The feature is also related to the activity of the Evangelical-Reformed Church.

History

A small community of Calvinists was active in Warsaw already in the 16th century. However, a decree of Janusz III, the Duke of Mazovia, issued in 1525, prohibited dissenters from settling and erecting own temples in the Mazovia. The Evangelicals of Warsaw had to keep a low profile and could not openly proclaim their faith. Restrictions were abolished only in 1768 by the Treaty of Warsaw. Then it became possible to officially create the Warsaw’s Evangelical-Reformed parish, which finally took place in 1776. It was located in a building belonging to the Leszno jurisdiction.

The construction of the current church was initiated by pastor Józef Spleszyński in 1866, in the neighbourhood of the previous temple. The building was designed by a member of the parish, a renowned architect Adolf Loewe. Due to the lack of funds, the construction works were prolonged and lasted as many as fourteen years. Despite their generosity, the parishioners had to take out another loan to this end. On 24 October 1880 the completed church was consecrated by August Karol Diehl. Numerous charity institutions were active at the parish, among others, an elementary school, an orphanage, a nursing home and a shelter for the disabled. The interwar period marked the most dynamic development of the parish. The Youth Society and the Internal Mission Circle were established, a “Jednota” periodical was issued and Biblical meetings were organised. During World War II the church and parish buildings constituted the so-called Evangelical enclave within the ghetto outlined by the Germans. The feature, neighbouring directly to the closed district, became an assistance point for the Jewish population. In 1944 the church was badly damaged, among others, a chancel with a wooden Gothic Revival pulpit were consumed by the fire.

After 1945 a small group of surviving parishioners began the reconstruction of the damaged church. The first masses took place in a chapel made available by the Methodists at Zbawiciela Square. Renovated in stages, the church also served the Lutherans of Warsaw, whose temple at Małachowskiego Square burned down in September 1939.

Description

The church is located in Solidarności Avenue, in Muranów district, and is located perpendicularly to the street.

It is made of brick and covered with plaster. It has a form of a three-nave hall on a rectangular floor plan with a pentagonal chancel facing the north. The front façade is three-axial and features a central tower that is approx. 60 m tall and is crowned with an openwork, octagonal cupola made of steel. Its shape is reminiscent of the tower of the Gothic cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Freiburg im Breisgau, which is considered the most beautiful church tower in the Christian world. The pointed-arch main portal is located on the axis of the tower, projects in front of the face and is crowned with a triangular gable. A rosette is located over the portal and above there is a pointed-arch window. On extreme axes, on two sides of the tower there are pointed-arch windows: doubled on the ground floor, single and terminating in an arch above and double, narrow windows on the gable. Above the nave roof, the tower transforms into an octagon with pinnacles at the corners; between them, there is a clock with a three-sided face.

Inside the church there is a gallery over the side naves, resting on columns on the four-leaved floor plan. The columns continue to the gallery section; between them, there is a balustrade on the upper storey in the form of openwork arches with a motif of a rosette. A frieze with a four-leaved motif inscribed into a circle runs along the entire interior at the height of the gallery. What deserves particular attention is the 24-voice pipe organ made by the Silesian Schlag und Söhne company of Świdnica in 1900. The instrument is currently one of the most valuable romantic instruments in Warsaw.

Moreover, attention is drawn by the preserved original elements of the old décor, including: a wooden baptismal font in the Gothic Revival style, a historic pipe organ, benches and door joinery. Plaques commemorating Jan Łaski and Mikołaj Rej are also worth noting.

Author: Bartłomiej Modrzewski, National Institute of Cultural Heritage, Branch in Warsaw, 23 October 2017

Bibliography

• Chodorowska M., Kościół ewangelicko-reformowany [the so-called white record sheet], 2001.
• Historia zboru warszawskiego, Website of the Evangelical-Reformed parish in Warsaw, http://reformowani.org.pl/historia# , accessed: 23 October 2017.
• Żabicki J., Leksykon zabytków architektury Mazowsza i Podlasia, Warsaw 2010.