polychrome biblical scenes. When the wings are closed, the paintings depicting the Prayer in the Gethsemane and the Descent from the Cross, by Georg Halter, are visible on their outer side. We should also mention a pulpit decorated with symbols of the evangelists, patrons’ pews, three confessionals and pews. In the side chapel there is a late Baroque altar from about 1776-80 - the former main altar of the church. In its central field there is a painting of the Virgin Mary appearing to St. Hedwig and St. James. On both sides of the painting there are sculptures of St. John the Baptist and an unknown saint with a book, in the finial - the image of God the Father. Particularly noteworthy is the late Renaissance tombstone of Stanisław Kierski and his wife Anna née Brodnicka, embedded in the wall next to the altar. This two-storey sandstone monument was built around 1600. The deceased are depicted lying down. The architectural frame of the tombstone is decorated with cartouches with coats of arms of the deceased, panoplies and symbols of death.

Visitor access: The church can be visited both from the outside and inside. More information on the parish and the Holy Mass schedule can be found on the parish website: lusowo.pl or the Poznań Archdiocese website: archpoznan.pl

Compiled by: Krzysztof Jodłowski, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Poznań, 22.09.2017

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