History

Trumieje (German: Gross Tromnau) was first mentioned back in 1293, when Pomezanian bishop Henryk gave Dietrich II Stange in exchange 226 voloks of land in Trumieje. Stange was also given the right to built a church. Most probably the church, one of the oldest in the area, was built in 1300-1313. At that time, a graveyard was built around the church. As a result of the Reformation, the church, starting from the second half of the 16th century until the end of World War II, served the Evangelical community. The first pastor arrived in here in about 1544. In the late 18th century, the church graveyard was closed (a new one was established on the north side of the village). In 1851, 1873, 1892 the roofing, the tented roof of the tower, and the western portal were renovated. A new porch was also built on the west side of the sacristy. Probably, as part of those works, the area around the church was tidied up (in the pictures from the late 19th century in the collection by J. Heise, there are no gravestones).

Description

The church is located in the south-eastern part of the village on a large triangular and wooded plot of a non-existent cemetery. Currently, the area around the church is limited to a small fragment of the former graveyard, marked with a metal fence. The free-standing oriented church is situated in the middle of the area.

The Gothic building is based on a plan of three axially arranged rectangles: a chancel (on the east), a nave (the widest, central rectangle), and a tower (similar to a square). The chancel is adjacent on the north to an elongated rectangle of a sacristy, extended by a porch at a later date. The four-storey massive tower is a dominating feature of the church body. It is covered with a hip roof with a hexagonal lantern topped with a tented roof. The nave body and the chancel are of the same height and covered with a shared gable roof, sloping down over the sacristy and the porch from the north. The chancel is closed from the east with a triangular pinnacle gable.

In the lower section, the church is made of granite rocks, and in the upper section, it is made of brick. The ceilings are wooden, with a beam structure concealed by wooden boards; a barrel vault rises above the sacristy. The roof truss is made of wood, roofs are clad with pantile or beaver tail (the tower). There are also stained glass windows in metal frames in the building.

The façades are made of stone in the lower sections. The other sections of the façades (that is the tower, above the first storey, the gable of the chancel, and the top section of the nave) are made of brick; window openings and blind windows are terminated in pointed arches (in the southern façade there are stained glass windows in metal frames; there are no openings in the northern façade). The eastern and the western façades are symmetrical, framed at their corners with massive diagonal stepped buttresses. The eastern façade has one axis. Above, there is a four-step gable with blind windows, topped with pinnacles. The façade of the tower, up to the fourth storey, is framed with huge buttresses. On the axis, there is a pointed-arch portal in profiled reveals. The tree upper storeys of the tower are divided horizontally with friezes. The third storey is highlighted with blind windows, taller than the other ones. In the eastern wall of the tower, there is a trace of a formerly higher roof of the nave.

The interior is aisleless. The preserved old fittings date back to the 18th and 19th century. Notable interior fittings include tombstones: one from 1616 (of the von Brandt spouses), one from 1692, and one from 1700.

The building is open to visitors. Viewing of the building is possible by arrangement with the parish office in Trumiejki (Trumiejki 16).

compiled by Teofila Lebiedź-Gruda, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Gdańsk, 07-10-2014.

Bibliography

• Karta ewidencyjna (tzw. biała karta): Kościół fil. pw. Chrystusa Króla, autor J. Labenz, 1987, w zbiorach OT NID w Gdańsku.
• Barganowski A., Michalik H., Powiat Kwidzyński. Przewodnik po Powiślu, Kwidzyn 2007
• Schmid B., Bau-und Kunstdenkmäler des Kreises Marienburg (Die Städte Neuteich und Tiegenhof und die lädlichen Ortschaften), Danzig 1919, s. 315.
• Dehio-Handbuch der Kunstdenkmäler West- und Ostpreuβen, bearb. von M. Antoni, München-Berlin 1993, s. 140