History

The church in Michałów was founded by the lords of Pogorzela who settled near Brzeg before 1200. It was built in the second half of the 13th century and handed over in 1273, together with land, tithes, and the right of patronage to the Cistercian monastery in Kamieniec. In 1533, Hans from the Pogorzela family, after converting to Protestantism, took over the church of St Nicolas from the monks of Kamieniec. Since that time until the early 18th century, the church was Catholic or Evangelical by turns. The village was owned, subsequently, by Georg Hirsch von Kaltenbrunn (after 1540) and Hans von Gruttschreiber (from 1557). In 1717, the church was renovated, and after the death of Anton Heinz, the last member of the Gruttschreiber family, it was handed over to the Cistercian order once again. However, Protestant services were still held in it, while the monks built a chapel near the palace. In the years 1823-1828, the church was re-designed in the neo-Gothic style. The designs were prepared by Otto Wartenberg.

Description

The church of St Joseph is located in the heart of the village. It is circumscribed by a brick plastered fence with buttresses and a brick gate from the west. In the past, the church was surrounded by a cemetery. To the east from the temple, there is a parish church and a rectory (former chapel and palace).

The temple is made of brick, with plastered façades. The two-bay nave was erected on a rectangular floor plan. To the east from it, there is a chancel ending in a straight wall with a quadrangular porch from the north and a two-bay sacristy from the south. From the west, the body of the church is adjoined by a quadrangular tower. The main body of the church and the chancel, which is slightly lower and narrower than the former, are covered with gable roofs. The sacristy and the porch are covered with shed roofs, and the two-storey tower is topped with an openwork tented roof with a gallery and a spire. The side façades and the tower façades are articulated with window openings in high pointed-arch splayed and stepped niches. The dominant feature of the western façade is the two-storey tower, embraced in the corners by pronounced lesenes. On the first storey level, the tower is octagonal, with alternating clock faces and window openings with pointed arches in top sections. The eastern façade is flanked with buttresses and topped with a triangular gable in a profiled frame, with pointed-arch, narrow window openings and pointed-arch arcades. On the axis of the chancel façade, there is a surviving Gothic window openings with stone bar tracery.

The chancel is covered with cross-rib vaulting. On its side walls on the first floor level, there are loges opening to the chancel with semi-circular arcades. The nave is covered with a wooden ceiling with crown moulding. Along its side walls, there are wooden, two-storey galleries with a choir between them.

The fittings of the church originate from different periods, from the Renaissance baptismal font (1575) and pulpit with the figure of Moses in the base (approx. 1600), to Renaissance epitaphs and tomb stones and the Baroque main altarpiece.

Limited access to the monument.

compiled by Aleksandra Ziółkowska, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Opole, 26-11-2015.

Bibliography

• Banik J., Działalność fundacyjna Panów z Pogorzeli na Śląsku w XIII i XIV w. Fundacjekościelne, Monument. Studia i materiały Krajowego Ośrodka Badań i Dokumentacji Zabytków, Warszawa 2009.
• Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce, t. 7: Województwo opolskie, z. 1: Powiat brzeski, red. T. Chrzanowski, M. Kornecki, Warszawa 1965, s. 67-68.
• Karta ewidencyjna, Kościół poewangelicki, filialny pw. św. Józefa, d. św. Michała, oprac. D. Stoces, PG, 2004, Archiwum Wojewódzkiego Urzędu Ochrony Zabytków w Opolu